We were discussing the Lady Gaga “Telephone” video in one of my classes today, and I thought that it was interesting and very relevant to our class. The video deals with female sexuality and, I think, female empowerment through its depiction of strong female characters within its narrative.
The video opens with Gaga entering an all female prison, where everyone is scantily clad and in very sexualized poses. This is interesting because instead of men having the power to put the women in prison, it is all females that work there. While their outfits and dancing would probably be considered almost pornographic, since the target audience is girls, it seems like the women are not being objectified.
When Gaga is allowed out of the prison, she meets up with Beyonce. Their adventure together is very reminiscent of Thelma and Louise, bringing a sense of girl power and bonding. Together they murder a group of people in a diner. In addition to having the ultimate power to commit mass homicide, they are able to over power all of the men that are seen, especially Tyrese who seems to have wronged Beyonce in some way. This part of the video seems to parody the Kill Bill movies, which also feature all female assassins and shows their power and dominance.
Although the video is very sexual, I do not think that Gaga is objectifying herself in any way. She dresses and dances sexually because she chooses to act that way, and by doing this on her own terms she shows the power of the female form. She attempts to subvert the male gaze throughout the video and shows all the males in the video as much weaker characters.
Some people in my class, however, argue that she objectifies herself in the same way that any other pop star in today’s culture would do. Singers like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and even Madonna (who consistently reinvents her image much like Gaga does) wear skimpy outfits and dance provocatively. Their images, paired with their music, help them reach such wide stream popularity. Some claim that by acting and dressing as these celebrities do, Gaga is just contributing the objectification of women in mass culture. However, I believe that because she goes above and beyond in her outfits and performances, she is doing more of a parody or commentary on what our culture consumes. She sees that this is what profits in the current music industry and makes the conscious choice to follow their lead, while adding her own critique to it.
Here is a link to the video:
No comments:
Post a Comment