Essay writing: How do we know Lily Allen is a feminist based on her lyrics and video for ‘Hard

Out Here’?LO: I can use my previous knowledge of gender representation to write

about Lily Allen’s point of view on women in music videos.

K E Y W O R D S

Reinforce – to support

Subvert – destabilise a stereotype

Connotation – the associated or underlying meaning of a word/phrase

Definitions in your books!

What do we already know?

QUICK FIRE DEFINITION:

What is a feminist?

What is a misogynist?

What are some of the problems people have

with how women are represented in

music videos?

What connotations of Miley and Beyonce do we think of

when we see these 2 images?

Laura Mulvey’s The Male GazeThis gaze has to do with how an

audience views the people presented.

Let’s have a look at the men and lady in this picture…

What can we infer?

Laura Mulvey’s The Male GazeThe Male Gaze is a

theory which posits that in media, women are presented mostly in a way that pleases the

male heterosexual eye.This not only affects how

men view women, but also how women view

themselves.

So what, Miss Rudz? What’s the effect?

It places increased pressure on

women to look ‘sexy’ – and in most Western societies,

that means thin but with large

breasts and bottom, hair done, makeup applied..

We see the Male Gaze constantly in

application in music videos.

Lily Allen offers her own perspective…

Lily Allen’s video and

lyrics for ‘Hard Out Here’ parodies (mocks, satirises,

makes fun of) the

stereotypical rap video.

How does she do so through her lyrics?

Lily Allen’s song is a directresponse to Blurred Lines…

Structuring your essay… How do we know Lily Allen is a feminist based on her lyrics and video for ‘Hard Out Here’?Introduction: State the idea of how music videos present women. Briefly introduce the 2 examples we’ve looked at: ‘Blurred Lines’ and how Lily Allen responds to the sexism

portrayed in that video in her own for ‘Hard Out Here’

Body of essay: discuss:

• Male Gaze and how Blurred Lines presents this in its video/lyrics

• How you think Lily Allen feels about this video (use the term feminist and give definition) and how you know

• Discuss at least 3 examples of how her song lyrics/video imagery show her perspective and how she subverts the stereotype of male-dominated music videos

Conclusion: How will audiences respond to Blurred Lines and then how will they respond to Lily’s video? What are the positives/negatives? Then, give your own

opinion.