Laura Mulvey

‘In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled according’ (Laura Mulvey, 1992)

Mulvey is stating that in this society the inequality of men and women’s representation are reflected in music video. Women are put across in a way that is suited to the male fantasy of the ideal woman, through the use of clothing and actions.

Dizzee Rascal’s video ‘Holiday’ is an example of a video that presents women as sexual objects. The women in the video are all dressed in bikinis. There's a double standard as all the men are dressed up looking wealthy surrounded by women. An example of the male gaze in video occurs as a woman walks past and the man watches her with excitement. There are several close ups and medium shots focusing on the women’s bodies. There are many stereotypical views of women in this video. As women wear animalistic clothing and are presented as objects of men.

Missy Elliot’s video ‘The Rain’ breaks this representation, as she isn’t represented as a sexual object and subject to the male gaze. A fish eye lens is used to make her appear larger them she is taking away all sexual representations. Additionally she’s fully clothed and wears an inflated black bag that further makes her less sexually appealing and appears mad. Therefore, this video broke the stereotypical views and images created within Hip Hop videos as some artist do the polar opposite.