Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice:  The Representation of Female Empowerment in Music Videos  by Girls’ Generation

Major debates surrounding contemporary popular culture is centered on the idea that female representation in popular media is reduced to stereotypical portrayals of gender roles. This is also known as the male gaze, which illustrates the world from a male perspective.Subsequently, the notion of women as spectators and audience is neglected. The South Korean music industry is no stranger to this. As most K-pop girl groups are targeted at a male audience, studies concerning Korean girl group representation primarily focuses on the influence of the male gaze. This thesis purposes to analyze K-pop girl group music videos from a female gaze, which represents female artists from a female point of view. Subsequently, the female gaze provides a sense of empowerment as women are not objectified, instead, the woman is represented as an active player. As Girls’ Generation has a huge international female following, this thesis aims to explore how the female gaze plays a role in representing...Show moreMajor debates surrounding contemporary popular culture is centered on the idea that female representation in popular media is reduced to stereotypical portrayals of gender roles. This is also known as the male gaze, which illustrates the world from a male perspective.Subsequently, the notion of women as spectators and audience is neglected. The South Korean music industry is no stranger to this. As most K-pop girl groups are targeted at a male audience, studies concerning Korean girl group representation primarily focuses on the influence of the male gaze. This thesis purposes to analyze K-pop girl group music videos from a female gaze, which represents female artists from a female point of view. Subsequently, the female gaze provides a sense of empowerment as women are not objectified, instead, the woman is represented as an active player. As Girls’ Generation has a huge international female following, this thesis aims to explore how the female gaze plays a role in representing female empowerment in Girls’ Generation’s music videos.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice: The Representation of Female Empowerment in Music Videos by Girls’ Generation