Riptide and The Man comparison

 

 Analyse the representation of gender in the music videos for "The Man " by Taylor Swift and  "Riptide " by Vance Joy 

The man and Riptide focus on different representations of women. The man often sexualises women and focuses on the idea that women are easily impressed by men. In the start of the video when Swifts character is walking through the office we see the women in the background fighting over a scrunched up piece of paper he has thrown into the air, this shows that women are easily impressed by men who are attractive or powerful. Later on in the video we see the protagonist in the park with their daughter, he picks up his daughter and throws her in a playful way and then we see a close up of two women blushing and impressed with the way he barely cares for his daughter, This further highlights the idea women are easily impressed by powerful and handsome men. Women are also highly sexualised throughout the video. Firstly on the boat, there's a birds eye shot of women in bikinis sunbathing on a yacht, this also highlights the stereotypes of women being interested in men with moneys Swifts character is shown to be rich. The women are all lying in a position which shows of their bodies, their costumes are revealing and therefore could sexualise them as they don't really serve a purpose other than being their too look at. soon after that shot all the women are hanging around Swifts character drinking champagne which shows the women are only their for his money and power. Women are shown to be mainly used as sex objects throughout the video, there is a long shot of the protagonists bedroom where he is getting ready, there is a naked asleep women in his bed. This highlights the idea women are used to have sex, he is also leaving her in the bed showing he has no respect or care for her.  Women are further sexualised when the men are in the club, all the women are wearing shorts, bralettes and fishnet tights, these are outfits that would highlight their feminine parts their bodies. One of the woman is lying down covered in money, this could also support the stereotypes of women liking and only going for men with money.  We also see women as being easily irritated by the way men behave, when the protagonist is playing tennis we see a woman in the background being a ball girl. She is silent but rolls her eyes at the way he's behaving. we also see this earlier in the video when the protagonist is on the subway, he is "manspreading" and smoking, we see the women facial expressions as being irritated and aggravated by the mans behaviour. This supports the narrative of the song and how the man is someone who is ignorant, selfish and arrogant. Riptide shows women in a negative light also but focuses on violence towards women and sexualising women. Riptides narrative follows one character consistently and she gets more beaten throughout the video. The first time we see this woman we see her high up in the frame and in bright lighting, she has a confident facial expression. The bright lighting, costume and her positioning in the frame reflect her confidence and mood as her outfit is a sparkly dress and the lighting hits her face directly. The next shot of her she is lower in the frame and the lighting is only really strong on her face. Her lipstick is smudged and it looks like she has been slapped or hit, then in the next shot her mascara is smudged like she has been crying as well as the lipstick smudge she is also progressively getting darker, this could reflect her mental state and fear. The next time she has a cut on her neck, we see her progressively getting worse. This main narrative in the video mainly highlights the violence against women and victimises women.  Riptide, similarly to the man, sexualises women.  there are also other shots which victimise women. in one point there is a mid shot of a woman in a graveyard, her facial expression is anxious and she calls her friends the camera pans away to her friends and then back to her and she is gone. we could infer that she has been taken by someone. after that there is a woman tied to a tree and gagged however she escapes, these two points in the video show that women are vulnerable to being taken and trapped. the second shot could however highlight that women are able and strong enough to escape.Riptide does it more subtly, one of the first shots we see of a women is her taking off her swimming costume, she is facing away from the camera which shows she isn't aware she is being filmed, this sexualises her but also victimises her as she is unaware she is being filmed, the next shot is a birds eye view of someones book named "techniques of photographing girls" this could refer back to the previous shot. Similarly later on in the video we see a woman running and her back is to the camera this is similar to the first shot as she is being chased and unaware they are filming her, this also shows the vulnerability of women. there is also various moments in the video where women get dragged to dark places, the first one is a woman sleeping then she gets pulled away to the dark side, this is narrated by the lyrics "taken away to the dark side", the next time a woman is dragged away it is hands on a floor being dragged, this could mean the woman has been murdered, the red nail polish show she could be the singer who we see repeatedly in the video, one of the other times we see a woman being dragged is someones feet being pulled under a bed which shows she is dead. Riptide victimises and sexualises women throughout the video but in a subtle way compared to the man where the sexualisation is very obvious to support the narrative of the song.