Stereotype & Feminist Theory
The Male Gaze
The objectification of women's bodies in the media has been a consistent theme. The male gaze is used to attract and keep the attention of men. Mainly used at media targeted at straight males of lower socio economic grouping, but is used for all audiences.
Laura Mulvey (1975) argued that the masculine point of view was the main one. She argued that the female body is objectified for erotic male pleasure (Voyeurism ("A person who derives sexual gratification from observing the naked bodies or others"). I don't completely agree with this - I feel male gaze is used to sell products and texts to audiences as it effectively gains the male audience attention, I don't think it is always used for erotic pleasure.
Mulvey argues that all audiences are targeted though the use of male gaze, even women, which in her opinion shows that the masculine point of view is dominant. I believe this is because women are more comfortable seeing other women's sexualised bodies, than men are seeing other men's sexualised bodies.
An example of a music video that uses Male Gaze is in Miley Cyrus' video for Wrecking Ball
An example of a music video that uses Female Gaze is in Panic! At the Disco's video for Girls/Girls/Boys
Stereotypes
O'Sullivan et al (1998) defined stereotypes as a label that involved the process of categorisation an evaluation. Stereotypes are used as a short hand to narratives because simple representation defines an audiences understanding of a media text. Music videos often use stereotypes to add to the narrative in the short time the video actually plays.
Verisimilitude and realism can be enhanced through the use of stereotypes, audiences will identify with stereotypes that music video's use. Different genres of music have different stereotypes associated with them, for example:
- Urban/Rap Music
Stereotypes include black males, drug and crime relation. Lower socio economic groupings with large sums of money from criminal activities.
- Indie Music
Stereotypes include bands made up of males, certain haircuts and clothing.
- Rock/Metal Music
Often older, dark clothing, possibly into hard drugs.
Other Audience Theories
Uses and Gratification Theory
Blumler & Katz, 1959
This theory focuses on the audience's interaction with the media. The theory focuses on 4 main interactions.
Escapism
The audience uses media to escape from their mundane or inadequate lives. This is one of the reasons celebrities and gossip magazines are so hugely popular, audiences use them for entertainment and diversion.
An Example of this could be Keeping up with the Kardashians, people enjoy watching their luxury lives.
An Example of this could be Keeping up with the Kardashians, people enjoy watching their luxury lives.
Personal Companion
Audiences see media as their friend, caring about the cast/celebrity. Audiences feel an attachment to the people in the media texts. A prime example of this is reality TV programmes like The X Factor, where audiences feel such a connection with the stars that they vote for their favourites. Institutions capitalise on this interaction through payed voting lines, meet and greets etc.
A paper by Horton & Wohol in 1956 coined the term Para-Social Interaction. This is he illusion of face-to-face relationships between the performer and audience. This one sided relationship is fuelled by social media, and celebrities using platforms like twitter to interact with fans. Institutions capitalise on this through the use of covert advertisements, by having celebrities use or endorse a product, people don't see it as advertisement, they see it as a sort of 'friend's suggestion/endorsement', and therefore are more likely to purchase the product.
More information on this can be found in this video by Vox, again using the Kardashians as an example.
More information on this can be found in this video by Vox, again using the Kardashians as an example.
Personal Identity
People use media texts to discover how they are and where they fit in. Again this is capitalised upon by products placement.
Surveillance
Audience use media texts to find out what is happening in the world, this is true for both news outlets like CNN and BBC News, but is also true for gossip outlets like Prez Hilton. This can be manipulated to suit the views of the institution, for example Fox New's coverage of many things suits their ideology. This can be very harmful and is the main reason for negative minority stereotypes.
This theory places the majority of the focus on the audience instead of the actual message conveyed by the message itself. It looks at what people do with media. The theory states that the consumer of a media texts takes an active roll in choosing what media to consume, choosing what media will fulfill certain gratifications. This is similar to the 'free market' concept in business economics; the media texts must compete for audience gratification, and if no one wants to consume a specific text, it won't be created again by the institution. An example of this is the sensationalism in the news, as news networks need to make sure that people keep coming back and watching their shows. Another example is YouTube, and how it has grown as people use it all the time, and people can find exactly what they want to see.
Cultivation Theory
Gerbner & Gross, 1975
Similar to the surveillance from above, (Audience use media texts to find out what is happening in the world, this is true for both news outlets like CNN and BBC News, but is also true for gossip outlets like Prez Hilton. This can be manipulated to suit the views of the institution, for example Fox New's coverage of many things suits their ideology. This can be very harmful and is the main reason for negative minority stereotypes), audiences develop views over time about the world through media, some of which are false or over exaggerated.
This impacts the audiences understanding of representation of gender, sexuality, age and ethnic groups. Audiences gain most of their knowledge about the world through media, so this theory recognises the importance of media texts in our lives.
An example of the problems this theory addresses is the concept that 'Crimewatch feeds the perception that Britain's crime rate is growing', which is not actually true. A video that explains this well is a short informative piece called "This is Your Brain on Terrorism" by Vox.
Reception Analysis & Ethnography
Hall, 1980
Audiences perception of a text is dependent on their social position (gender, age, class, ethnicity, socio economic grouping etc.). This approach values more highly the fact that different people contextualise the same media text differently.
Copycat or Modelling Theory
Coleman, 2004
Audiences are influenced by the media texts that the consume. Used by journalists to scapegoat negative behaviour (for example, saying school shootings are caused by children playing violent video games). This approach mirrors the concerns many parents have for their children who listen to violent music and consume other violent media texts such as films, games and TV programmes. The paper by Horton & Wohol in 1956 I referenced earlier that coined the term Para-Social Interaction (This is he illusion of face-to-face relationships between the performer and audience. This one sided relationship is fuelled by social media, and celebrities using platforms like twitter to interact with fans.) may help perpetuate this theory as people are influenced by their friends.
An example of this is spottedonceleb.com, or the original concept for ASOS. People see what celebrities are wearing or doing and they want to do it. This is closely linked to Fredrick Jamerson's "commercification of culture", which is capitalised on by big corporations who use brand and product placement.
Long Tail Theory
Anderson, 2006
This theory outlines how the internet has influenced audience consumption. The introduction of broadband has made many niche audiences economically viable for the first time. This theory can be illustrated with a simple graph. The equation y = | 1/x | where x is the popularity ranking and y is the demand. produces a perfect graph for the long tail theory.
Put into a music point of view, the long tail theory has allowed niche artists to create and distribute music online without the backing of a record label, and niche music has become economically viable for record labels to invest in.
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