Gender Bending In The Music Industry Essay

Country music is a staple of American culture, however it does not properly represent over half of its audience. Female musicians in the country music genre are heavily outweighed by their male counterparts in terms of radio airplay and sales. Why do the successful country music artists not reflect the demographic of the audience? Has representation of each gender in country music always been as skewed as it is today? Female artists in country music should receive the same opportunities or treatment from the industry that male artists do.

Director Sut Jhally, in his documentary film, “Dreamworlds 3: Desire, sex, and power in music videos”, analyzes the issue of how women are portrayed in the music world. Jhally, in his film argues how music and media has become a proud industry when it comes to advertising women, all for the benefit of popularity and record sales. Jhally believes these videos both inform and misinform our culture about our dominant attitudes regarding femininity masculinity, sexuality and race. He uses an empathetic tone in order to appeal to pathos, the feelings and experiences in women when he presents video clips that are somewhat offensive to watch as proof that women have become a common necessity shown in music videos. Often presented as being sexually aggressive and submissive, being objectified by men. He also intentionally wants to try to stir up emotions as he introduces song lyrics of women being called inappropriate names and images of women being fondled by men throughout the film. Sometimes, aggressively without consent.

From wearing cupcake bra outfits to performing in a lavish swimsuit, Katy Perry has demonstrated how women in the music industry use sex appeal to captivate their audience. In today’s society, it isn’t uncommon to see female artists in revealing, flashy outfits surrounded by flashing lights and steam. Artists such as Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj have certainly made news headlines for their audacious performances. In many cases, artists are presenting false images to their fans as an investment for future sales. Female artists continue to be sexually objectified by their audience, which increase their viewership, which leads to record labels pressuring artists to keep a sexy image.

Feminists that approach analyzing popular culture proceed from a variety of theoretical positions that carry with them a deeper social analysis and political agenda. Popular culture has been a critical part of feminist analysis. “Cultural politics are crucially important to feminism because they involve struggles over meaning” (Storey, Intro 136). Analyzing a piece of pop culture through a feminist viewpoint, whether it be a music video or any sort of media, opens up a broader discussion about the structure of our patriarchal society and the ways in which politics are constantly portrayed and

In 1997, Shania Twain released the song “Man I feel like a woman!”. The catchy melody immediately made this song a huge hit, but it’s the meaning of the lyrics that made it the feminist anthem that is still loved after so many years. The music video itself is empowering as it shows a confident Shania in the spotlight surrounded by her male musicians. However, the lyrics are what this analysis is more focused on. Twain sings about being her true self and letting loose. The song is an example of feminism, because it challenges gender stereotypes, the pressure put on girls to look a certain way and gender norms. The argument will be structured in three paragraphs, each developing on one of the ideas found in the thesis.

This study works to examine the use of sexual objectification of women in music videos today. The primary purpose was to examine the differences between genres, specifically hip-hop and country. I tested the following; Women are more likely to be sexualized in hip-hop music videos than in country music videos.

In her article “The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto: Negotiating Spaces for Women,” Imani Perry argues that the objectification of women in the music industry is normalized in our society. Her purpose is to persuade us that most feminists who fight against the objectification and exploitation of women are ultimately colonized by the sexual fantasies of men. As a law professor at Rutgers Law School, Perry structures her text in a very effective manner. Using a general-to-specific organization scheme, she begins by outlining the recurring image of sexualized women in music videos, then presenting various cases of prominent feminist figures in the music industry.

Intro: Like various art forms such as film, television, and literature allows artists to express their own sense of identity, that being nationality, race, class, ethnicity, gender or sexuality. In this case, Queen uses music to illustrate the themes of gender and sexuality through their music video I Want to Break Free (1983). This essay will attempt to discuss how Queen’s music video, I Want to Break Free, explores queerness in relation to queer theory. Firstly, I will introduce the ideas and arguments of queer theory through Gilbert Herdt article Same Sex Different Cultures (1997). I will then discuss Queen’s portrayal of drag within the music video and how it can be seen as queer rather than heterosexual. Lastly, I will argue that

I propose that all unsigned rising artist should target the business side of the music industry to be successful in the entertainment business because it allows the artist to be taken seriously and make solid connections that can further his/her career. Learning the works of the music industry also enables a new artist to be further successful and profitable. Recent studies show that most new artists without professional representation and a business mindset have a slimmer chance in getting signed to major or independent labels (Lowry, 2011). Overall, the specific change needed is that unsigned artists should be concentrating on their careers as professionals and not amateurs, thus focusing on the ins and outs of the music business and

Sexualisation is a way that mass media, celebrities or advertising can make young or old people, especially young girls, become more provocative in the way that they speak, dress and behave

Micheal Jackson and Madonna were one of the best artists to take advantage of the emerging video age. Micheal Jackson’s music videos changed the dimenision of pop music in the 1980s and earned the title King of Pop. His energy and highly ambitious dance was the main aspect of his dance music videos. The first of his music videos was the extended twelve-minute video “Thriller” directed by Hollywood’s John Landies. Like Micheal Jackson, Madonna’s music is usually plays by dance beat. She has dance-club background. Her first recordings were success in New York dance-club scene.

Just listening to a track and hearing the word bitch continuously used, as in Jay Z’s “99 Problems”, on the surface structure, it

Within popular culture today, objectified female bodies can be represented everywhere from advertising images to magazine covers, television, music and many more. Through these media institutions, we allow them to construct social identities in ways that allow us to understand what it means to be black, white, Asian, male or female etc. Within many popular culture mediums such as music, stereotypical representations of racially marked female bodies are often formed. Thus, these representations also have the ability to create stories about a certain culture. In music videos, it does not go unnoticed that women are portrayed as objects whose objectives are to pleasure men. In this paper, I will argue how racially marked female bodies are represented. This paper will mainly focus on how these racially marked women are depicted in the hip hop culture. To demonstrate this, I will draw examples by using award winning music videos by Nicki Minaj, R.Kelly, 50 cent to exemplify representations of the female body and how they are objectified as sex objects. In conclusion, we will be able to see how the female bodies are used in mainstream hip hop videos to convey seductively.

Thesis: Colbie Caillat uses her music to spread positivity and acceptance, making her a muse, while Madonna serves as a monster by encouraging reckless behavior and unnecessary rebelliousness. MUSE TS: Colbie Caillat serves as a muse by promoting positivity and self love and calling out today’s unrealistically high beauty standards. In her song, “Try”, Caillat addresses young girls who struggle to fit in and appreciate their unique beauty. C1: In the beginning of the song, she criticizes the pressure put on girls to look “perfect” by voicing the message they get from the media and from other people.

Lady Gaga is a popstar widely known for her jarring outfits, performances and music videos, which are often violent and hypersexual. She is both vilified and praised by popular media, earning the titles artist, blasphemer, inspiration, harlot, and imposter. In her most recent solo album, entitled ARTPOP, she uses symbolism to make a statement about sexual assault, the fluidity of sexuality, addiction, and the significance of fashion to self expression. The entire album, like all of her others, has a religious theme; this album has an ancient Greek motif. The extended music video for her song “G.U.Y.” challenges traditional gender roles, highlights the rise of music and pop culture as art, and how it can impact people’s lives much like religion