The main ways in which women are presented in the media are:
The hegomistic view of women as housewives or mothers (domestic)
Sexualised, women are often viewed as sex objects in the media
Stereotypical: eg, less significant than men (less intelligent, less able to look after themselves - damsel in distress due to the patriarchal nature of our society
There is also an 'idealised image' of women in the media - an idea of 'perfect beauty', where they are often presented as:
From as early as the 1920's, women have been presented in the media as objectified and sole purposely to 'please' the male audience. Many ideas such as Laura Mulvey's 'The Gaze' can reinforce this idea.
Mulvey claimed that women are turned into sex objects due to how they are portrayed in cinematography, that by showing only body parts and not the whole body. This is thought to be present for male pleasure. She called this fragmentation which leads to objectification.
Some people may feel as though this representation has improved over recent years, and in some ways it has. It is true that in reality women now have the vote, and can have almost any job that a male can, so why is it also true that we are just as likely to see the domestic woman in a cleaning product advert today, as we were in the past?
A contrasting viewpoint is that of some audience members who believe that representations of women in sexual contexts connotes not the exploitation of women but an example of their freedom and libety to express themselves.
Lily Allen, Music Video Controversy
I thought that the controversy related with Lily Allen's newly released music video for her latest single is a perfect example when discussing the ways in which women are portrayed in the music industry and media as a whole. Allen uses exaggerated sarcasm to get her viewpoint across in this video, showing what unfortunately the music induustry is like for women.
This is the music video to Lily Allen's new single 'Hard Out Here'. She has received lots of controversy for her choice of content in the video, and people have different opinions on it. It is a great example of the representation of female artists in the music industry as her lyrics and video mock the stereotypical and general views of women and female musicians.
This article from the daily mail shows some views on the matter.
'The gaze' is mentioned where Allen sings the lyrics "don't you want to have somebody who objectifies you?" as in the idea that women are representated to please men.
In my opinion, the video simply reflects the lyrics being sung, where she explains how women are exploited in the music industry, shown in her video, although this does not necessarily mean that she agrees with it. For example, she sings
"If I told you about my sex life
You'd call me a slut
Them boys be talking 'bout their bitches
No one's making a fuss"
which shows how women are much more criticised in the media in comparison to males. I do not think that Lily Allen is exploiting black females in her video, although it is very uncomfortable and stereotypical, I think that these measures needed to be taken in order for her point to be made. It has aroused publicity and debate, which is what I think she wanted in order for her views to be recognised.
Robin Thicke also received negative criticism for his music video to the single 'Blurred Lines' however, I think Allen's video is vastly different since sarcasm is clearly highlighted in both her lyrics and the video contents itself.
For example, in one part of the video, Allen parades in front of balloons spelling out "Lily Allen has a baggy pussy", a sarcastic imitation of the Blurred Line's "Robin Thicke has a big dick" display. Although, Lily's choice to open the audience up to such a personal remark, shows her strong self confidence, where she says this about herself so that the media can not.
