Women within the music industry

Over the years the music industry has undergone drastic changes. However, one thing that still seems to be unchanging is the representation of women in music videos and the industry. There has been some resistance against the dominant representation from huge artists such as Beyoncé, Lily Allen and Fifth Harmony.

Figure 1

The dominant representation of women is that they are secondary to men. In Iyaz's music video "Replay" women are portrayed as a sexual object to men whose purpose is to be looked at by males. This video supports the Male Gaze Theory which states that males' eyes will go to the women who are presented in a voyeuristic way. The theory however is reductionist in that it does not consider homosexuality and is also sexist as it assumes all men will look at the female. The female in Iyaz's video is purely for voyeurism. In figure 1 the low angle show of the women emphasises her feminine features. This creates a toxic representation to other women that they must have a certain "look" in order to be accepted socially.

The recent years are now dominated by strong female artists, most notably Beyoncé. Many of her songs are focused on women such as "Run The World", "Single Ladies" and "Formation". Beyoncé's music is respected and she has become vocal about gender equality. In 2016 she voiced her views on Donald Trump and voiced her support towards the Anti-Trump Woman's March on January 21st. Beyoncé has began to use her platform to voice her own opinions and urge other women to do the same.

Over the years however the representation has changed due to a social change and acceptance of equality. In the recent years women's rights have increased to a point where discrimination towards women in industries has been recognised allowing for women to spread their word. Most notably, in 2016 Beyoncé released her album "Lemonade" which was a powerful album of songs which celebrate women. Also, Lily Allen released a song called 'Hard Out Here', 2013, which points out the discrimination towards women. It criticises how society views towards women and brands them as "sluts" or "fat". Lily Allens music video features a lipo-suction scene which refers to the common criticism of calling women fat despite her having 2 babies. It shows the high standards society hold women to and criticises them giving women more power in the music industry.

Also, women are finally becoming recognised for their contribution to the music industry and gaining momentum within their rights. This is seen in the Women's Marches on Donald Trump's inauguration. Women are no longer afraid to fight for themselves and during the march artists such as Miley Cyrus were there to reinforce women's rights. This new found confidence and self-belief in women has allowed female artists to emerge as strong artists on the same level as male artists.

Also, in Sisqo's song 'Thong Song' women are highly objectified and follow Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory. The women have no name but referred to with concrete nouns such as "baby" or just pronouns such as "she". Within the music video the shots of the women focus on purely feminine features of women and present them in a highly sexualised way to appeal to the male audience. In Mulvey's Male Gaze theory she also stated that women are distracted by comparing themselves with the idealised representation of women in the video. The video encourages voyeurism and men view the video in a sexual way and gives them power as they have the ability to observe them whereas the women cannot observe them. This creates a power unbalance between the sexes and it puts women in a lower position within the music video.

However, the Male Gaze theory has some weaknesses. Some women enjoy being watched and enjoy being seen in a sexual way. Not necessarily to impress men but for themselves, giving women power over their own sense of sexuality.
The theory also does not consider homosexual males or homosexual females. Therefore it cannot explain mainstream media today.  The theory was created in 1975 and therefore does not reflect the recent media.