“ In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The deterring male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly” (Laura Mulvey, 1992)
In my own words I believe she is trying to say where men are the more dominate characters in music videos females are ‘passive’ and lack a role but remain objects. This is seen where females are dressed in a sexual way for ‘male gaze’ and are shown as decoration on purpose.
Conventionally especially in the genre of hip pop/rap women would be made to look provocatively with loads of skin wearing less than nothing on. The cinema position the audience as male. The camera gazes at the female objects on screen often framing the character watching the female. Traditionally women in their appearance are coded for a strong visual and erotic impact for example Nicki Minaj ‘Anaconda’.
The video is deliberately over the top. Videos like these get noticed very easily and spread through word of mouth or social media which explains why she broke the VEVO record of more that 19 Million views in less than 24 hours. The representation of the jungle is seen throughout but can also be linked to the history of black people and the whole scene of black people in the jungle. When thinking of Nicki Minaj, Sarah Barnit comes to mind. A women who got sold around the world to be made mockery of because of her naturally fat derriere. The scene where she is in the gym is the representation of women in society have to keep up with appearance and staying healthy. Afterwards we see the kitchen scene where the audience see sexualised actions. Back to laura mulveys theory where the camera is positioned for male gaze has been used throughout the video as its dismembered, only showing specific body parts such as breasts and bum rather than her.
Whereas there are females which go against it or at least try as male gaze does cause repetition of viewing’s but still switch the roles for example Jennifer Lopez ‘I Love You Papi’.
Within the beginning of the video we see the girls complaining about how it would be easy to come up with a video idea for guys as they would have settings such as a mansion or a yacht with ‘half naked girls’ then they go on to say how women are always being objectified and why can’t women objectify the men. Then the audience are able to see the roles switching where the men are only in boxers where Jennifer Lopez has more clothes on in the mansion and then leading to the Yacht. Although Jennfier Lopez and her friends are not fully dressed we see the men being used as sexual objects feeding them grapes reference to Greece where goddesses would have men servants feed them grapes. This shows women in a new light where their in control.
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