Representation Essay

Representation covers three different theorists; the male gaze, star theory and stereotypes. Laura Mulvey discusses the male gaze, Richard Dyer covers the star theory and Tessa Perkins produced the star theory. I am going to discuss each theory in detail and also relate each one to my chosen artist and music video.

Laura Mulvey's Theory
Laura Mulvey came up with the 'Male gaze' theory back in 1957. She suggests that the male gaze occurs when the audience is put into perspective of a heterosexual man. The scene could focus on a woman's curves and you as a viewer are in the eyes of a male. It also suggest that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance this masculines the audience. The female character has no real importance herself, its how she makes the male feel or act that is important; she believes women are there to be seen not heard.

However, there is also criticism that comes along with the male gaze theory. People argue that some women present themselves in a provocative way for themselves and to feel confident, some women also enjoy being looked at i.e. women that enter beauty pageants.

I have studied Beyoncé's music video - Partition and analysed it in relation to Laura Mulveys theory; how it conforms and rejects it.

We are introduced to the music video via an opening fade in of a vast castle and establishing shots of the grounds and inside the castle. Beyoncé is seen to be wearing glasses and red lipstick to be seen as sexy. We see a close up of Beyoncé's breasts; this is provocative and revealing which conforms to Mulvey's theory as she states that the male gaze could focus on a woman's curves. There is a maid placed in the background wearing a short black dress and heels, looking like she is placed there to impress a man and only wearing those clothes to look good. As Laura Mulvey states in her theory, women are only there to be seen not heard, this conforms to this maid as she doesn’t speak in the video or have much of a role but stands there looking ‘pretty’.

There is an over the shoulder shot of in a mirror in sequin jeweled outfit exposing her body and her curves, again she is wearing this outfit to impress the men; this again conforms to Mulvey's theory as she is dressing in a particular way to get male attention. We see a medium close up of Beyoncé with a mask in front of her face which shows her to be mysterious and sexy. An upwards tilt/pan is shown going from her hips up to her breasts. She is revealing her body in an almost naked fashion. Her actions are going against women being the submissive to the man as in this situation she is being the dominant character in charge as we see a long shot of her walking in front of a car which represents dominance, whilst doing this she is presented in a PVC jacket and a body suit, again wearing a raunchy outfit. A long shot of her is displayed with her posed in a sexual manor and a hand gesture telling the driver to ‘come here’.

The camera is then placed in the back of the car showing Beyoncé and a man touching each other, this conforms to Mulvey’s theory as Beyoncé is presented her to be a sexual object in which satisfies the man and the camera angles used are also focused on her curves to entice the viewer and  emphasize the sexual scene.

Beyoncé is performing a dance in front of a man to impress him, a point of view shot is used here to put the audience into perspective of a heterosexual man, we know this because an over the shoulder shot is used later on and we see Beyoncé still performing for the man. This again conforms to the theory as Mulvey says the female character has no real importance herself, however it’s how she makes the male feel or act that is important. There is a medium close up shot of Beyoncé and hands around her touching her/feeling her body which comes across as ‘sexy’, feeling her breasts and stomach.

We then see Beyoncé sat down showing an image of her back and bum which is shown for the visual pleasure for the viewers. Mulvey says men focus on the sexual features and see women as an object; they focus on the curves and other parts of their bodies and don’t always value them as a valid role. This conforms to the Partition video as Beyoncé is just placed there for the male viewers benefit.

She then places herself on a pole and begins to pole dance, again performing for the man; making sure he is satisfied. The editing on this scene has been highlighted by using slow motions which enhances the sexual mood Beyoncé has created.

Overall I believe that Beyoncé’s partition video is a great video to represent Laura Mulvey’s theory, as I have mentioned throughout my essay, the video perfectly conforms. Mulvey’s theory suggests women can not only watch a video from a secondary perspective and can only view the video from a man’s perspective, which is true to this video. The only criticisms I could make about how partition rejects her theory is that Beyoncé has previously said that she enjoys being looked at and does sometimes perform in a sexual manor to feel confident and sexy for her; otherwise I believe it totally conforms. 

Richard Dyer’s Theory
Richard Dyer developed the idea that the viewer’s perception of a film/video is heavily influenced by the perception of its stars and that publicity material and reviews determine the way that audiences experience a media text. With this idea in mind, Dyer analysed critics writing, magazines, advertising and the films themselves, to explore the significance of stardom.  A star according to Dyer is an image, not a real person. They are constructed using a range of materials ad methods i.e. advertising, magazines, films/music products.  

Stars create a person that is desirable but not actually a true representation of themselves. They are a constructed identity and ideology to make society want to consume them. The theory has four key components; stars as constructions, audience and industry/institution, ideology & culture and character & personality.

Dyer also suggests that there are two paradoxes; there are stars that are ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’. He states starts need to be like us to relate to their audience and offer something that we don’t have in order to deem them special enough to be stars. If stars presented themselves in a normal way, they would not be desirable to us. They don’t act like they do in films and music videos all the time however if we did not see them as desirable hey wouldn’t be different therefore they’d have no star qualities. 

I have studied Beyoncé's music video - Partition and analysed it in relation to Richard Dyer’s theory; how it conforms and rejects it.

As we all know, Beyoncé is a successfully worldwide female who can be seen as one of the biggest stars on the planet. Seeing as she reaches out to a wide audience, many people around the world are going to watch her music videos and listen to her songs as she has a vast fan base. Her video was published on YouTube on 25^th February 2014 and since then has had 98,861,388 views… and counting. The reason she is so popular as a star is because of the wide audience she reaches ranging from her types of songs she produces, what she is like as a person and how she acts towards her fans. Not only this but Beyonce is very talented therefore stands out.

Beyoncé has social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram, just like the rest of us. Her posts are always presented in a normal way, just like we would present ours. She even posts pictures on Instagram with no make up on and showing her followers what she is doing, this makes us feel as her audience like she is like us and that essentially, we are like her. This is her showing herself as ‘ordinary’/ However, when she is in her music videos i.e. Partition she presents herself in a very unrealistic way via the choices of costume, make up, settings etc. which shows her to be ‘extraordinary’, all of this makes her desirable and gives us something to strive for to say that she is a star and we do want to be like her, as all these things she is showing us are unachievable therefore we want them as we know Beyoncé has got them.  She is showing her self as desirable but not actually a true representation of herself, as Dyer suggests in his theory. Therefore, Beyonce as a celebrity conforms with Dyer’s theory.

Tessa Perkins Theory

Tessa Perkins theory is based around the idea of stereotypes. A stereotype is when a person has a particular idea about someone/something and what they’re going to be like. They make assumptions about their appearance, social class and how they are perceived. We tend to stereotype people as we think it is easier to categorise people and easier to point them out. We as a society tend to base our assumptions on what the media says.

Perkins came up with five different assumptions, these include: 

1. Stereotypes are not always negative
2. They are not always about the less powerful
3. They can be held about one’s own group
4. They are not rigid or unchanging
5. They are not always false

Stereotypes are not always negative, although we tend to assume they are. For example the newspaper usually writes about ‘young troublesome youths’ ‘hoodie culture’, however the youth can be seen as positive.

When celebrities are in the media, it usually is a really good or really bad headline. For example some celebrities give donations to charities and are then portrayed as role models for the younger generation. Although some celebrities can be in the media for alcohol or drugs which is obviously seen as someone younger people should not look up to.  When celebrities are in the media for bad reasons, their fans usually do stick up for them though as they have a strong, wide fan base.

Once a stereotype has been created, it is very hard to change however Perkins states that over a period of time that can change. For example Miley Cyrus was once seen as a ‘Disney princess’ and a ‘pop princess’, although now the tables have turned and she has totally gone against this stereotype of her old self.

Stereotypes are not always false; there can be some truth within them. We witness and read many stories in the media that help us to shape and understand stereotypes.

I am now going to refer to my chosen artist and music video; Beyoncé – Partition and analyse how in the video she conforms to her stereotype and also how she conforms to it when she is not performing for her music videos.

Beyoncé is a pop singer, therefore we expect her to be a role model for younger people, an overall nice person and act quite sexually in her music videos to appear as a sex symbol. Beyoncé conforms to this stereotype as there is evidence from previous interviews she has been in where she has been genuine and nice, the majority of her music videos are quite provocative and she is a role model to all ages of people as she empowers women and makes them feel confident in themselves.

Beyoncé is seen as a positive person as she comes across really nice and happy all the time and she also shows to be within a happy family with her husband Jay Z and child Blue Ivy. She is never in the media for the wrong reasons or portrayed in a negative way. In her music videos she tries to conform to the sexual/provocative stereotype, however when she is not filming she conforms to the innocent, genuine person stereotype, as the majority of pop artists usually do.

As I have mentioned earlier, pop artists tend to perform quite sexually in their music videos and her partition video definitely conforms to this from her choice of mise-en-scene, costumes, editing and cinematography. We see revealing outfits whilst have a slow motion close up on her curves. There is also a scene where she is dancing around a pole, which reinforces the sexual mood.

However, from looking at her Instagram and seeing her in the media on a daily basis, she is expected to act like a ‘normal person’, like me and you, to make us feel like she is just like everyone else. This is what we would expect pop stars to act like.

Overall, I believe that Beyoncé does strongly conform to her expected stereotype due to her actions.