Three music videos that show empowerment and exploitation

EMPOWERMENT VS EXPLOITATION


The first video that shows empowerment is New Rules by Dua Lipa. In terms of her lyrics and the title of the song, "the singer states a list of rules to get over a former boyfriend".

The first two verses include stages in relationships that some people go through such as the men telling the women that they're not worth it etc. (mentally abusing them) and then apologising to the women only to sleep with them and then continue that same behaviour in the relationship.

"Talkin' in my sleep at night
Makin' myself crazy
(Out of my mind, out of my mind)
Wrote it down and read it out
Hopin' it would save me
(Too many times, too many times)
My love, he makes me feel like nobody else
Nobody else
But my love, he doesn't love me, so I tell myself
I tell myself

One, don't pick up the phone
You know he's only calling 'cause he's drunk and alone
Two, don't let him in
You'll have to kick him out again
Three, don't be his friend
You know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the morning
And if you're under him, you ain't getting over him"

Then she goes on to tell them that they shouldn't take them back and should stand up for themselves and make their own rules in the chorus.

"I got new rules, I count 'em
I got new rules, I count 'em
I gotta tell them to myself
I got new rules, I count 'em
I gotta tell them to myself"

After the chorus she talks about practicing the new rules that will make them perfect, even if it feels like it's taking time to get over their ex-boyfriends.

"Practice makes perfect
I'm still tryna' learn it by heart
(I got new rules, I count 'em)
Eat, sleep, and breathe it
Rehearse and repeat it, 'cause I
(I got new, I got new, I...)"

Throughout the video it shows the singer staying in a hotel room with her friends, who prevent her from getting back together with her former boyfriend. The women including Dua Lipa herself are wearing pastel-coloured/bright clothing which may symbolize freedom and independence.


"Dua Lipa is lying on a bed, thinking of giving her ex a second chance, while her friends are by her side. As the song continues, she  heads towards the phone to answer his call, but is stopped by one of her friends. Then, she keeps receiving advice from the women, but manages to escape to the hallway. There, they perform a choreography, and return to the room. In the next scenes, the women start a sleepover, brushing each other's hair and applying lipstick on each other.They change their outfits and head towards the pool, where they walk over the water.

After the chorus, one of the women makes plans of reuniting with her former boyfriend, but is stopped by Lipa, who gives her the advice she received at the beginning of the visual. After this, the group perform a choreography in front of the pool, in which they pull "each other in closer, in an unbreakable ring of limbs"."


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2qgadSvNyU 


The next video that shows female empowerment is Pretty Hurts by Beyoncé. Just like the first video, this video is about self- empowerment and body image. The video encourages women to be proud of their body shape by showing what happens behind the scenes in beauty pageants and modelling.  Throughout the video Beyoncé is used to show the how hard it is for women of a certain shape, whether they are slim, curvy or overweight, they are going to have to make drastic changes in order to be the best.

The lyrics express the message she is trying to deliver to women about being proud of who they are and what they look like rather than trying to change themselves because of society and what they want to do.

This video is good representation of female empowerment because both the video and lyrics help inspire and motivate women struggling with body image.
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/beyonceknowles/prettyhurts.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXQLa-5n5w




Finally the last video that shows exploitation of women rather than empowerment is loyal by Chris Brown, Tyga and Lil Wayne.  Exploitation can be heard in the lyrics and seen in some parts of the video.

At the beginning of the video, at Lil Wayne's part, there were women who were dancing in black jumpsuits which showed a slight athletic / slim structure and were twerking. There was also a woman who was seen dancing with Chris Brown who had minimal clothing on : shorts which revealed part of her bum and a revealing low cut top. However towards the end, the women dancing  with Chris Brown had suitable clothing on for dancing.

When it comes to the lyrics, he refers to women as "hoes" and that they're not "loyal" trying to imply that they aren't loyal because they've gone for a rich guy(who is Chris Brown) rather than staying with their own man from the hook in the song,

He also has two verses which talks about the way he approaches and talks to two different women of race.
The first verse is about a white woman,
"Got a white girl with some fake titties
I took her to the bay with me
Eyes closed smoking marijuana
Rolling up that Bob Marley, I’m a rasta
She wanna do drugs, smoke weed, get drunk..."

The second verse is about a black woman,
"Black girl with a big booty
If she a bad bitch, let’s get to it (right away)
We up in this club
Bring me the bottles
I know girl, that you came in this bitch with your man
That’s a no-no girl
All this money in the air
I wanna see you dance"

He compares their body shapes with each other and talks about how the white girl is fake and how she sleeps with a lot of men and she drinks and drugs, whereas when he talks about the black girl he implies that she is a stripper  from the lines ("all this money in the air I wanna see you dance")as he seems to have remembered her and that she's not loyal to her man.

https://genius.com/By-chris-brown-chris-brown-loyal-ft-lil-wayne-tyga-lyrics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRN_LkCa_o

Overall the first two videos represent women in positive ways, whereas the last video does not. It is almost as if the view of women of the years has changed quite a lot although there are a few videos and songs which remember to include their own version on the empowerment of women.

Almost all modern day music videos which exploit women, do this because they either feel like it is a competition to see which male artist is the best and who makes more money or because they feel like they have got power over everyone.

Comments

  1. Rhian_Williams_Media22 November 2017 at 05:35

    This is very detailed and well written. I like the fact that you used the song lyrics to back up your points.

    ReplyDelete

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