In my research investigation, the two texts I will be analyzing are Missy Elliot’s hip/hop videos, titled ‘Work it’, contrasting Kanye west’s music videos ‘Workout Plan’ My aims and objectives of my research are to find out the variety of representations and stereotypes in modern hip/hop videos of gender. I will also be discussing if women are being objectified due to the fact it aids sales. Thirdly, I will be researching if this strategy is successful and gratifies its audience. In this section I will discuss the roles of each gender within the genre, the importance and the power, which surrounds them.

My research will feature information on how Rap has evolved from its origin of being performed on the streets into mainstream hip-hop+ Pop music targeting a wider more diverse audience. In this I will explore the social and political issues that are projected in videos, lyrics and public relations.

Lyrical content will be a section I will focus on gaining an insight into the provocative and sexualized ideology related to the lyrics and how the industry is portrayed through the content used. Including issues relating to women, cars and money, signifying power and authority, questioning weather this is true or false.The response from the audience and how the industry influences gender to act upon the music for example, inspires females to aspire to be video girls and objectify themselves and males aiming to be powerful and surrounded by the 3 guilty pleasures. The theories I will apply are the male gaze and Postmodernism in which will link with all of the sections.

The first text I will discuss is ‘Work it’ features Missy Elliot portrayed within a masculine role, in contrast to ‘Kanye west’ music videos featuring females being sexualized and used provocatively. At the start of the video Missy Elliot is dragged across a park, which is abandoned in an open space. The theme of this scene could be argued isolation, in which is supported by the dark colors used e.g. the dark sky, shadows of the park equipment, along with the crooked trees and natural environment, in which is related to a horror a stereotypical genre. This scenario juxtaposes the innocence of the park in which is associated with children, in reality the actual scene is a complete contrast. Additionally, this atmosphere portrays Missy as a character who is…..

The beginning of the video is not a stereotypical view of representation of females being sexual and revealing their bodies that is often seen in the rap genres promotional music videos to aid the power of the male roles. On the other hand ‘Missy Elliot’ is referring her self as a male figure e.g. powerful and in control of the situation, as well as disrupting the image of females within hip hop e.g. in the scene there is a close up of her face, which is surrounded by flies, this has connotations of dirt and disease. As the lyrical content starts, the audiences see Missy as the main focus of the camera surrounding by male dancers that are all paying attention to her. As she is the focus this symbolizes missy having the most importance even though the ratio of females to males is 1:4. Further on in the video, there is a scene where Missy is in a beautician with 4 identical females having a manicure, this refers back to females being presented as objects and similar to one another in the hip hop industry. However, Missy’s appearance is very different to the females in the scene. She is dressed in a tracksuit with a chain, signifying her individuality as an artist and to the rest of females in the industry. Her actions are very masculine and not lady like, she is direct in the scene and includes hand gestures portraying herself related to the street sub genre of ‘Hip-hop’. Moreover, in this part of the scene she grabs he crouch referencing herself to a influential black musician ‘Michael Jackson’ again this reflects her as being somewhat powerful and of high authority. Furthermore her actions indicate sexual reference with males in sexual activity.

Even though in the video there is female dominance included, there are still elements of objectified and sexualized females. Examples include after the beautician scene, Missy is rapping in a car park amongst 4 female dancers, as she says  “Love the way my a** go bum-bum-bum-bum, Keep your eyes on my bum-bum-bum-bum-bum, and think you can handle this gadong-a-dong-dong

Take my thong off and my *** go vroom” the dancers are facing the floor, and there is a long shot of them bouncing up and down. In this part of the video, it could argue the ‘Male Gaze’ is in play, as the dancers are focused upon. It could be argued that Missy uses the females to sexualize the video on the whole, as she is not the stereotypical image of a video girl, as she small and has a larger more realistic body image. On the other hand she still includes sexual references to herself in a provocative manner e.g. “Take my thong off” As a male audience they would watch the video for the entertainment and sexual arousal. Additionally this supports the fact that females being sexualized to a degree brings a wider audience and leads to the views of the music videos, adding sales.

“Girl, girl, get that cash, If it's 9 to 5 or shakin' your a**,Ain't no shame, ladies do your thang Just make sure you ahead of the game” these lyrics indicate Missy is showing that she doesn’t pass judgment on how a woman provides for herself. The “shakin' your ass” could be in reference to being a stripper and therefore restoring the stereotypical image of females being objectified.  In a sense this supports it could be argued that females accept the stereotype of being objectified.