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The Male Gaze In Music Videos

Iggy Azalea - Work

Watch Video Here

The first 40 seconds of this music consists of various shots of Iggy walking down a road with little clothing and high heels, mixed in with a few shots of burning objects. I believe these shots have been used because they got with the lyrics. Right at the end of this section, Iggy breaks the fourth wall for the first time in this video. 

After this it goes into multiple shots of peoples' faces in a desert town staring at Iggy as she walks on by. This can be interpreted in two ways, either it shows off that her confidence and eccentric style goes unnoticed or it shows people are attracted to her and literally shows people gazing at her. However, she takes no notice of the multiple people staring at her and is focused on what's ahead.

As the music changes, the scene changes to night and has Iggy dancing along to the music. However, when the music climaxes, Iggy and other dancers are in really revealing clothing and are dancing to the beat in a really provocative way.
This clearly for the male gaze as it has nothing to do with the song. Also, throughout this section of the music video, Iggy is almost always breaking the fourth wall. Whether this section of the video is empowering or degrading depends on your perspective. On one hand you could say they are confident with themselves, or you could also say they are trying to attract the male audience. Either way, it isn't completely necessary as it has nothing to do with the lyrics. 

After this scene, Iggy is seen riding a bike through a trailer park full of people that are all staring at here. This could signify that everyone is looking up to her ,or that she thinks she is irresistible and has control over people. 

However, there is also no male dominance in this video so therefore Iggy has the most power. This is especially true later on in the video when she is giving a guy a lap dance, but then steals his car keys, this reinforces the idea that Iggy has the control in this particular video.

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