key words

actuality- filming or reporting of real events...how far from the reality of woemn is hip hop viedos.

american dream- the idea that america is the land of oppurtunity and it is a meritocratic society...is the women a symbol of achievement in hip hop?

archetype- an often repeated charcter type or representation which is instantly recognisable to an audience...are the women an archetype?

audience profile- finding out the characteristics of a demographic...is this what men really want?

black feminism- black females opressed by gender and race...is this the only way thses black females can live?

bricolage- random assembly by culture groups of various cultural signifiers to form new and often unintended meanings.

capitalism- the set up economic structure...women are selling their bodies.

chiaroscuro lighting- extremes of lighting used for extreme portrayal of characteristics...this lighting in these videos usually portray women as purely seductive.

cognition- the process of percieving, collecting and organsisng info...what do the audience do with what they see?

common sense- the consensus attitude of society...is their a lack present within the hip hop demographic, is this being exploited?

construction- the process behind creating a media text...why does this process result in mysoginistic texts?

consumerism- the economic system and variation of capitalism based around the compulsive consumption of goods and services...do we as an audience allow this consumption?

consensus- the middle ground of the views...why has this been created, look into historical factors, male backlash?

connotation- essentail to look into what connotations follow women.

counterculture- a subculture or group which goes against the mainstream norms...feminists and balck feminists and anti racists, what affect do they have?..how powerful is their voice?

critical autonomy- coming to educated and informed opinions...something through research i will acquire.

cultivation theory- a theroy which states that audiences views of the world are affected by what they see... is this the case with male views of black females?

cultural imperialism- the dominance of western in particular us ideology acroos the world...as most of these texts are american, is it more credible and bainwashing?

key words...30 of them

active audince theory- the idea that the audience is plays an active role in decoding and creating the meaning of the text...this is useful to my study as it will act as a counter argument to the passive audience which i speak of.



american dream- a cultural myth based on the belief that the usa is a land of oppurtunity and promise where hard work enables a good lifestyle...this is relevant to my study as the women in hip hop videos have an integral part in creating the american dream.



archetype- an often repeated character type or representation which is instantly recognisable to an audience...maybe degrading archetypes for women in hip hop.



audience profile- personal charcteristics of the target audience and finding out what appeals to this audience... the usage of women to appeal to its audience.



black feminism- a female perspective that says that as well as being restricted by their gender, black women are also opressed by their race...most women present in the music videos are black.





bricolage- random assembly by culture groups of various cultural signifiers to form new and often unintended meanings...black ladies in hip hop maybe setting a bad representation across of black females.



censorship- the practice, excersized by elite groups of authority, of monitoring and controlling media content by removing, supressing or classifying content...should the authorites be doing more?



chiaroscuro lighting- extremeties of dark and light are used to create effective communication of the charter to the audience...how they use it in music videos to portray women.



cognition- the mental process involved in percieving, collecting and organising information about the world into a consistent and comprehensive framework of knowledge that reflects cultural environkment...the attitude of society.



common sense- the concensus in public opinion...is there a lack of it present when decoding hip hop texts?



connotation- we all know what this means...its important in all of our studies.



consensus- the middle ground opinion and attitude of society...why is it acceptable for this to continue?



construction- the process behind the creation of a media text...why does this process result in mainly mysoginistic texts?



consumerism- the econominc system and variation of capitalism based around the compulsive consumption of goods and services within the framework of lifestyle marketing and advertising... this is key when looking at audience.



counterculture- a subculture that opposes the mainstream views and material...some groups and movements such as the feminists.



critical autonomy- the ability to research a topic, to assess and evaluate evidence and come to an informed personal judgement.



culture- a social practice with its own set of rules and stereotypes...hip hop culture, are half naked women a part of this?



demographics- information corcerning the social status, class, gender and age of the population...this is a key aspect as i can look into which demographic is most appealed by hip hop and decide whether the videos are a result of the demographic.



dominant ideology- the belief that serves the interests of the dominant ruling elite within a society...is this all a result of this.



dominant or hegemonic reading- a response to a text in which the reader shares the value system of the text and accepts the preferred reading without question.



encode- the process of constructing a media message in a form suitable for transmission to a reciever

Bartender- T-pain

this video is once again a prime example of how footage is mediated to portray a degrading female stereotype which seems to be present in the greater side of hip hop.

from the very initial shot of this music video, a materialistic value is portrayed. a slow motion close up of a car with expensive rims is shown. in this shot the audience also becomes aware of a pair of female legs, however the audience cannot see the womens face, therefore by placing the womens legs synonomously with the expensive possessions, women are already objectified and are shown to be objects used to satisfy the male audience sex drive. in contrast to many shots which portray women sexually, there are numerous shots of the protagonist (artist) of this video, all of his shots coincidentally focus on his face and on him performing his song, thus creating the contrast between the talented man and the passive and insignificant women.

another shot which carries much weight is when the artist is shown at the bar and is approached by a woman behind him and the woman is simply dismissed without thought. this shows the male position and stature and his ability to be in control of his sexuality. the positioning of the woman being behind his back is also in some ways a metaphor of how society has been and still is on some level. with the female always being subordinate and second to men in developing as powerful roles.

a personal interpretation of mine in this video in particular came through me analysing the editing. the editing is very typical of a hip hop video as it is fast paced, often suiting the tempo of the song. however, through analysing how women in particular are being represented, i noticed that quick glimpses of facial expression are exposed to the audience, these facial expressions being mainly seductive, and these shots tend to be directly followed by a slow motion shot of their sexual body parts. it is almost as if the text is saying to the audience, that a womans mind is less significant than her body. this text through editing has proven to be quite mysoginistic.

as well as this, the bartender in this music video is a female. although it may seem humorous to some, it has a deeper meaning. i believe that the fact that the bartender "serves" a man is quite impactful. there are numerous shots where the bartender is shown pouring a drink for the man and therefore the man is in control of what the woman does. links being serving a drink and sexually serving someone can be suggested.

lighting is a very important aspect of this video. the main male protagonist is shown in a very high key light and his surroundings and the woman all fall under the low key lighting. the low key lighting firstly creates a more sexual and seductive atmosphere which is synonomus with the song..however, the female in the low key lighting makes her seem as if she is vampish and sexual and therefore the sexual characteristaion present is created even further. as well as this, the fact that the man is shown in good visible light against the female is low key lighting shows that the man is more important and that he should be focused on over the woman. the fact that the light doesnt attempt to separate the female from the background is also a metaphor the women seem to take the non leading role in society.