Representation

The concept of Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze theory is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented in a media text. This can be looked at in three ways; how men look at women, how women look at themselves and how women look at other women. The Male Gaze occurs when a media text puts the audience into the perspective of a heterosexual man. Mulvey’s theory can be applied to Beyonce’s music video Partition, in which she is presented as a sexual object, and also the way other females in the video are presented.

The video begins with a point of view shot from a male perspective, with immediately supports the theory. The first point of view we get of the women in the video is that of a heterosexual man. The focus is on Beyonce, a woman, who is looking across a table provocatively at the man. She is wearing red nail varnish and lipstick, which has connotations of passion and lust. We are able to tell that this shot is from the point of view of a man due to the two arms that are holding a newspaper in front of the camera. After we see Beyonce, the newspaper is raised, as if the man is holding it up it read from it, which covers up her face. This suggests she is being ignored by the man. She then begins to act provocatively, for example by lowering her glasses and pulling her dressing gown lower, in order to gain male attention by showing off her sexual features such as eyes and chest.

In the background of the music video, there is a second woman dressed in a short, skimpy maids outfit. Beyonce purposely drops a napkin on the floor for the maid to pick up, all the while checking the man’s reaction to her. This suggests that she is craving attention from the man, and looking to see if he reacts to other provocatively dressed women because she wants to be the main focus of attention. Like Beyonce, she is wearing red lipstick, which connotes that she too is represented as a sexual object in the video.

In another shot, Beyonce is seen dressed in very provocative clothes that show a lot of skin in front of a mirror, that shows her body from behind also. The lighting is dim and the main focus is on her body. She is holding a mask in front of her face. This supports Muvley’s theory because it shows that her body is more important than her identity and therefore she is seen as a sexual object. When she takes the mask away, a veil still covers her face. In other shots, she is wearing the same outfit and the camera skims across her body, focusing on her sexual features.

 

Further into the video, she is seen dressed in a bask and a coat and is walking in front of the car, beckoning suggestively to the driver. This supports the theory as she is portraying herself as a sexual object. The lyrics, “take all of me, I just want to be the girl you like” suggests this also, as she is portraying herself in this way for the gratification of men. She is wearing red shoes and red lipstick, which has the same connotations of passion and lust as before.

Later on,  she is seen on a stage dancing on poles with other girls. The lighting is very dim and the mise-en-scene looks as though they are in a strip club, where, of course, women dance for male gratification. She is also seen provocatively dancing on a piano for an older, well dressed looking man, which may suggest he is paying her to dance for him. This definitely supports Laura Mulvey’s theory because she is dancing simply for the man that is watching her.

Tessa Perkins’ stereotype theory explains that stereotypes are ideas that are adopted about a person from the way that they are represented. Beyonce is typically an R&B artist, but she incorporates pop and soul into her music. R&B is a genre of popular African-American music that often goes hand-in-hand with rap music. The stereotype surrounding R&B artists is of black individuals that wear blingy jewelry and expensive clothing. They often sing about love and sex, and have high production value music videos, with lots of lighting, choreography and flash scenery.

Beyonce conforms to this stereotype because her videos are often high budget and have a lot of  risque choreography. She is often seen in expensive, highly stylised clothing and sets, and her songs are often about love and sex. She can also be described as a ‘diva’; they tend to have very powerful voices and many talents other than singing, for example divas often have an acting career their music career, and they are often in the media for their lifestyle too. Beyoncé conforms to this stereotype as she has been in many films and is looked up to as an icon by many. She even released a song entitled ‘Diva’ in 2008.

Richard Dyer's Star theory developed the idea that the audience's perception of a text was heavily influenced by the way the stars were represented. He proposes the idea that a 'star' is a constructed image and not a real person. The idea is that celebrities and icons are constructed for financial gain and target one specific audience. Beyonce is a prime example of a star. She is known for her identity which isn't bounded by her singing career. Beyonce's fame began when her father negotiated a deal for her girl group Destiny's Child, and between 1997 and 2005, they became the world's top selling vocal group. Beyonce embarked on a solo career in 2003, releasing her first album 'Dangerously in Love' and picking up five Grammy awards. She began dating fellow celebrity and hip hop mogul Jay-Z aged 20, and has also launched an acting career, appearing in 'Austin Powers', 'Dreamgirls' and 'The Pink Panther'. When she dropped her debut album 'Beyonce' in 2013, she was able to release her album digitally without any promotion, and still debut as number one on the Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album on the Itunes store.

Richard Dyer insists that true pop stars have lasting significances if they make sufficient cultural or sociological impacts. If not, he claims they will be forgotten by all but their most avid fans within a few years. Beyonce's career has lasted almost 20 years, and she has no intention of stopping anytime soon. She has made many sociological impacts, for example her song 'Flawless' redefined the word 'Feminist' for the modern day woman.

Dyer's theory also suggests that a star is constructed for an audience and not the individual. Hegemony is that we as an audience idolises the star as we admire them, and they present an idea of what the audience believe they are supposed to be like. Beyonce has a massive following on social media and can be seen on TV and in magazines regularly, so the audience can follow her actions regularly. Many followers attempt to copy her style and the way she is represented, which is why she is seen as a role model. She is a positive role model because she is rarely portrayed negatively in the media.