Performing Gender: A Content Analysis of Gender Display in Music Videos

Abstract

This study investigated differences in gender display by male and female performers in music videos. Goffman's (1976) conceptual framework of gender display was refined and expanded upon as a basis for analyzing 12 nonverbal displays associated with subordination, domination, sexuality, and aggression in music videos by an equal number of male and female lead performers. 34 music videos on U.S. cable stations MTV and MTV2 were divided into 30-second segments, resulting in 253 units that were coded for gender display. Findings revealed that significant gender displays primarily reinforced stereotypical notions of women as sexual objects, and to a lesser degree, females as subordinate and males as aggressive. Implications of music videos' portrayal of stereotypical gender displays and their role in the construction and maintenance of the gender status quo are discussed.

Representación de mujeres y hombres en las noticias de la prensa nacional española

“…Además de ser mucho menos común la presencia de mujeres que de hombres, se ha encontrado que es más probable que los personajes femeninos presentados en los medios sean más jóvenes que los masculinos (Furnham y Skae, 1997;Ganahl, Prensen y Netzley, 2003;Kim Lowry, 2005;Uray y Burnaz, 2003;Valls-Fernández y Martínez-Vicente, 2007); que se valore en mayor medida su apariencia física (Malkin, Wornian y Chrisles, 1999); y que se les trate con mayor frecuencia como objetos sexuales (Bogt, Engels, Bogers y Kloosterman, 2010;Coltrane y Adams, 1997;Millar y Grant, 2006;Wallis, 2011).…”

Sex, Power, and Women: Female Viewers’ Perceptions of Popular Music Video Themes

“…Indeed, studies using such videos may have greater external validity, as participants disagreed in their perceptions of the majority of the videos. As discussed, previous research has assumed that participants perceive sexual content as either Non-Sexual or Sex Object [10,5]. Additionally, the fact that only 11 out of 21 music videos in the present study were unanimously perceived as having a certain type (or lack) of such content suggests that individual differences in researchers' and participants' perception may contribute to a substantial amount of "noise."…”

“…Researchers have typically presumed that music videos in which female characters emphasize their sex appeal are sexually objectified and subordinate to male characters [29,10]. However, this interpretation ignores the potential that female artists have to use their sexuality subversively, as a means of non-gender stereotypic control [31].…”

“…However, some content analyses have drawn contrasts between the passivity of female sexual behaviors in music videos and the activity of male behaviors generally [17,10]. Researchers have attempted to demonstrate the effects on viewers of these portrayals of women as "sex objects," people with sex appeal but no other prominent traits.…”

“…The supporting female characters in music videos have often appeared as hypersexual objects without agency, lack a role outside their function as living decor, or have no identifiable personality traits [9]. Unfortunately, researchers have devoted far less attention to stereotypic representations of masculinity in music videos; however, it appears that men have not been sexualized to the same extent as women [10]. …”