Media Studies A-level Lesson 4

Component 1 Independent Analysis of Race/Gender in a Music Video

Section A
Music Video

Key Terms:

Stereotype: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of
person.

Intertextuality: When a media text refers to another text, though not necessarily another
media text.

Binary opposition: Levi-Strauss theory – a binary opposition is a pair of related terms or

concepts that are opposite in meaning. Levi-Strauss suggests that narrative relies on binary
oppositions in order to create conflict, therefore driving the narrative forwards.

White feminism: A form of feminism that focuses on the struggles of white women while
failing to address distinct forms of oppression faced by ethnic minority women. Typically,
this movement relates to middle-class, educated, cis-gendered, able bodied, white women,
and concentrates on issues pertaining to them.

Intersectional feminism: A form of feminism that recognises that certain groups of people
have multi-layered facets in life that they have to deal with, such as racism or homophobia.

Iconography: visuals that become associated with a particular genre, group of people, or
place, for example.

The Male Gaze: A theory written by Laura Mulvey in 1975 which suggested that the camera
lens is male, that women appear for the pleasure of men, meaning women are inferior to
men.

Killing Us Softly: A documentary made by Jean Kilbourne which explores the way women
are represented in advertising. Kilbourne suggests that images of women are selected and
manipulated in a way that creates a natural ideal that most women cannot achieve.

Activity 1: Analyse Taylor Swift’s music video for Bad Blood.

denotation connotation
set design
costume
props
body
language/performance
facial
expression/performance

Name:
Date:
 Media Studies A-level Lesson 4
Component 1 Independent Analysis of Race/Gender in a Music Video
Section A
Music Video
colour
lighting
camera angles
camera distance
camera movement
editing (split screens,
montage, slow motion,
fast/slow paced)

Key Questions
Answer the questions below using your findings above to support your assertions.

1. In what ways does the video challenge or reinforce stereotypical representations of

women?
2. In what ways does the video challenge or reinforce stereotypical representations of men?
3. How are different races represented in the video?
3. How are binary oppositions used to create meaning?
4. How is intertextuality used to create meaning?
5. What might be some of the criticisms of this video in terms of gender and race? Refer to
theory where possible.

Name:
Date: