For this entry I am analyzing the music video for “Me Without You” by Ashe. In this music video Ashe pushes back against a lot of feminine stereotypes.
Masculine Stereotypes: At the beginning of this video Ashe is lighting a pipe to begin smoking, while smoking is not a gendered activity it is typically less socially acceptable for women to smoke in public. Ashe also spends a fair amount of the video in an empty bar, she is only seen drinking on one occasion. Ashe is wearing a two suites throughout the video and the suits she is wearing are not “feminine cut” they are not tight nor do they feature a suit jacket covering a lower cut shirt, instead it appears like they are “traditional” suits that she is wearing. These suits are also not flashy colors in addition to not being revealing in anyway. Ashe maintains a stern/ emotionless expression for the entire video, not being emotional in any way even when the material of the song could be emotional. Throughout the video Ashe displays aggressive and assertive behavior. She is seen punching through a wooden door to open it when it is locked to her. She also smashes a glass on the bar counter and proceeds to dance on top of the broken glass on the counter. This also suggests her being tough and immune to physical pain because she is dancing on broken glass unfazed when her feet are visibly bleeding. She is the center of attention throughout the entire video and when the few background people are present all the background people are wearing similar clothing that is not exposing regardless of gender. She is also not wearing a noticeable amount of make-up besides lipstick at times. She is not overly “dolled up”. During the entire video she is positioned and moves in a way that makes her take up more space in the frame. When she is dancing it often includes her spreading her arms out in a way that makes her appear larger. While her dancing is graceful during some times of the video the way she walks from part to part in the video is often heavy footed. During all of this she is singing about being independent in the fallout of a relationship and being able to stand strong by yourself.
Throughout this video there are few feminine stereotypes present that Ashe adheres to.
Feminine stereotypes: Her dancing has a graceful element to it even when the way she is walking doesn’t always carry that same characteristic. This song is very soft spoken, even when she physically is taking up a lot of room the song never matches it in volume. She is singing about relationships.
Gaze theory: Due to the complete lack of sexual content and sexualization throughout the entire video this video lacks all aspects of gaze theory.
Shared by: Margaret Shiverick
Image Credit: https://www.pmstudio.com/music/music.html?page=20210505-13753