Research: Laura Mulvey's ideas on representation

Laura Mulvey says that sexual inequality is still very evident in today’s society; Men are portrayed as active and women as passive. Women are demoralized through the male gaze and usually styled to please men in the media; this is both in film and music video.

Women tend to be ‘dismembered’ in all forms of media, there isn’t focus on women as a whole but more specifically on parts of their body; this is why Mulvey calls it ‘Dismembered’ as the whole of a woman tends to be dismembered and instead focuses on a specific part of her body such as her bum or breasts. Mulvey reasons that this is why women are obsessed with media and looking a certain way as women in the media are portrayed in a specific way that men see as desirable so real women think that they must look a certain way or exactly the same to be desirable or appealing to men as well.

• The men in this music video are fully dressed whilst the women are in bikini’s
• Dismemberment is evident: e.g. focuses on specific body parts of the women such as breasts, bum and legs
• The way the women act in comparison with men shows them as passive and men as active: in one shot a female brings a towel to her man and puts it on for him; this portrays women as doting and in a way submissive to the men who are dressed quite flashy with gold chains and watches.

• The men are in the position of power – Man at door decides which girl can get into the party or not by giving her ‘the male gaze’ to determine how attractive she is
• Dismemberment occurs throughout the whole of the music video of women’s body parts
• The men are all fully clothed e.g. Hawaii shirts and shorts with flashy jewellery and designer clothing whilst the women are in skimpy bikini’s
• Dizzee Rascal has ‘the power’ as he is center stage in the middle of all these adoring women