The Male Gaze Theory (1975)

This is my textual analysis of Iggy Azalea's latest video 'Work', linking it with the Male Gaze Theory

Throughout the music video, the female protagonist  is portrayed in a very over sexualised way. With revealing, provocative clothing and a cliche red seductive lipstick- miss en scene plays a significant part in creating a sensual atmosphere. As seen in the GIF below, the notion of looking directly at the camera is frequently used, along with many tilt shots revealing the lower part of the body. This strengthens Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory by conveying females as a sexual fantasy from a heterosexual male point of view. Additionally, it follows Goodwin's Theory by showing a voyeuristic treatment of the female body.


 The concept of Scopophilia  ( the pleasure involved in looking at other peoples bodies) is very much present in most of Iggy's music videos- displaying a degrading yet ascetically pleasing insight into the objectification of women. However, you could argue that in this particular GIF, the female character holds more dominance- this is depicted through a low angle shot which consequently signifies her power, whereas the male characters are sat on a lower level reflecting their lack of authority in the scenario. Despite the male characters clearly looking at the female protagonist in a derogatory manner - it goes against the 'Male Gaze Theory' by not showing males as the controlling subject, the fact they're literally powerless could be seen as an act of feminism.

The idea of a 'Patriarchal Society' is reinforced through stereotypical gender roles. The woman is shown cleaning, a domestic job that is usually associated with females.  While a close up of a man spitting is used to enhance his natural authority and predatory position. In spite of this, towards the end of the video, the female protagonist tricks a male character into stealing his car- shattering the needs of the male's ego and providing an act of feministic power, this may be intertexualised from the feminist film "Thelma and Louise which is referenced in other music videos such as 'Lady Gaga's Telphone ft Beyonce'.  By showing the female as an active character and the male as passive goes against the Male Gaze Theory.


The idea that men 'do the looking' while women are there just to be looked at is very obvious in Iggy Azalea's music video to 'Work'. Normalising the modern day concept that it's perfectly ok to objectify woman purely as a sexual image- this slightly misogynistic view is used to for fill the ego of sexist heterosexual men and can be seen in many modern music videos such as Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. Arguably, the sexualisation of women can be seen in other aspects of the media (even if not relevant) the two images below show the difference in the selling of male clothes in compared to females- from this we can see that 'sex really does sell'.  The video also meets typical genre characteristics of a pop / rap song with seductive and provocative dance moves and bright,colourful imagery- this follows Goodwin's theory.