Abstract

Abstract

The question for my media coursework is

How has gender representation in music videos changed to suite a more contemporary and critical audience?

So I will be looking at how music videos have changed for its audience. I will be using the rap genre of music because it has very clear representation of men and women. It shows men as powerful and dominant and the women as objects and something to be looked at. In some music videos that might have changed to make men and women more equal due to a changing audience but on the whole it is mostly a male dominated music genre. I will also use the pop genre because men and women are equal in the genre and mostly it is not just the men being powerful and the women just being seen as objects for the men to look at. In the rap genre of music is it a male dominated music genre but in pop there are as much men as there are women.

Audiences are constantly being shown music videos so it may have an effect on them such as replicating the behaviour shown in the music videos. Men could be more disrespectful to women and the women could be making themselves objects for men to look at because of the messages and values that music videos are showing its audiences. That could desensitise its audiences so they will think that it is normal behaviour to act and think that way about people so if music videos show more extreme messages and values about men and women the audiences will be desensitised to it and that could change the way audiences are. So the music videos have changed the audiences and they have become more tolerant of it. Also the audience could know that some music videos are wrong and that they do not watch it so music videos have to change to suite its audience and attract more people to watch it.

I will be using media theories to help answer my media coursework question such as male gaze, female gaze, gender theory to see how male and female music artists use their videos what view they show the audience and effects theory to see how music videos have effected its audience and if audiences show the same respect for people as in the music videos they watch. I will also use the uses and gratification theory to see how audiences use the media such as looking at what the artists are doing. Personal relationships to talk about artists with others, it also uses the water cooler theory they can interact with others about music videos. It could also be part of their personal identity by looking at the popular artists they could copy them to fit in so it could also be part of the effect theory as people are trying to be like their favourite artists. So it could also be a distraction from normal life for entertainment and relaxation and escape.