Kathllyn Matos

Representations in media texts are often simplistic and reinforce

dominant ideologies so that audiences can make sense of them
Representation refers to the construction in any medium (especially
the mass media) of aspects of reality such as people, places,
objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such
representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or
moving pictures. An appealing and satisfying music video in todays
society often consists of the male gender being represented as the
dominant figure and possessing power/control over females. Tessa
Perkins (1979) stated that stereotyping is not a simple process
otherwise they would not work culturally and over time. The truth is
that stereotype really isnt simple. This is why music video
producers of today represent women by borrowing an old stereotype
from the Showgirls of the silent film era in the 1920s and the
Burlesque girls from even earlier this is known as an archetype.
The result of this is that traditionally male qualities and attributes
have generally been seen to be superior to female attributes. In
Ciaras 2006 video for Like a Boy, she quite skilfully demonstrates
how differently men and women are treated within the music
industry. Ciara also highlights how men and women are seen as a
couple and what society demands from each person in terms of
behaviour. She contradicts Laura Mulveys theory of sexual
objectification of women being used as dancers to elicit sexual
desire from the viewers. This is represented whilst quite clearly
establishing her disagreement with it. A typical hip-hop video
includes a mans masculinity being very evidently exposed,
contrarily; women are portrayed as a fancy thing to look at in the
most sexual manner possible. It is noticeable that Ciara does not
agree with such, as the music video initiates with the words ladies,
I think its time to switch roles. Ciara defies these conventions by
switching the role and presenting her, a woman, as the most
dominant.
The video initiates with a close-up shot exposing the tattoos on
Ciaras arms and the heavy, quite flashy rings on her fingers which
connotes power and masculinity. The following shot is a long shot of
Ciara slouching on a throne-like chair with her hand on her crotch
area, exhibiting her lack of unladylike manners and posture. Not
only does this imitate how men are usually presented in a hip-hop
video, but her choice of wardrobe also demonstrates this. She sports
a baggy; lose pair of tracksuit bottoms, trainers and a hat. All of this
combined with gold chains and rings, which help construct the
image of a wealthy male making lots of money: typically implied to
the hip-hop audience. This representation is also being created
through the use of body language. At 0:23 minutes, we are shown a
long shot of a man passively sitting on a chair while Ciara circles
him like a lion surrounding its prey. This effectively implies power,
as the person being looked down upon is established as the inferior

Kathllyn Matos
figure. At 0:36, Ciara astonishes the viewers with a long shot of her
dressed in a suit and cornrows whilst performing masculine dance
moves. In the same shot she is also dressed as a woman with a
short dress, long tidy hair and very high heels. The stereotype of
gender in the music industry is highlighted by her exposure of skin
when dressed as a woman. It acts in accordance to Barthes theory
that Striptease is based on contradiction. Women are desexualised
at the very moment when she is stripped naked. He suggests that
it is clothes that intently sexualise women.
This is then challenged at 1:01 as Ciara brilliantly mocks the typical
male superiority through the use of a mid shot of her heels placed
firmly on the shoulder of her male alter ego - the lyrics
accompanying this by stating would it still apply if I played you like
a toy. This identifies that dominance does not only apply for males,
but that Ciara can also exhibit power and control while still being
feminine. Ciara giftedly infers that the male dominance propelled in
our faces is forced due to the shots of the male in the video being
uncomfortable in the throne-like chair. Inversely, Ciara reigns while
in the same position as the male, this is done to reinforce the idea
that males are exposed to too much power and do not always use it
effectively, whereas women sustain a lot more yet are constantly
underestimated.
At 1:14 minutes, we experience the shot known as the best stand
against sexualising women. Ciara appears once again dressed in
baggy and lose clothing, but this time she comprises female dancers
both dressed and performing like male hip-hop artists. This
amazingly contradicts how a group of women are generally
portrayed, as Ciara does not allow her or her female dancers to be
sexualised or objectified in any way.
We reach an intriguing shot at 2:04 where Ciara and all her dancers
raise their arms and flex their muscles while presenting an
unimpressed facial expression. Ciara creates this representation of
male hip-hop artist to emphasise how outrageous she finds it. The
effect of this representation is that women all over the world who
view this video will experience an inner confidence which has
continuously been undermined and discredited by male producers in
the past couple years. These music videos have consistently
depicted women as disposable and interchangeable, which
eventually had been imposed on young girls from the early ages of
adolescence. Her lyrics state if I act like you, walk a mile in your
shoes, would you like that followed by examples such as having
separate bank accounts, lying and manipulating, etc. This is
effectively used to create the imagery of a society where men are
bombarded by liberty and told from a young age that they pursue
the power to treat women as they please whilst women are
expected to be passive and faithful. Ciara confronts these beliefs by

Kathllyn Matos
proving the dissatisfaction that would consume men, had this been
the other way around.
Ciara bravely disregards the male gender through her lyrics at 2:14
as a close up of her face is shown along with the following questions
what? You mad? Cant handle it? This is continuously reinforced as
the video proceeds to a long shot of Ciara and her dancers stood in
an organised military manner while depicting a similar movement to
marches done in an army. It is followed by the position of the
dancers forming an X, which clarifies their refusal to be presented
as nothing but sex symbols. This representation has been created to
demonstrate strength, dedication and persistency in achieving a
world where females do not need to be sexualised in hopes of
acknowledgement. The music video persists of establishing shots of
Ciara and her army implying how prepared they are to put up a
fight against this common stereotype. Ciara asserts that gender
superiority is not constrained by the genre of music. She
undermines the masculine gender views and avows that a female
can also be powerful and positively influential.