Female sexualisation within the industry has been apparent since Madonna, where in her ‘Like a Virgin’ (Madonna, 1984), she saw sexualising herself with her dances and her movements on the boat ride, showing an act of the ‘divine feminine’ from her perspective. Still, the music video is created to suit the male gaze as Laura Mulvey explains in her essay on ‘visual pleasure and narrative cinema’ states that the way women are shown as objects of desire is influenced by both technology and the time period (Mulvey, 1975).
similar to this, has the representation of women in music videos changed? Well, looking at Dojo Cats’ music video of ‘Woman’ (dojacatVEVO, 2021), there are some scenes where women are still sexualised. For example, in the scene where she is on the table crawling around while a table full of men looks at her. Again, this clearly shows that the male gaze is visible even in modern contemporary media and also agrees with what Benson Allot has to say about how the ‘female performer’ is fetishised (2013).
in contrast to this, the sexualisation of women in music videos can be seen as more of a feminist way of representing women. For example, in Doja Cats music video for ‘Woman’ (dojacatVEVO, 2021), shows she is seen dancing and performing erotically while half naked, but she looks like she is confident in her own body and gives direct eye contact to the viewer, reinforcing the female gaze and breaking the ideal stereotypes in the music industry. Also, she is redefining her female sexuality and using it as a tool for success.
In conclusion, music videos for women haven’t changed as much over the years, from Madonna ‘sexualised’ video for ‘Like a Virgin’ (1984) to Doja Cat’s ‘feminised’ music video of ‘Woman’ (2021).
bibliography:
BensonAllott, C. (2013). 127Going Gaga for Glitch: Digital Failure @nd Feminist Spectacle in TwentyF1rst Century Music Video. In: C. Vernallis, A. Herzog and J. Richardson, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Sound and Image in Digital Media. [online] Oxford University Press, p.0. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199757640.013.003.
dojacatVEVO (2021). Doja Cat – Woman (Official Video). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxW5yuzVi8w&list=PLmDB3nVSJV1h39BPax90QnyRVoCQyQ5DT&index=5 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2024].
Madonna (1984). Madonna – Like A Virgin (Official Music Video). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s__rX_WL100.
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), pp.6–18.
Dhruvi dhokia
Digital Audiovisual Media Class Blog 
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