Women in Music Videos

The representation of women in music videos is a widely discussed, ever changing and often controversial issue. It is also highly relevant to us, as our main character will be female.


Women in music videos, particularly in that of male artists within the Pop / R&B / Hip Hop genres, have long been objectified. The stereotypical hip hop video, for example, is that of the male artist being surrounded by a crowd of attractive women dancing 'for' him. An example of this is in Lil Wayne's video for 'Lollipop'.  This video is extremely popular, with over 110 million views on YouTube. The women that surround him are all wearing similar clothes and are part of a large group. Personally, I think his creates the impression that they are interchangeable, and strips them of some of their identity. It also shows that they are intended to be objects, which Lil Wayne can pick and choose from as he likes.



In the videos of female artists, the representation of women can also be pretty poor. For example, a lot of videos - such as Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend', Paramore's 'Misery Business' and Taylor Swift's 'You Belong With Me' - pit the female characters against each other. The women are often seen fighting against each other for the attention of the male character, once against suggestive that the women are submissive. It also conveys the misconception that women are 'bitchy' and 'catty' towards each other, whereas men support and encourage each other.







In my opinion, criticism of the portrayal of women in music videos often focuses on the wrong area - saying that the negative thing is the revealing or provocative clothing. However, hinting that the women should 'cover up', in my opinion, is just as anti-feminist as the portray itself. Instead, I think the problem lays in the way that the men and women are seen to be interacting with each other in the videos. The women are often seen to be submissive through the fact that they are dancing around the central male artist and that there are many woman to each man. The idea of male gaze is also applicable, as the camera is often angled or moved to linger on or follow the curves of the woman's body.  There is no such focus on the body of the male artist, who is displayed as dominant and in control, and this inequality causes problems.

Fortunately, it is not all negative! Many female artists are stepping away from these representations, and portraying themselves as strong and independent in their music videos. Unfortunately, you often find that these artists are less well known. However, I am aware that most movements of change start underground before growing into the mainstream, so I am hopeful that there are more varied representations of women in the future.