{"id":84,"date":"2018-12-07T13:20:13","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T18:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/?page_id=84"},"modified":"2018-12-10T13:06:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T18:06:17","slug":"taking-back-the-gaze","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/taking-back-the-gaze\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Taking Back&#8221; the Gaze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Although voyeurism is undoubtedly a negative theme, many artists have decided to \u201ctake back the gaze\u201d and reclaim their own bodies in an act of defiance. The first artist to do so was none other than the &#8220;Queen of Pop&#8221; herself: Madonna. In an industry where female musicians were often pawns to the desires of their producers, Madonna sought to maintain control over her representation. She grew up during the &#8220;women&#8217;s liberation movement&#8230;[which] called upon girls to be career-centered and to seize equality by pursuing the male vision.&#8221; (Lewis, 101).<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Lewis, Lisa. \u201cGender Politics and MTV: Voicing the Difference .\u201d <i>Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society<\/i>, vol. 17, no. 4, 1992, pp. 73\u2013107., doi:10.1086\/494773.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> Madonna expanded upon this notion by challenging the male gaze in a direct way. In \u201cOpen Your Heart,\u201d Madonna\u2019s \u201cdirect countergaze into the camera lens\u2026makes the audience uncomfortably aware of the voyeuristic aspect of our enjoyment of the performance\u201d (Freccero, 171).<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Freccero, Carla. \u201cOur Lady of MTV: Madonna&#8217;s \u2018Like a Prayer.\u2019\u201d <i>Boundary 2<\/i>, vol. 19, no. 2, 1992, p. 163., doi:10.2307\/303538.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/files\/2018\/12\/madonna.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-148 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/files\/2018\/12\/madonna-283x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"283\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/files\/2018\/12\/madonna-283x300.jpg 283w, https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/files\/2018\/12\/madonna-768x815.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/files\/2018\/12\/madonna-965x1024.jpg 965w, https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/files\/2018\/12\/madonna.jpg 1508w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(A scene from the music video for &#8220;Open Your Heart&#8221; by Madonna, IMBD)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Madonna was one of the first to pioneer such a response to voyeurism, and the effects of her efforts can be seen today in videos such as Beyonce\u2019s \u201cCheck on It.\u201d\u00a0In the video, Beyonce refutes a voyeuristic camera gaze by gazing at her own behind. While she dances sexually at times, the action of looking at herself before the camera can &#8220;takes back&#8221; the gaze. Durham notes that the \u201cclassy\u201d look of the video combined with the lyrics challenges the hip hop dreamworld\u2019s voyeuristic camera gaze.<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">3)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Durham, Aisha. \u201c\u2018Check On It:&#8221; Beyonc\u00e9, Southern Booty, and Black Femininities in Music Video.\u201d <i>Feminist Media Studies<\/i>, vol. 12, no. 1, 2012, pp. 35\u201349., doi:10.1080\/14680777.2011.558346.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> This action both recognizes the problem of voyeurism amongst hip hop videos, and challenges the audience to become cognoscente of its blatant issues.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Q1dUDzBdnmI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(The official music video for Beyonce&#8217;s &#8220;Check On It,&#8221; published by Beyonce on youtube.com. Licensed to YouTube by\u00a0SME (on behalf of Sony Urban Music\/Columbia); BMG Rights Management, Abramus Digital, PEDL, Sony ATV Publishing, UMPG Publishing, UMPI, UBEM, CMRRA, SOLAR Music Rights Management, ASCAP, Warner Chappell, ARESA, EMI Music Publishing, and 21 Music Rights Societies)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Another artist who has furthered the discussion about voyeurism through music videos is Sia, a modern Pop vocalist whose gift for songwriting has garnered her fame. One of Sia&#8217;s most famous characteristics is her wearing of a large white and black wig, which covers half her face and denies paparazzi a good look at her facial features. Sia thus keeps her audiences intrigued, distances herself from the image of the modern day celebrity, and avoids physical criticism which often plagues celebrities&#8217; lives. She denies any sort of day-to-day voyeurism that usually occurs when an artist becomes famous. In her music video for &#8220;Chandelier,&#8221; Sia continues this conversation about voyeurism by challenging the notion of vulnerability. Her music video presents not a diegetic performance of Sia singing, but rather a voyeuristic take on a young girl, dancer Maddie Ziegler, dancing in a nude bodysuit. Sia&#8217;s &#8220;vulnerability on display is constituted through visual and musical codes,&#8221; which unsettles her audience (Hawkins).<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_84_1('footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">4)<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Hawkins, Stan. <i>The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music and Gender<\/i>. Routledge, Taylor &amp; Francis Group, 2017.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_84_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>We watch her dance but with a sense of guilt, as we are painfully aware of how young she. Thus, Sia starts a much-needed dialogue about voyeurism, as her audience becomes aware of how the camera angles act as a third party &#8220;looking in&#8221; on the girl dancing. Because she is so young, however, this &#8220;looking in&#8221; on her dancing isn\u2019t rewarding.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2vjPBrBU-TM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">(The official music video for Sia&#8217;s &#8220;Chandelier,&#8221; published by Sia on youtube.com. Licensed to YouTube by\u00a0SME (on behalf of Inertia); UBEM, EMI Music Publishing, ASCAP, CMRRA, SOLAR Music Rights Management, UMPI, and 12 Music Rights Societies)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">These efforts to &#8220;take back&#8221; a voyeuristic, male-oriented camera gaze demonstrate a newfound strength arising from the &#8220;obsession with obsession.&#8221; From Madonna to Sia, artists have taken the detrimental and widespread theme of voyeurism and have turned it into a positive message in their music videos.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_84_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_84_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_84_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_84_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_84_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Lewis, Lisa. \u201cGender Politics and MTV: Voicing the Difference .\u201d <i>Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society<\/i>, vol. 17, no. 4, 1992, pp. 73\u2013107., doi:10.1086\/494773.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_84_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Freccero, Carla. \u201cOur Lady of MTV: Madonna&#8217;s \u2018Like a Prayer.\u2019\u201d <i>Boundary 2<\/i>, vol. 19, no. 2, 1992, p. 163., doi:10.2307\/303538.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_84_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Durham, Aisha. \u201c\u2018Check On It:&#8221; Beyonc\u00e9, Southern Booty, and Black Femininities in Music Video.\u201d <i>Feminist Media Studies<\/i>, vol. 12, no. 1, 2012, pp. 35\u201349., doi:10.1080\/14680777.2011.558346.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_84_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_84_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_84_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Hawkins, Stan. <i>The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music and Gender<\/i>. Routledge, Taylor &amp; Francis Group, 2017.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_84_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_84_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_84_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_84_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_84_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_84_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_84_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_84_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_84_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_84_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_84_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_84_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_84_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_84_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although voyeurism is undoubtedly a negative theme, many artists have decided to \u201ctake back the gaze\u201d and reclaim their own bodies in an act of defiance. The first artist to do so was none other than the &#8220;Queen of Pop&#8221; herself: Madonna. In an industry where female musicians were often pawns to the desires of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4282,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-84","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus235-03\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}