The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years from Madonna to Lady Gaga, have added complexity to the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative in apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualised gaze.
In what could be termed as the opposite of voyeurism: exhibitionism.
Indeed much has been written about the representation of women and race, for example, in rap music videos and the recent trend for sexually explicit Jamaican style dance hall moves which have influenced some mainstream performance styles. Debate is extremely polarised, as it is with pornography, who is exploiting whom?
Is the female flesh on display simply a cynical exploitation of the female body to increase (predominantly male profits margins, or a life-enhancing assertion of female self-confidence and sexual independence.
The above video is an example of exhibitionism. Rihanna is shown dancing extremely provocatively however she would argue she is not doing so for male attention etc... but rather to prove her sexual independence, attraction and self confidence. Possibly even putting herself on a platform greater than males, as though she is in charge and can use her sexuality to almost bring men under her spell - in a goddess like sense. Other people however may argue that she is dancing so sexually purely in order to attract the male gaze and gain a greater male audience - which she may be doing anyway.
Also, concerning this, is the ‘queer gaze’ where the representation of a male or
female artist covertly addresses a a homosexual as well as heterosexual audience, for example, Madonna, Kylie Monogue and Geri Haliwell (see case studies further on).
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