Women in today’s society have made a huge step up from what women went through years ago. Today women hold CEO positions, work in construction, have professions as firefighters and police officers; women have developed a great respect for themselves and have shown that they are more than bakers, cooks, cleaners, maids, chauffeurs, and etc. A view of women that has changed very little has been the view within music videos such as the genre of hip-hop. In these music videos, women are depicted as sexual images, desires and more of a stereotypical image of females.
Several hip-hop music videos portray women as sexual symbols and are of less importance than the men. Women tend to wear more provocative outfits during a music video (Conrad 2009). They are also seen as a victim while the male is seen as the person in charge. There are several different music videos that portray these ideas, for example Nelly-Hot In Herre. This video shows a nightclub with men and women dancing. The video portrays them as hot and sweaty so the entire time and throughout the lyrics the women are being told to and stating that they want to take their clothes off. The women are shown taking their shirts off to reveal different color bras and bikini tops. There is only one time throughout the video that a man takes off his clothes: Nelly is shown taking his shirt off while keeping a white tank on so there is no more skin revealed.
The women in this video are shown as sex symbols. The women are all black, pretty, thin, and know how to dance in a seductive manner. The video is meant to attract men with the women dancing and showing skin. All the males in the video are dancing with the women but at the same time exhibiting a more dominant role. The males are perceived as controlling the actions of the females, male audiences will then begin to objectify women and see the act of rape as acceptable (Arganbright 2007). Arnett (2002) discusses the role of women in music videos: “a typical music video…features one or more men performing while beautiful, scantily clad young women dance and writhe lasciviously. Often the men dance, too, but the women always have fewer clothes on. The women are mostly just props…They appear for a fraction of a second, long enough to shake their butts a couple of times, then the camera moves on” (Arnett 2002). Arnett describes the Nelly music video perfectly. Most of the women are shown for a couple of seconds and then the camera moves on, to the next woman shaking her butt. The main performer is Nelly because he is singing the song and is shown in almost every other scene.
Numerous other portrayals of women exist in the music video realm. The recent videos that have come out are not as demeaning to women, especially those made by female hip-hop artists. The most recent video is “Videophone” by Beyonce, featuring Lady Gaga. In the video, the only men that appear are dressed formally in a suit and tie with camera lens over their heads. The two women present in the video are Beyonce and Lady Gaga. They dance throughout the entire video in a sexual manner while also showing that they control their movements. The video has a nuance of female independence and power. Both Beyonce and Lady Gaga embrace these characteristics. These women are developing a new kind of music video that is not just based on the nightclub scene with the women bouncing their booty all over men. This music video shows how women can depict themselves as sexy while also keeping their respect and dignity.
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=100735584
Tags: Beyonce, Female empowerment, Lady Gaga