Representation

Representation

Representation is often used within media texts to give the audience an impression of something or someone, for example, gender. Often, particularly in music videos, women are portrayed as a sexual object, which depending on how they are represented can be both positive and negative. Also, in music videos, women often take on the typically ‘sexy’ roles, with many dancers in music videos being women. Women are also known to sometimes dress up as characters which are stereotypically female. Britney Spears is an artist who often portrays herself as a sexy blonde in her music videos, and deliberately makes herself a sexual 'object', as a way of selling her music. Examples of her taking on typically female occupations in her videos is her portrayal of an air hostess in her video 'Toxic' and a secretary in her video for 'Womanizer'.

Voyeurism and Exhibitionism

Voyeurism and Exhibitionism is often a convention seen within representation in music videos. Voyeurism opens questions for the audience, and gives the audience a feeling of watching through a keyhole, as if they are intruding, and almost shouldn't be watching. This can be used effectively within music videos, as many can have an insight into more personal things such as relationships, and it feels as if the audience is watching a personal journey of some kind. Exhibitionism is an opposite, and can link well to the example of Britney Spears in a number of her music videos. Britney Spears exhibits herself as a sexy female, with many of the shots including a hardly clothed Spears dancing explicitly. She does this to promote herself as a sexy female. It is her way of promoting both her music and her profile, and exhibitionism is a common form of representation.