Laura Mulvey developed the theory of the male gaze, which proposes that media typically depicts women from a masculine point of view for the sexual pleasure of male audiences. The male gaze manifests in three ways: how men look at women, how women compare their appearances, and how women see themselves. Music videos frequently employ the male gaze by sexualizing female artists to appeal to male viewers. This objectifies women and can lower women's self-esteem by promoting unrealistic beauty standards. Critics argue the music industry and many festival lineups lack gender equality due to the disproportionate influence of the male perspective in media.

1. REPRESENTATIONCAL BEASLEY

2. THEMALEGAZE
THEORY
LAURA MULVEY IS A BRITISH FILM FEMINIST THEORIST, SHE CAME UP WITH THE THEORY OF
THE MALE GAZE. THE MALE GAZE IS ONE OF THE MOST RECOGNIZEABLE THEORIES
ASSOCIATING MEDIA AND FEMALES. MULVEY BELIEVES THAT THERE IS THREE WAYS THIS
WORKS. FIRSTLY, HOW MEN LOOK AT WOMEN. SECONDLY, HOW WOMEN COMPARE
THEMSELVES WITH ONE ANOTHER AND FINALLY, HOW WOMEN LOOK AT THEMSELVES.
MUSIC VIDEOS IS A MEDIA THAT THE MALE GAZE IS USED FREQUENTLY AND DOESN’T SEEM
LIKE IT’S GOING TO BE STOPPING ANYTIME SOON. USUALLY A FACTOR IN POP MUSIC, FOR
EXAMPLE, IN IYAZ’S MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘REPLAY’. THROUGHOUT THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR
‘REPLAY’, THE WOMEN IS FLAUNTING AROUND IN A SKIMPY BIKINI BEING THE MAIN
ATTRACTION AND A SELLING POINT TO THE AUDIENCE, USUALLY A MALE AUDIENCE SO THEY’RE
CAPTIVATED. ANOTHER THING MULVEY ARGUES FROM A FEMNIST POINT OF VIEW IS THAT
WOMEN LOOK AT THE WOMEN IN THE VIDEO AND COMPARES THEMSELVES AND LOWERS
THEIR SELF ESTEEM. THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR CHRISTINA AGUILERA’S ‘BEAUTIFUL’, THE
CHARACTERS IN THE MUSIC VIDEO ARE VERY JUDGEMENTAL OF THEMSELVES AT THE START
THEN THROUGHOUT BEGIN TO ACCEPT THEIR FLAWS THEY ONCE THOUGHT THEY HAD AND
EMBRACED THEM. IN THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘BEAUTFUL’ PEOPLE SEEING THE CHARACTERS ARE
BEING VERY JUDGEMENTAL. THIS IS ANOTHER FACTOR OF THE MALE GAZE THEORY.
IYAZ - REPLAY
CHRISTINA AGUILERA - BEAUTIFUL
SCOPOPHILLIA IS A GREEK WORD MEANING ‘THE LOVE OF LOOKING’, THIS IS AN OBJECTIFYING
WORD. MULVEY ILLUSTRATES THAT WOMEN ARE VERY RARELY A MAIN LEAD IN FILMS AND
TEND TO HAVE PASSIVE INVOLVEMENT WHEREAS MEN TEND TO HAVE THE MAIN LEAD, THIS
RESULTS IN THE WOMEN BEING AN OBJECT TO THE MALE LEAD OR LIKE A ‘BIT ON THE SIDE’.
DEROGATORY RIGHT.
THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS SOMETHING THAT THIS FEATURES HEAVILY. IN THE MUSIC VIDEOS
ABOVE THE FEMALE ARTISTS: RIHANNA, JLO AND IGGY AZALEA ARE EXTREMELY POWERFUL,
INDEPENDENT AND WELL RENOWED ARTISTS. HOWEVER, THEY’RE BEING
SEXUALISED/OBJECTIFIED FOR THE MALE EYE BY BEING IN SEXUAL POSITION OR OUTFITS.
MULVEY ALSO EXPLAINS THAT THE MAJORITY OF DIRECTORS ARE MALE IN THE INDUSTRY
RESULTING IN THE FEMALE PERFORMER TO BE SEEN AS ‘SEXY’ OR SUGGESTIVE.
RIHANNA – POUR IT UP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehcVomMexkY
JLO FEAT. IGGY AZALEA BOOTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxtIRArhVD4
SCOPOPHILLA

3. WITH READING/LEEDS FESTIVAL 2015 FULL LINEUP GOING LIVE TO THE PUBLIC, THE AUDIENCE
WEREN’T HAPPY WITH THE OUTCOME FOR MANY REASONS. ONE OF THE REASONS THAT
BROUGHT UP A SEA OF FRUSTRATION IS THE LACK OF FEMALE ARTISTS ON THE LINEUP.
CRACKINTHEROAD.COM NOTICED THE GENDER EQUALITY AND TOOK OUT ALL THE MALE
ARTISTS AND LEFT ONLY THE FEMALE ARTISTS (SHOWN ABOVE), AND AS YOU CAN SEE THE
RESULTS ARE SHOCKINGLY UNEVEN. THIS ISN’T SEEN TO BE JUST A COINCIDENCE EITHER IF YOU
LOOK AT THE SHORT AMOUNT OF ANNOUNCED ARTISTS FOR THIS YEARS READING/LEEDS
FESTIVAL (2016), THE ONLY ARTIST TO BE ANNOUNCED IS THE HINDS.
ALL ARTISTS ONLY FEMALE ARTISTS
WHEN LADY GAGA WON THE BILLBOARD WOMAN OF THE YEAR SHE WENT ON STAGE AND
GAVE A VERY RAW SPEECH ABOUT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND HOW WOMEN DON’T GET THE
RECOGNITION THEY ALL DESERVE.
"What I really want to say is that it is really hard sometimes for women in music. It’s like a
fucking boys’ club that we just can’t get into. … I tried for so long, I just really wanted to be
taken seriously as a musician for my intelligence more than my body ever in this business. You
don’t always feel like when you’re working that people believe that you have a musical
background, that you understand what you’re doing because you’re a female."
LADY GAGA ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Bj-ONpggl5s
MISOGYNY

4. Accourding to Fredrickson & Roberts, sexual objectification theory holds the idea that a lot of women
are sexually objectified and treated as an object for the pleasure of others.
A theorist called Bartky expresses that this is the case when the women’s body or body parts get
separated from the person itself and is viewed as a sexual/physical object of sexual desire.
Another theme of objectification is the fact that women are somehow seen to be dependent on men in
music videos. For example, in Arctic Monkey’s music video ‘Leave Before The Lights Come On’ which got
released as a 7” single just after their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s That What I’m Not.
In the music video, the woman is dependent on the male just before she is about to commit suicide. This
is suggesting the women is weak without the support from the male.
OBJECTIFICATION