To what extent are young women such as
Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift represented stereotypically in the pop
music industry today?
The representation of young women
differs in different areas of the media, but is rapidly changing and young women
from the ages of 18-25 in the pop music industry are becoming increasingly
objectified within advertising and music videos in the media. In the
documentary Miss Representation it states ‘The
representation of females in film has become much more narrow and cartoon like
than in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s’ (7) also that ‘In the 1990’s studies found a steady increase in
explicitly sexual images in advertising’ (7). I am going to be investigating how
young artists such as Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are represented and how
they represent their selves in the pop music industry today, by analysing Miley
Cyrus' music video 'We Can't Stop' (3) from her new album Bangerz
(1) and Taylor Swifts music video 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'
(4) from her album 22. (2)
The Male Gaze, developed by feminist, Laura Mulvey
describes how the audience, or viewer, is put into the perspective of a
heterosexual male. (5) This can be
applied to most visual texts in the media industry and specifically music
videos such as Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’ (3) from her album Bangerz.(1)
Discarding any technical aspects, in the first fifteen seconds we see
Miley in a tight white crop top and leggings, being forced to see a lot of her
body and this is where the objectification starts. However to contrast, in
Taylor Swifts music video ‘We are never ever getting back together’ (4)
you could say the opposite, and that the audience of this video is not
necessarily put into the perspective of a male. There are no obvious ways of
Taylor being objectified or looked at in a sexual way. Even in Miley’s video
the mis en scene gives sexual connotations, as the first thing you see is a bed
– the first thing that comes to my mind when seeing a bed is sleep, or sex.
However in Taylor’s video again like Miley she is in her bedroom, however the
environment that she is in would seem a lot more homely with things like bright
colours in the background and stuffed birds, which would be seen as childish.
Also Taylor is wearing some bright colourful pyjamas that do not show any skin
or fragment or objectify her body.
^ different camera shots, fragment Miley's body
‘There are circumstance in which looking itself is a
source of pleasure, just as in the reverse formulation, this is pleasure in
being looked at’ (6)
Bibliography:
(1) Miley
Cyrus ‘Bangerz’
The representation of young women
differs in different areas of the media, but is rapidly changing and young women
from the ages of 18-25 in the pop music industry are becoming increasingly
objectified within advertising and music videos in the media. In the
documentary Miss Representation it states ‘The
representation of females in film has become much more narrow and cartoon like
than in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s’ (7) also that ‘In the 1990’s studies found a steady increase in
explicitly sexual images in advertising’ (7). I am going to be investigating how
young artists such as Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are represented and how
they represent their selves in the pop music industry today, by analysing Miley
Cyrus' music video 'We Can't Stop' (3) from her new album Bangerz
(1) and Taylor Swifts music video 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together'
(4) from her album 22. (2)
Firstly I will be exploring whether young female
artists are consciously objectifying themselves within their music video’s to
increase their success or whether they are just puppets for the music industry.
Secondly I will analyse the lyrical content of the two artists and how
it investigates their chosen theme of the song. And lastly I will be
discussing the effects that both of these points can have on the artists
‘intended’ audience and what the consequences of this might be. To help
answer these investigation I will be applying a number of theories
such as: Laura Mulvey’s – The Male Gaze and how women are objectified and seen
through the eyes of a male. Hyperreality and postmodernism will be discussed to
see if there is a true representation of ‘real women’. Uses and Gratifications
will also be applied to assess how representations affect others and reasons
why they watch and listen to music by artists such as Miley Cyrus and Taylor
Swift.
The Male Gaze, developed by feminist, Laura Mulvey
describes how the audience, or viewer, is put into the perspective of a
heterosexual male. (5) This can be
applied to most visual texts in the media industry and specifically music
videos such as Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’ (3) from her album Bangerz.(1)
Discarding any technical aspects, in the first fifteen seconds we see
Miley in a tight white crop top and leggings, being forced to see a lot of her
body and this is where the objectification starts. However to contrast, in
Taylor Swifts music video ‘We are never ever getting back together’ (4)
you could say the opposite, and that the audience of this video is not
necessarily put into the perspective of a male. There are no obvious ways of
Taylor being objectified or looked at in a sexual way. Even in Miley’s video
the mis en scene gives sexual connotations, as the first thing you see is a bed
– the first thing that comes to my mind when seeing a bed is sleep, or sex.
However in Taylor’s video again like Miley she is in her bedroom, however the
environment that she is in would seem a lot more homely with things like bright
colours in the background and stuffed birds, which would be seen as childish.
Also Taylor is wearing some bright colourful pyjamas that do not show any skin
or fragment or objectify her body.
^ different camera shots, fragment Miley's body
^ different camera shots, fragment Miley's body
‘There are circumstance in which looking itself is a
source of pleasure, just as in the reverse formulation, this is pleasure in
being looked at’ (6)
Bibliography:
(1) Miley
Cyrus ‘Bangerz’
(2) Taylor Swift
‘22’
(7) Miss Representation documentary
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