1. “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and
passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled
accordingly” (Laura Mulvey, 1992)
In other words:
In music videos, the way we look is determined by the male who displays his fantasy of what the woman
would look like and the woman complies with this by wearing the clothes desired and having the hair the
way it‟s desired to be.
From this, you would expect to see provocative clothing on women, if any. This would then represent
women purely as sex symbols. The hip hop, R&B and rap genre „s really re-enforce this concept. However,
artists like Missy Elliott really challenge this stereotype. 1Mulvey‟s opinion would still be valid to
today‟s society.
E.G:
Dizzee Rascal - Holiday
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The reaction of the men to women shows them like animals searching for prey (or a mate), they watch them
intensely with long gazes and staring at different body parts, as if they are pieces of meat. The reaction of
the women to the men plays up to this idea with the women being all over them and showing some „needy‟
behaviour. The video portrays women as items as opposed to people. They are looked at as if they are
objects - nothing more than their bodies (what with them being half naked and the men fully clothed). It
suggests they are sex symbols. However, the men are shown as wealthy, powerful and popular with the
women - generally a positive reflection. It is shown from a mans, perhaps Dizzee Rascals, perspective. The
primary audience would definitely be young boys because of all the half naked women. Mulvey’s quote is
definitely applicable because it looks like a portrayal of a mans fantasy. The idea that women are
„dismembered‟ is also relevant here because there are lots of shots of body parts as opposed to a full body
shot. There are shots of breasts, legs, back, bum whereas men are shown in the face, the way you would
show someone as a whole. You barely see the women‟s faces, and if so, its from a far.
Missy Elliott - “All N My Grill”

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The reaction of the men to the women only features small in the video, but when it does, it seems the men
are reluctantly giving up, and do not challenge the women. At one point, near the end, the man is all over
the woman. The reaction of the women to the men seems to be very different from a usual video as the
woman barely acknowledges the men, she is very feisty, has an attitude toward them and is very strong
minded. It‟s as if they are superior to the men. The video portrays women as strong characters and it is very
empowering and challenges stereotype, with a female police officer. The video portrays men as the objects
this time, and we see them as the sex symbols. It is definitely from a women‟s perspective E.G. Missy
Elliott’s. The audience for the video would be women as the half naked men would appeal to women more
and its empowering. The video challenges the conventions of Mulvey‟s quote. It is probably the very
opposite of what a man would imagine, so more so reflects a woman‟s mind. It also challenges Mulvey‟s
theory about women being „dismembered‟ as it is shots of the mans body parts that we see, but full view of
the women, portraying the women as a whole and the man as „dismembered‟.