Exam Question

Analyse the representation of gender in the music videos for "The Man " by Taylor Swift and "Riptide " by Vance Joy      ( 30 marks / 800 words minimum)

In both of these music videos gender is represented in similar ways, in "Riptide" and “The man” portray women as having less relevance and having less acknowledgement than men. Also, in her music video she emphasises how if she was a man she would gain more respect and be more heard in society especially in business. Women are shown to be vulnerable, insignificant and as a victim in “Riptide”.

 In certain areas and scenes of the music video it challenges the typical stereotypes of women as being submissive and weak. An example of this is when we see the woman breaking free from the tree that she was tied to which may suggest to the audience that she was being tortured, representing men as aggressive figures and as a bully. Another aspect is the use of low camera angles to suggest how women have power and strength which challenges the stereotypical view of women as being passive. There wasn't many stereotypes about men as this video was solely focused on portraying women. 

This contrasts with "The Man" by Taylor Swift as the main message and ideas that she tries to portray is the double standards of men and women and comparing the two. In her music video she plays the role of a successful business man who has a daughter. In the opening frame we see the main character in his office staring out his windows in between the words 'the man' which could suggest that he's the man everyone looks up to and wants to be like. This asserts his dominance as a man which could also be inferred from how he's looking out into the world from the window which could show how because he's a man he has power in the world unlike women who are stereotypically insignificant.  

The second shot is him giving orders to his employees and being praised by them which shows their admiration for him. This scene links to the representation of men because men are more likely to be praised in work areas whereas women have to work harder. Her music video links in with Stuart Halls theory of representation and emphasise his beliefs that stereotypes usually come about when there is inequality, for example between men and women and usually when there are people in power, typically from the hegemonic groups in society.

Next we see, when he is on the train and his legs are wide open and he is smoking whilst sitting in between two women not even caring. This shows the difference in men and women and how gender is represented because if a women did that it is seen as un-lady like and women have so much ideas to conform to and standards to uphold. This further contrats with the men because no one would even think any different if a male sat with their legs open and started smoking because of how society thinks. The passengers remained silent represent how society overlook many bad and dishonourable things that men do. In society and Taylor Swift’s music video men are represented as being under less pressure and can just do whatever they want and the women will be passive and let it slide. This compares with “Riptide” because throughout the video the audience notices that the women is being tortured which is conveyed though the horror like iconography and certain scenes. The women in this video fight back and help herself out of the situation which shows that women can stand up for themselves and be powerful.

We see how men are praised more than women as it is unexpected for men to carry out certain tasks for example, when the man was sat in the park with his daughter all he did was lift her up and he announced the worlds greatest dad but if a women was to do that it wouldn’t be anything special or something to congratulate. This again shows the audience society’s outlook on the two genders and how gender stereotypes play a key part in representation. 

Furthermore, in “The Man”, and in “Riptide” women are being sexualised particularly in the beginning scene of “Riptide”. In this scene the use camera angles play a key part as it is recording her body and her face isn’t being shown. This resulting in the fact that she potentially has no idea that she is being recorded. This gives the audience the impression that women aren’t valued or being respected within this video. Women are objectified  to a certain extent. This is also evident in a scene in “The Man” where women are sexualised which is when they are on the boat celebrating and the rich protagonist is surrounded by lots of women only dressed in bikinis and their use of flirtatious body language towards the camera as well as the male figure during the close ups emphasises women’s objectification. Also, with them laying on the floor and him standing amongst them shows how he holds greater status and power and is superior to them. Reinforcing stereotypes that the male gender is more dominate against females.

In both music videos they link to Van Zoonens theory that women are objectified as a result of western culture, but are shown in different ways in each video. In “The Man” women are objectified as not being appreciated for the work that they do and being less acknowledged then men. Whereas, in “Riptide” women are objectified as nothing but pure objects used for their bodies and for  others pleasures which intertwine with the ‘male gaze’ to send messages to a greater audience.

However, there are also aspects of representation of gender in both videos that differ from one another. In "The Man" Swift presents how men hold a stronger hierarchy than women and are more interesting. This is shown through the fact that throughout the whole video the main protagonist is a male character. Although there are still female actors in the video there are very minimal camera action towards them and is predominantly concentrated on the male character. Relating to society today this portrayal isn’t seen out of the ordinary because men are still seen as a more important gender in comparison to females. This follows the audiences expectations of the narrative because they already have an idea as to what the video would be based around due to the title of the music video. This relates to Halls Theory that stereotyping occurs when there is a representation of inequality of power, which in terms of “The Man” is completely true, as the stereotyping used in this video asserts full power to the male gender with more emphasis due to the use of the lyrics as well. 

On the other hand, “Riptide” show men as having no importance due to the lack of male characters used and the absence of them throughout the video. This  challenges the audience’s expectations because the lyrics imply that the narrative would be from a male perspective. Whenever a male character is shown it isn’t used in a positive representation. The absence of a male  portrays how women don’t need to have a man present in order to be/do certain things & in this aspect, to be objectified. This goes against Halls theory where stereotypes occur when there is an inequality of power because although a male character is absent from the video the director is still able to make women come across as weak and defenceless in the eyes of the media, through the theme of domestic abuse occurring repetitively throughout the video. The use of close up camera shots and dark, mellow lighting in certain scenes this emphasises how she would seem scared and afraid. This Contrats to “The Man” where both genders are used consistently in the video to portray the inequalities of power through stereotypes.