STAGE 4: REPRESENTATION

As it is one of the four key media theoretical frameworks, I researched into representations of artists in music videos as well as researching into the theorists that analyse how representation in media affects society. I am particularly interested in representations of gender due to my artist's place as a female artist in a male-dominated industry.

Gerbner's 'Cultivation Theory' argues that "exposure to repeated patterns of representation over long periods of time can shape and influence the way in which people perceive the world around them."

This often means that the artist is an inspirational figure to their TA, reinforced through their platforms online, on social media and live in concert. I am planning to portray feminist ideas through my music video, explained further below, in order to positively portray my female artist and her diverse support network of women, subverting stereotypes previously exploited in films targeted at the female audience.


Gender representations explored in dance music videos, particularly when there is a female artist. In many of the examples I researched into, the female protagonists were often portrayed as independent and strong through both the lyrics and visuals displayed. A multicultural and multiethnic society is also represented through the portrayal of the 'girl gang.' These groups of women are from different ethnic backgrounds and are represented as being the main artist's support system, but each possessing their own originality, expressed often through their appearance: costume and make-up choices.

'Friends'- Marshmallow ft. Anne Marie (2018)

For example, the screenshot below is from 'Friends' by Anne Marie. The lyrics describe a narrative in which she is friendzoning her ex-boyfriend who refuses to leave her house after a party. The supportive group around her, seen in a MLS, stick around at her house to help her out and get rid of him from her life. The group of women are portrayed as each having their own identities, with individual tastes in fashion and make-up, all in unique costumes that express the different character's styles. Furthermore, this positive view on women's independence is reinforced by the lyrics portraying Anne-Marie controlling her own destiny and pushing the man
away when she knows she doesn't want him:
"You're not my lover, more like a brother."

'New Rules'- Dua Lipa (2017)

My second example is from Dua Lipa's video for 'New Rules.' The song's lyrics essentially serve as a girl's rule book for dealing with their ex, "One: Don't pick up the phone... Two: Don't let him in... Three: Don't be his friend." This reinforces the idea of a female support network and is reinforced by the screenshot on the left, composed of nine girls visually supporting each other, no matter who they are. The group of girls could also be symbolising Dua Lipa's fans who may see her as a role model or 'big sister' figure as they are the people she is singing her relationship advice to.


These feminist values, attitudes and beliefs are portrayed as a part of Dua Lipa's overall brand identity, as it is for many other influencial females, particularly those with household names following their work in the often controversial, and traditionally patriarchal, music and film industries. For example, Kristen Bell has recently attacked the way the idea of consent is tackled in classic fairytales such as Snow White, where the prince kisses the princess while she is asleep, with the idea of consent on the women's part being completely ignored.

Consent campaign video by 'Amnesty International Canada' 

Van Zoonen's theories about the male gaze portray how female bodies are objectified, with the male audience seeing the female body as a spectacle, with her gender being performed through her feminine movements and often sexual actions. However, this theory could be interpreted inversely through the following quote from Van Zoonen: "the recurring images of women in popular media have some influence on how people think of women in real life."

As Dua Lipa tells her impressionable, young fans that the third rule of a break-up is "Don't be his friend," she is empowering them to not change themselves for a guy. She instead supports the gaze being returned to the viewer and the ideas of modern feminism with women supporting other women.



Beyonce's music video for 'Single Ladies' (screenshot below) represents females in a more sexualised manner, wanting their appearances and bodies to be appreciated by the men watching. These audience members are theorised to be gazing upon the women, particularly engaging in scopophilia due to the objectification of the female body, particularly their legs in this example, although other body parts such as their breasts or lips have conventionally also been objectified.

Screenshot from the 'Single Ladies' music video (2008)

For men working in the music industry, this representation of women may have been seen as the only way to ensure that an artist generated revenue for the company. But these techniques have been challenged more and more frequently in recent years as newer generations want to see these traditional values, attitudes and beliefs challenged on a mainstream scale in the whole industry. Despite this, artists such as Beyonce could argue that they have complete control over how they are represented across their entire brand and choose to empower themselves through sexualisation, rather than it being imposed or forced onto them by people (often men) working above them. Although media theorists such as Van Zoonen would fiercely disagree. 

Going back to Dua Lipa's video, the visually-striking different coloured bath robes also work to portray the group women as individuals, who are as important as Dua herself, who almost disappears into the group of women despite being the star; with the MLS itself portraying each woman as important as the next, all of whom support each other. In comparison to this, an older video such as Beyonce's could be seen as portraying the backing dancers as objects, unimportant as individuals due to their identical costumes.

'Black Magic'- Little Mix

I plan to incorporate this female support system into my narrative and through my research have found that this is a unique proposition for a song where the lyrics do not revolve around the theme of a break-up or relationship trouble. Such female camaraderie is often seen in female bands, such as Little Mix (right) with four members, but is an original concept for a single female artist's music video. Therefore my video is working to fill a gap in the market.



Although I am planning to draw intertextuality from so-called 'chick-flick' films, based in a 'high school' environment, many of these have lacked ethnic representation in its main characters, who are overwhelmingly white, as seen in the pictures from 'Heathers' and 'Mean Girls' below. Furthermore, where other minority social groups are included they are portrayed as side characters or worse, a group of people with no names or dialogue, who feature only feature in a single scene. For example, in Mean Girls (2004), when the school structure is described to the audience, the groups are listed, including the rather inappropriate labels of 'Asian nerds' and 'cool Asians.' They are addressed as a group and all represented as exactly the same.

'Heathers' (1989) and 'Mean Girls' (2004)

Moreover, the narratives of the films above are often based around themes focused on having a crush on a boy, which sequentially turns the women into monsters who turn against each other in the story with the one aspiration of getting the attractive boyfriend.

Rather than this, I plan on promoting strong female support systems in my music video, incorporating a multi-ethnic group of women, who will act as my artist's support system, each with their own sense of originality with unique costumes and make-up. Therefore, subverting the belief systems portrayed in the films described above, where primarily one social group is represented, to appeal to my whole target audience and promote representations of all women being independent and powerful, without the need for males in the narrative itself.