RESEARCH: Laura Mulvey's Theory

''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 accordingly.'' (Laura Mulvey, 1992)

The image of an artist in a music video is carefully planned, From the choice of clothes and hairstyle to the situation or 'narrative' that the artist is placed within. As an audience, we will 'read' or deconstruct this representation and will interpret it based on our own cultural references and understanding. Through doing this, we also become accustomed to seeing familiar representations within the videos for particular artists.

Laura Mulvey observed that women are most frequently represented in music videos as objects that have the purpose of providing pleasure to men, because men usually hold the power and influence in the world. Women usually conform to these standards and have a passive attitude, appearing not to be bothered by the 'male gaze'.
Women are often dismembered in music videos, in the sense that only certain parts of their bodies are shown (breasts, lips, legs, etc.).


A music video which exemplifies Laura Mulvey's theory is Beyonce's 'Upgrade U' feat. Jay-Z, where Beyonce has a very provocative image.

 In this video, Beyonce is often dismembered, as we only see parts of her body in close-up shots:

We can see that in some parts of the video Beyonce dances as Jay-Z sings, and she acts as an object that Jay-Z is using for his own pleasure: