Theories to apply for essay:
Van Zoonen- Feminist theory
- Suggests that believes about women are created through discourse communication such as from the media- films, music videos, posters, adverts on tv, television in general
- Women are highly objectified mostly in the music videos or in films/movies
bell hooks- Feminist theory
- Feminism is the struggle to stop the patriarchal oppression
- Feminism is a political commitment rather than a lifestyle choice
- Gender oppression is also very closely linked to race and ethnicity
Analyse how the Million Reasons music video by Lady Gaga uses stereotypes to represent a variety of images of feminine identity.
Apply comparative stereotypes andtheory in the development of your arguments.
Word count 700 words
(make up to 8-10 points)
To begin with, the music video of Million reasons by Lady Gaga- Stefani Germanotta is based on a hearbreak after she has broken up with her boyfriend after being together for 5 years. However, the other main aspect seen in the video is the stereotypes used in order to represent images of feminine identity.
Firstly, in the beginning of the video she is found in the middle of the nothing laying on the ground looking very stressed and as if she has lost her mind. This can symbolise how Germanotta may feel that her life is currently out of control when she wrote the song . In aitiion to this, she can be seen as actually having a tantrum therefore she may be thinking of escaping the stardom as it is very stressful and pressuring at the same time. Also, its easily recognisable that she is very vulnerable and helpless as she is laying down on her own and also has her eyes closed therefore if there is a danger forecoming she would not even realise it. This can be as a result of the pressure put on her and the expectations placed on her. This instant representation of her can be linked to the fact that she has recently gone through of a break up with her boyfriend so she is still very upset about it as well as vulnerable. Her vulnerability can be a sign of a stereotype used to represent a feminine identity as this can imply that women are ''naturally'' and biologically created to be weaker than men and dominated by them. Her vulnerability suggests that she is accepting and going through the break up much harder than her boyfriend probably is, which focuses the audience's attention on the point that women are weaker, more emotional and over exxagerating things.
As she is laying down in the desert without having any activity or action going on around her this can exemplify that she is feeling completely alone through her battles both in her life as an artist and her social life. Moreover there is a connection made between her character and the desert as she feels lonely and the deserts are known for being hostile therefore they relate to eachother and both are used in order to represent the idea of isolation. These battles result in her being very emotional and moreover crying which is a very common stereotype related to women.
After her friends go to pick her up, she begins crying which clearly shows the stereotype that women are emotional and much weaker. Scientifically, women are tend to express their emotions much more than men. Also men and women express their emotions in different ways. The female's way of expressing emotions is oftenly by crying however the male's way is by reacting more angrily and aggressively. Furthermore, as he friends instantly run towards her to see what is happening can also symbolise the fact that she has her friends next to her and supporting her therefore she does not need a boyfriend or a man in general in her life.
As soon as she gets in the car we can see that she is wearing sunglasses and a hat which highlight that she clearly wants to hide her emotions are the glasses are purposely cover her eyes so she cannot be seen as being crying therefore weak. Also, this can link to the fact that her career does not give her time for her personal dramas and soon she needs to be on the stage therefore even if she is going through hard situations in her life on the stage she will need to act as if she is perfectly fine not showing her real emotions. While she is in the car the shot showing her wearing glasses and a hat is a close up shot therefore this type of shot is used in this specific moment to show her facial expression and features from a close perspective so the audience can get a clearer understanding of how she is feeling and to see what she is trying to hide from the audience.
Another stereotype which is distinctly shown in this music video is having Stefani Germanotta being dressed in a fully pink costume which is often associated with women especially younger girls like Lady Gaga in this case. In addition to this, in fact the colour pink is knows as the colour of sensitivity, which has passion of red combined with the purity of white associating this colour with love and femininity which illustrates the overall message of the music video. Also this colour is linked with tenderness and nurturing while conveying a sense of vulnerability which perfectly defines the situation of Stefano Germotta and her character especially. Therefore this colour perfectly matches the message which is tried to be conveyed through the video and on the other hand as pink is a bright and quite positive colour it has the connotations of hope therefore meaning that even though Lady Gaga is going through a very hard moment for her everything will be better as there is always hope and therefore she should not give up. Furthermore, as pink is associated with feminity it can also link this to another stereotype which is women being emotionally and physically weaker than the man shown through the moments where she is crying.
However there is a juxtaposition created when in the video she is seen to wear a cowboy hat which is mainly worn by men and is a defining piece of attire for the North American cowboy therefore meaning that Lady Gaga is a very powerful women in fact and doesn't act as a stereotypical weak and emotional women but actully fights for her rights to show this. This can therefore be linked to the theory of the theorist Van Zoonen who supports and takes the Feminist approach and is a Feminist. She suggests that believes about women are created through discourse communication such as from the media for example: music videos, movies/films, adverts on tv or from the television in general. For example in this video, stereotypes and believes of women in this Lady Gaga will be made based on her emotional state and looks- being emotional and crying showing weakness. Therefore through this representation of her in this video people will create stereotypes and believes that women are often emotional and weak. Therefore this is not valid and trustworty or representative as every women is different and this video is only a snapshot of her whole life which may be just showing a moment which i hard for her.
Moreover, bell hooks which is also a feminist believes that feminism is a struggle to end patriarchal opression and the ideology of domination. Therefore she would view this video as showing a struggle to end this patriarchal oppression and ideology of domination as in the video the women- Stefani Germanotta is seen as being very emotionl and crying therefore this clearly shows the domination of men and how they are dominant and stronger than women and women are weaker than them. This is further shown in the part where she goes back to the studio and the screen/background goe black&white to symbolize her emotional state, which is empty and hopeless. In order to show that the video's aim is to end this patriarchall oppression they must have represented Germanotta in a different way for exmaple by not showing her crying but showing her in a happy state where she can be seen that she is enjoying her life.
ILatly, the black&white background can also show negativity and pessimism therefore implying that the place at which she is at- the studio is not where she wants to be but she is being ignored and has to put up with it. Hence the line ''million reasons to let you go'' meaning she wants to quit her job and therefore the stardom as she is tired of it and pressured enough.
In conclusion, the overall message of the video is to convey the idea that even if you are going through hard moments, they will always exist however you need to be strong, wipe the tears off and continiue with life going forwards as there is always hope for something better coming in the furture. Also, in order to convey this message towards the audience the video uses many stereotypes to represent a variety of images of feminine identity and focuses on the topic and idea of femininity.
