WHAT I PROPOSE TO DO MY STUDY ABOUT...

Summary of my study

My study will focus on the representation of women in the hip hop music industry. My study will particularly examine how females are represented through music videos. I will be analysing all different aspects of these music videos in order to fully understand how a particular representation is created and why this is so. I will be focusing on many different music videos in order to get an idea of the broader picture of this topic, however, I will be looking more closely at R-Kelly’s “I’m a flirt” and Fat Joe’s “Make it rain”. I believe by more closely focusing on certain texts I can create a solid argument.

I believe that my study will show that women are represented as being inferior to men and also that females are heavily objectified. I believe that women will be subject to Laura Maulvey’s theory of the ‘male gaze’.

There are many aspects to a music video one must consider when analysing how a certain representation is created, one of which is media language. I will look closely at the cinematography, costumes, lighting, editing etc. and hopefully conclude on how a certain representation of women is created. I will also look into how this affects the audience and how the audience affects the content of the music video. The audience is a vital aspect of this case study as the soul purpose of a music video is to sell the record and through this study I will be able to accurately examine how this is done. As well as this, some feminist groups may have problems with how females are represented and therefore may have an affect on the content of videos in some cases. It is also interesting to look into different institutions and directors of music videos, such as the record label ‘Rocafella’ and the music video director ‘Hype Williams’ and what messages as very influential figures in the industry portray to their audience.

The Social, Historical, Economical and Political aspects must also be considered in order to understand why the content is appropriate for its time and how the industry has evolved to become like this. When considering the social aspect, it is important in my study to understand what women are seen as in society and whether inferiority still exists. It is also good to consider influential groups such as the feminists who have an effect on what is correct or not. Other media content in different genres may also be looked into when looking at the social aspect. When looking into history, I must definitely consider the feminist movement as this was groundbreaking in the changing representation of women. As well as this I will look into traditional norms and values in which society more so based itself upon in previous decades. The political state will also affect what is portrayed in these texts. The idea that American texts such as the ones that I am studying can be made like this because of the right wing government is one definite possibility.