Voyeurism
The principle of voyeurism stems from Freud and explains the gendered pleasures of cinema, referring to the idea of 'looking' in order to gain sexual pleasure. It is argued that the male viewer's gaze at the screen is geared to notions of voyeurism as it is a powerful, controlling gaze at the objectified female on display. In music promos, the female on display has become a staple element, most notably in modern R&B, rap and mainstream female pop genres.
Andrew Goodwin on voyeurism
Goodwin argues that the female performer is often objectified through a combination of camerawork (i.e. close-ups and tilts that mimic the male gaze) and editing, with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star.
The sexual representation of women is also evident in male performance videos too, where a voyeuristic treatment of the female body is often apparent with the use of dancers as adornments which in turn, flatters the male star's ego.
Laura Mulvey
Mulvey proposed that there are three forms of 'looking', all of which presuppose a male audience with a voyeuristic intention; 'the male, controlling gaze': camera to characters, between characters on the screen and the audience looking at the screen. She poses the question whether women have learnt to be looked at through the composition of music video and the male gaze.
The Male Body
The idea becomes more complex when we see the male body on display as this can also act as a form of sexual, scopophilic pleasure to women.
Dominant Female Artists
The more powerful, independent female solo artists of recent years, i.e. Madonna and Lady Gaga, have further added to the complexity of the gaze by being simultaneously sexually provocative and also in total control. This offers a discussion on the range of experiences of music videos along with the contradictory meanings they may evoke.
No comments:
Post a Comment