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Sexual Objectification in Music

Videos: A Content Analysis
Comparing Gender and Genre
a b
Jennifer Stevens Aubrey & Cynthia M. Frisby
a
Department of Communication , University of
Missouri
b
Department of Strategic Communication , Missouri
School of Journalism
Published online: 04 Jul 2011.

To cite this article: Jennifer Stevens Aubrey & Cynthia M. Frisby (2011) Sexual
Objectification in Music Videos: A Content Analysis Comparing Gender and Genre,
Mass Communication and Society, 14:4, 475-501, DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2010.513468

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 Mass Communication and Society, 14:475–501, 2011
Copyright # Mass Communication & Society Division
of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
ISSN: 1520-5436 print=1532-7825 online
DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2010.513468

Sexual Objectification in Music

Videos: A Content Analysis
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Comparing Gender and Genre

Jennifer Stevens Aubrey

Department of Communication
University of Missouri

Cynthia M. Frisby
Department of Strategic Communication
Missouri School of Journalism

Although sexual objectification is commonplace in media culture, music videos

provide the most potent examples of it. In the current study, we developed a
coding system to measure sexual objectification and its correlates in music videos.
Our analysis compared sexual objectification across artists’ gender and musical
genres (R&B=hip-hop, pop, and country). Compared to male artists, female artists
were more sexually objectified, held to stricter appearance standards, and more
likely to demonstrate sexually alluring behavior. In addition, sexual objectifica-
tion was more prominent in R&B=hip-hop and pop videos than in country videos.
The results are discussed in light of objectification theory and sexual agency.

Jennifer Stevens Aubrey (Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2004) is an Associate Professor in

the Department of Communication at University of Missouri. Her research interests include
media effects on young people’s sexual socialization and body image.
Cynthia M. Frisby (Ph.D., University of Florida, 1997) is an Associate Professor in the
Department of Strategic Communication at the Missouri School of Journalism. Her research
interests include media effects on consumer attitudes toward health, beauty, and racial stereotypes.
Correspondence should be addressed to Cynthia M. Frisby, Department of Strategic
Communication, Missouri School of Journalism, 140B Walter Williams, Columbia, MO
65211. E-mail: [email protected]

475
 476 AUBREY AND FRISBY

One of the most pervasive themes of contemporary media is the theme that
an attractive appearance and sexy body are among the most important goals
young people, especially women, can achieve. On television, in particular,
music videos provide rather extreme illustrations of this theme (Arnett,
2002). A consistent finding of content analyses is that music videos place
a great deal of emphasis on women’s appearance and sexual appeal
(Seidman, 1992; Sommers-Flanagan, Sommers-Flanagan, & Davis, 1993;
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Vincent, 1989; Vincent, Davis, & Boruszkowsi, 1987). However, most of this
research is rather dated, using samples of music videos from the 1980s,
which was when music videos became popular via the introduction of
MTV in 1981.
We argue that music videos provide fertile grounds for examining how
gender and sexuality are portrayed in media because not only are love
and sex predominant as themes (Andsager & Roe, 1999; Greeson &
Williams, 1987), but the visual nature of music videos make shortcuts and
sexual stereotypes commonplace (Andsager & Roe, 1999). They contain
rather potent messages with regard to gender and sexuality (Arnett, 2002;
Jhally, 2007), thus making them worthy of analysis. An examination of
music videos is particularly important because of their popularity among
adolescents, who are likely refining their schemata regarding gender and
sexuality (Ward, Hansborough, & Walker, 2005). Thirteen percent of 11-
to 14-year-olds regularly watch music videos, which is on par with other
television genres such as reality television, talk shows, and news programs
(Roberts & Foehr, 2004). Although showing music videos is not the central
programming strategy of MTV these days (Sharp, 2008), music videos are
readily accessible through MTV.com and on its sister network, MTV2, as
well as other platforms (e.g., VH1, BET, iTunes, YouTube).
In addition to updating content analytic work on gender and sexuality in
music videos with a contemporary sample of music videos, we attempted to
fill three gaps in the existing literature. First, although studies have con-
cluded that women are portrayed like sex objects in music videos (e.g., Som-
mers-Flanagan et al., 1993; Vincent et al., 1987), in general, sexual
objectification has been measured on a global level. A goal of the present
study was to gauge specifically how sexual objectification is employed in
music videos, using objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997)
as a framework to develop theoretically rigorous measurements of sexual
objectification.
Second, attention has not been paid to the matter of whether the artists in
particular are sexually objectified. Instead, most content analyses have coded
for gender stereotypical behaviors on a character level (e.g., King, Laake, &
Bernard, 2006; Sommers-Flanagan et al., 1993), coding any person who
appears in the music video. We argue that a focus on the artist is important
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 477

because music videos allow viewers a glimpse of the musicians, not only aug-
menting the potential of adoration and idolization of the performers but also
increasing the meaning viewers attach to their actions (Sun & Lull, 1986).
Furthermore, we argue that attention should also be paid to the gender of
the artist. A female artist who portrays herself as a sex object in her own
music video sends a considerably different message than a male artist who
sexually objectifies female extras or actresses in his video. Thus, another goal
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of the present research was to examine how portrayals of sexual objectifi-

cation, appearance, and sexualization vary by the gender of the artists.
The third gap that our study sought to fill was an investigation of musical
genre in our analysis of gender- and sexuality-related themes depicted in
music videos. Certainly, not all genres are equal in this regard. Perhaps
the most maligned musical genre in terms of antisocial themes is rap=
hip-hop, which has been accused of promoting controversial messages deal-
ing with violence, sex, and materialism (Johnson, Jackson & Gatto, 1995;
Smith, 2005). Indeed, a recent content analysis confirmed that these themes
are well represented in current rap videos (Conrad, Dixon, & Zhang, 2009).
In addition, rap and hip-hop are the most popular genres among adoles-
cents. The Generation M Report by the Kaiser Family Foundation (2005)
found that of 7th to 12th graders who listened to CDs, tapes, or MP3 s
the previous day, the proportion that listened to rap=hip-hop was 65%, a
higher proportion than any of the other 14 genres measured. In contrast
to rap=hip-hop, the country genre is known for its socially conservative
themes (Andsager & Roe, 1999; Freudiger & Almquit, 1978; Wilson,
2000), which corresponds with less emphasis on sexuality and physical
appearance for women than other genres of music. Perhaps because of the
conservatism, country music is much less popular with adolescents than
rap=hip hop. Only 18% of 7th- to 12th-graders who listened to CDs, tapes
or MP3 s the previous day listened to country music (Kaiser Family
Foundation, 2005). Perhaps a middle ground is pop music. Although pre-
vious research has suggested that pop music is rife with sexual stereotypes,
it is less likely to have other antisocial themes, such as violence and drug
use (Hansen & Hansen, 2000).1 Taken together, it would be reasonable to
expect differences in gender- and sexuality-related messages between musical
genres.
In sum, the present research utilizes content analysis to investigate
messages regarding sexual objectification, appearance, and sexuality in

1
The Generation M (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005) report did not measure 7th to 12th
graders preference for pop music, in particular. The most conceptually similar genre is Top
40, and surprisingly only 17% of the sample had listened to that genre the previous day.
 478 AUBREY AND FRISBY

music videos. Our goals were to investigate whether these messages varied
by (a) gender of artists and (b) genre of the music video.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Music Video Studies

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When MTV went on cable in 1981, the popularity of music videos exploded
(Hansen & Hansen, 2000). Unsurprisingly, the popularity of music videos
led many scholars and critics to worry about the possible antisocial effects
of exposure to this genre. Early content analyses showed that anywhere
from 40% to 75% of music videos contained sexual imagery (Baxter, De
Riemer, Landini, Leslie, & Singletary, 1985; Gow, 1996; McKee & Pardun,
1996). Consequently, experimental studies examined whether music videos
had short-term effects on young people’s sexual attitudes. Evidence sug-
gested that undergraduate students and teenagers who were exposed to
music videos featuring sexual content were more likely to endorse casual
and stereotypical attitudes about sex than those assigned to a control group
(Calfin, Carroll, & Schmidt, 1993; Greeson & Williams, 1986; Ward et al.,
2005). In addition, correlational studies showed that music videos predicted
permissive sexual attitudes (Strouse & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1987) and a stron-
ger acceptance of women as sexual objects (Ward, 2002).
Both dated and more recent content-analytic work has supported the
idea that permissive sexual attitudes, exploitation, objectification, and
degradation are prominent in music videos (Conrad et al., 2009; Gow,
1996; Sommers-Flanagan et al., 1993). In a recent content analysis of
rap music videos, Conrad et al. (2009) discovered that female characters
often were in positions of submission when compared to male characters.
This finding was similar to earlier research showing that women in music
videos often appeared to be placed in positions of sexual submission to
their male counterparts (Baxter et al., 1985). Similarly, content analyses
have suggested that women are also portrayed as sex objects by the use
of revealing clothing; women’s skimpy dress typically reveals a high degree
of skin exposure (Conrad et al., 2009; King et al., 2006; Seidman, 1999).
In addition, several studies have examined general gender-role traits and
behaviors, and they again confirmed that the world of music videos is rife
with stereotypes. Men in music videos were more aggressive, domineering,
and violent than female characters (Seidman, 1992, 1999). At the same time,
men were also likely to be shown as being wanted by attractive women
(Orange, 1996). In contrast, female characters were affectionate, nurturing,
and dependent (Seidman, 1992, 1999) with a heavy emphasis on their sexual
appeal (Vincent, 1989).
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 479

Theoretical Framework: Objectification Theory

To guide our examination of sexual objectification in music videos, we used
objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) as a theoretical frame-
work. Objectification theory proposes that sexual objectification of women’s
bodies by the media teaches women to internalize an outsiders’ perspective
on the self such that they come to see themselves as objects to be evaluated
by others, a tendency called self-objectification. Women who self-objectify
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have been shown to be at greater risk not only for negative feelings toward
their bodies (e.g., Calogero, 2004; Noll & Fredrickson, 1998; Tiggemann &
Lynch, 2001) but also for mental health problems such as depression and
disordered eating (e.g., Noll & Fredrickson, 1998; Slater & Tiggemann,
2002).
Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) contended that media contribute to the
culture of sexual objectification. Others have elaborated on this assumption,
arguing that the media provide not only an important socializing function
for the development of a trait level of self-objectification (Aubrey, 2006,
2007) but also a key eliciting condition in temporarily activated state
self-objectification (Aubrey, Henson, Hopper, & Smith, 2009; Harrison &
Fredrickson, 2003). The media do this by sexually objectifying bodies, which
‘‘occurs whenever a person’s body, body parts, or sexual functions are sepa-
rated out from his or her person, reduced to the status of mere instruments,
or regarded as if they were capable of representing him or her’’ (Fredrickson
& Roberts, 1997, p. 175). The main ways that media enact sexual objectifi-
cation are via (a) the visual presentation of bodies and (b) the thematic
content that emphasizes the importance of bodies and appearance.

Defining Sexual Objectification

When one is objectified, he or she has little agency and is typically acted
upon by others. In contrast, a subject thinks, feels, experiences, and drives
the action (Aubrey et al., 2009). Thus, to operationalize sexual objectifi-
cation, we revisited the conceptual definition offered by Fredrickson and
Roberts (1997): ‘‘The common thread running through all forms of sexual
objectification is the experience of being treated as a body (or collection
of body parts) valued predominantly for its use to (or consumption by)
others’’ (p. 174). In our view, this definition suggested at least three ways
in which sexual objectification could be operationalized.
First, an obvious way in which sexual objectification could be conveyed is
through body exposure. The definition of sexual objectification specifically
mentioned the representation of a woman as a ‘‘collection of body parts’’
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997, p. 174), suggesting that sexual objectification
occurs whenever body parts are on display. We focused on those body parts
 480 AUBREY AND FRISBY

that are associated with sexual activity and=or the demarcation of biological
sex (e.g., cleavage=chest, buttocks, and pelvis). This operationalization is in
line with content analyses that have defined sexual objectification as
instances in which the focus is on isolated body parts (Seidman, 1999;
Sommers-Flanagan et al., 1993). Thus, our first set of research questions
focused on the extent to which each body part was exposed, comparing
between gender and genre.
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RQ1a: Will the amount of body parts revealed by artists differ by gender?
RQ1b: Will the amount of body parts revealed by artists differ by genre?

Second, the conceptual definition of sexual objectification stressed that

women’s bodies were ‘‘valued predominantly for its use to (or consumption
by) others’’ (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997, p. 174). Thus, to actually show
that a body is vulnerable to ‘‘consumption’’ by others, another operationa-
lization of sexual objectification was to measure the extent to which artists
were shown being checked out (i.e., looked at or touched) by spectators in
the video. This definition shared conceptual ground with Mulvey’s (1975)
notion of the gaze, which is invoked when camera shots linger on bodies
or body parts instead of focusing on the face or the total subject. The gaze
expresses an asymmetric power relationship between the gazer and the
gazed; that is, one imposes an unwanted gaze upon the other. The emphasis
on the body denies the subject human agency and instead relegates him or
her to the status of objects. Although Mulvey’s argument was that the gaze
is inherently male (i.e., culturally, men have more power to enact the gaze
and thus relegate women to the status of objects), in the current study,
our definition of the gaze was not a priori male. Instead, we investigated
both (a) the extent to which both male and female artists enacted the gaze
on others and (b) the extent to which they received the gaze from others.
Our second set of research questions investigated the presence of gaze by
gender and genre.

RQ2a: Will the presence of gaze differ in music videos of female artists versus
male artists?
RQ2b: Will the presence of gaze differ by genre?

Whereas the first two sets of research questions focused on visual elements
of sexual objectification, the third operationalization focused on a thematic
element. Another way that persons can be valued primarily for what they
look like is to function as decorative objects in music videos. Previous con-
tent analyses of music videos have revealed that this situation is especially
common for female characters in rap=hip-hop videos, where women’s
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 481

primary function is often to ‘‘flank’’ male artists, wearing revealing clothing,

so as to portray an image of sexual bravado in which the artist is seen as
powerful in his ability to ‘‘collect’’ attractive women (Fitts, 2008). In contrast
to a decorative role, characters might take an ‘‘instrumental’’ role in the tal-
ent and=or plot and action of the music video. In essence, an instrumental
role is one in which characters are valued for their contributions to the music
video above and beyond their appearance (Harrison & Fredrickson, 2003).
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For example, Gow’s (1996) content analysis of music videos found that
women were much less likely to be in the role of artists as they were to be
in the roles of dancers and models. Thus, in the present analysis, we examined
the extent to which characters (both female and male) were seen in decorative
roles, again examining gender and genre differences:

RQ3a: Does the use of male and=or female characters as decorative objects
differ by gender of the artist?
RQ3b: Will the portrayal of male and=or female characters as decorative
objects vary by genre?

Together, we argue that these three variables—skin exposure, gaze, and

the decorative role of characters—combine to represent a theoretically rig-
orous measurement of sexual objectification. However, in addition to sexual
objectification, we measured two other gendered messages in music videos:
appearance and sexualization.
Previous content analyses of music videos show that for women, there is a
heavy emphasis on physical appearance and attractiveness (e.g., Hansen &
Hansen, 2000). Extending this argument, we tested the notion that female
artists would need to conform to stricter standards in terms of their facial
attractiveness and body shape than male artists. In addition, based on
previous research that has suggested that country music videos placed less
emphasis on women’s physical appearance (Wilson, 2000) than other genres,
particularly rap=hip-hop (Conrad et al., 2009), we also investigated whether
these appearance variables would differ by genre.

RQ4a: Will facial attractiveness of music video artists differ by gender?

RQ4b: Will facial attractiveness of music video artists vary by genre?
RQ5a: Will the idealized body shape standards of artists differ by gender?
RQ5b: Will the idealized body shape standards of artists vary by genre?

In music videos, research has also shown that women are valued for their
ability to use their bodies to be sexually alluring (Andsager & Roe, 1999;
Seidman, 1992; Vincent, 1989). For example, Sommers-Flanagan et al.
(1993) found that female characters in music videos were more likely than
 482 AUBREY AND FRISBY

male characters to exhibit behaviors meant to elicit sexual arousal (e.g., lip
licking, stroking one’s body, pelvic thrusting). Also, content analyses have
shown that female characters in music videos were more likely than male
characters to wear sexually provocative attire in music videos (King et al.,
2006; Seidman, 1992, 1999). Another way that women in music videos
attempt to be sexually alluring is through seductive dancing, typically for
male observers (Arnett, 2002). Thus, in our final set of research questions,
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we examined whether music videos’ use of ‘‘sexualization’’ (measured by a

globalized sexualization rating, the observance of provocative dress, and
the use of sexualized dance) differed by gender and genre.

RQ6a: Will sexualization of artists in music videos differ by gender?

RQ6b: Will the sexualization of artists in music videos vary by genre?
RQ7a: Will the presence of provocative attire differ by gender?
RQ7b: Will the presence of provocative dress differ by genre?
RQ8a: Will sexualized dance (both by artists and by background dancers)
vary by gender?
RQ8b: Will the use of sexualized dance (both by artists and background
dancers) differ by genre?

METHOD

Sample
To construct the sample, we chose songs that were in the top 10 of the ‘‘Hot
100’’ Billboard charts from March 2007 through September 2008 for three
genres: pop, R&B=hip-hop,2 and country. First, to construct a sample frame
for each genre, we stratified the sample by genre, compiling a list of the top
10 songs from each week of the 19 months in our sample period. When
songs remained on the chart for more than 1 week, we did not enter them
multiple times into the sample frame; thus, each song was only selected into
the sample frame once. After the three sample frames were constructed, we
utilized simple random sampling (via a random numbers table) to choose
songs from each genre until we obtained a list of 50 videos from each.3
We had three inclusion criteria for the sample. First, the song had to have
a corresponding music video. Not every song that was on the list had a video

2
The Billboard charts measure the popularity of rap as a separate genre. We chose to sample
the more broadly defined R&B=hip-hop genre because of its greater representation of female
artists.
3
We chose 50 as a target sample size for each genre so that we could be assured that we
would have enough power for our estimated effect size (which was medium-to-small) based
on our expected genre differences (Cohen, 1988).
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 483

attached with it, so in that case the song was omitted from the sample frame.
Second, the music video had to be available for viewing through an online
Web site. In most cases, the music videos were available on YouTube. In
some cases, we were able to view the video on the Web site for MTV,
VH1, or BET. Third, the video had to be registered on only one of the Bill-
board charts. That is, the song could not be on the Top 10 for pop music at
the same time that it was on the Top 10 for either country or hip-hop. For
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example, Jessica Simpson’s ‘‘These Boots Were Made for Walking’’ was on
both country and pop charts at the time of our sampling; thus, this song was
passed over. In total, our sampling strategy resulted in a total of 147 music
videos (n ¼ 50 for pop, n ¼ 50 for R&B=hip-hop, and n ¼ 47 for country).
Because we did not deliberately stratify the sample by gender, it is not a
surprise that the sample had more male artists (65.3%, n ¼ 96) than female
artists (34.7%, n ¼ 51). This is consistent with trends in the music industry
(Donze, 2007) and previous content analyses showing that music videos
are male dominated (Andsager & Roe, 1999; Gow, 1995; Sommers-
Flanagan et al., 1993).

Coding
Coder Training
Two female undergraduate students served as coders. Training took place
over 5 weeks; each weekly session lasted between 1 and 2 hours; in addition,
each coder engaged in at least 1 hour of independent coding in between the
training sessions. During these sessions, the coders practiced on several
music videos so that they and the investigators could identify and resolve
problems with the coding scheme. After the coding scheme was modified
on the basis of these practice rounds, coding was independent. The coders
were not aware of any of our expectations about the results.
Intercoder reliability was based on the coding of the two female under-
graduate coders plus the two authors. Reliabilities were computed based
on the coding of 18 additional music videos (not included in the final sam-
ple; 6 videos from each genre represented). The 18 videos were similar in
content to the videos that composed the final sample; most came from the
year before the sampling period started for the final sample. In addition,
each video in the reliability sample called for the use of the entire coding
scheme. After reliability on each of the variables was achieved, coding the
final sample was done by the two undergraduate coders. The investigators
did not participate in the coding of the final sample. The coders were each
assigned to code roughly one half of each genre. In total, coding the final
sample took approximately 35 to 40 hours.
 484 AUBREY AND FRISBY

Krippendorff’s alpha was used to assess reliability. Coefficients ranged

from .68 to 1.0 with an average of .83 (SD ¼ .13). Each coefficient is
reported in the following coding sections.

Units of Analysis
The music videos were coded on two levels: artist and overall music
video. In the cases of the solo artist, the artist was straightforwardly coded
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(e.g., Taylor Hicks, Kanye West, Fergie). In the case of musical groups or
bands, the most visible person representing the band or group was coded
(e.g., Rascal Flatts, Coldplay), which was typically the lead singer.
For two of the variables (decorative role, sexualized dance by back-
ground dancers), we coded on the overall video level, taking into account
the entire narrative of the video from start to finish. This was a macrocoding
strategy, capturing the overall themes communicated by the video.

Coding of Demographic Characteristics of Artists

Demographics of the artists were coded. Race was coded either as White=
Caucasian, Black=African American, Hispanic=Latino, Asian=Pacific
Islander, biracial, other, or cannot tell. The artists’ names, skin tone, and
biography (available on most artists’ Web sites or the Billboard Web site)
were used to make the coding decision for race (a ¼ 1.0). In addition, the
artists’ gender was coded (a ¼ 1.0). For age, coders indicated to which age
group the artist looked like he or she belonged. That is, we did not have
the coders actually look up how old the artists were because we were inter-
ested in the perceptions of age that were likely to be formed by the audience.
The coding categories included teen (14–18), young adult (19–24), and adult
(older than 24). Reliability for age was quite high (a ¼ .94).

Coding of Sexual Objectification

Exposure of body parts. The artist’s skin exposure was coded for
whether the artist was naked=unclothed on each of the following any time
during the video: cleavage (for female artists, a ¼ 1.0), chests with pectoral
muscles exposed (for male artists, a ¼ .78), butt cracks and=or cheeks
(a ¼ 1.0), and stomach=pelvis (a ¼ .70). We targeted these variables because
we consider these to be the sexualized parts of the body. The number of
body parts exposed for each artist was summed, with the possible range
being from 0 (no body parts exposed) to 3 (all coded body parts exposed).

Gaze. Gaze was defined as an explicit instance of ‘‘checking out’’

another’s body with a sense of sexual longing or lust. We coded for the artist
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 485

being the target of the gaze (being checked out by someone else) or being the
perpetrator of the gaze (checking someone else out). The coders simply indi-
cated whether the gaze was present or absent for both the target variable
(a ¼ .69) and the perpetrator variable (a ¼ .68).

Decorative role. On the video level, we coded for whether male charac-
ters or female characters played a merely decorative role in the music video.
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In other words, the value of female characters’ and male characters’ pres-
ence in the video was coded globally as either yes, it was valued, or no, it
was not. Although the codebook allowed for the possibility that male char-
acters could serve these decorative roles in music videos, there were no
instances in our sample in which male characters were coded as decorative.
Thus, the remaining variable for decorative role applied only to female char-
acters. Intercoder reliability for this variable was sufficient, especially given
the macro nature of this variable (a ¼ .78).

Coding of Attractiveness
Facial attractiveness. Clearly, judgments of attractiveness can be
highly subjective. Thus, in coding facial attractiveness, we drew from pre-
vious work, which has summarized typical qualities and features associated
with cultural standards of attractiveness for men versus women (Bashour,
2007; Cunningham, 1986; Cunningham, Barbee, & Pike, 1990; Davis,
Shuster, Dionne, & Claridge, 2001). For men, attractiveness was coded
as having such features as a strong jaw, a ‘‘baby’’ face, and a broad fore-
head. For women, attractive features included large eyes, small nose, small
chin, full lips, prominent and narrow cheekbones, and a broad smile.
Based on these criteria, coders chose from the following: attractive, aver-
age looking, unattractive. The intercoder reliability for this variable was
satisfactory (a ¼ .74).

Body shape. We also measured two variables to measure artists’ body

shape. First, we measured the degree of muscularity=muscle tone displayed
by the artist in the video. Muscularity was determined by the size of the
artists’ muscles, whereas muscle tone was determined by perceived muscle
firmness and definition. This variable was coded on a 3-point scale ranging
3 (very muscular=toned), 2 (average), and 1 (not at all muscular=toned). The
reliability was satisfactory (a ¼ .69).4

4
Slightly more than half (54.4%, n ¼ 80) of the artists could be coded for muscularity=tone
because this variable could only be coded if the artist was wearing fitting clothing and=or a
major muscle group was exposed.
 486 AUBREY AND FRISBY

Second, to approximate an ideal body shape, we assessed artists’ waist

size as a measure of slenderness. We chose to measure waist size because
a slender waist is considered attractive for both genders. That is, an hour-
glass figure for women and a tapering V-shape figure for men share a small
waist in common (Swami, Antonakopoulos, Tovée, & Furnham, 2006).
Waists were coded as small, average, or large (a ¼ .94).
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Coding of Sexualization
Global sexualization. On the artist level, we coded a global ‘‘sexualiza-
tion’’ variable, defined as the artists’ attempts to be sexually alluring. Oper-
ationally, this was defined as a combination of a variety of factors, including
sexual movement, sexual posing, and seductive facial expressions. The cod-
ing was again done on a 3-point scale. To be coded as ‘‘highly sexualized,’’
all three of the aforementioned factors had to be present. To be coded as the
‘‘somewhat sexualized’’ rating, there could be either one or two of the afore-
mentioned characteristics present. The ‘‘not sexualized’’ rating was reserved
for those artists who did not exhibit any of the aforementioned characteris-
tics. Coding was adequately reliable (a ¼ .80).

Provocative dress. Also on the artist level, we further coded the dress
of the artist, judging the provocative nature of the artist’s attire. If the artist
was wearing sexually suggestive clothing, he or she was coded in the ‘‘pro-
vocatively dressed’’ category. All others were coded as not provocatively
dressed. Coders reached perfect agreement on this variable (a ¼ 1.0).

Sexualized dance. We measured whether the artist dances in a sexually

suggestive way (either yes or no). The intercoder reliability was acceptable
(a ¼ .83). Because music video artists often do not dance alone, we also
coded for the sexually suggestive dance of extra dancers, defined as charac-
ters (either male or female) in the video who dance for the artist and=or next
to the artist (a ¼ 1.0).

Data Analysis
To investigate the research questions, we used two data analysis approaches
based on the level of measurement of the variables. For the one continuous
variable—overall skin exposure that ranged from no body parts exposed to
three body parts exposed—we conducted an independent t test (for gender)
and a one-way analysis of variance (for genre). Second, because we regarded
all remaining variables as categorical, two-way chi-square tests were con-
ducted to determine if the distribution among categories was not equal.
Then, to investigate pairwise comparisons among distributions with more
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 487

than two categories, we used Marascuilo contrasts, which allow for pairwise
comparisons between categories that consist of proportion data (Glass &
Hopkins, 1996).

RESULTS
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To provide context for our results, first the demographics of the artists were
assessed. As already mentioned, male artists (65.3%, n ¼ 96) were more fre-
quent than female artists (34.7%, n ¼ 51) in the sample. The sample con-
sisted of 53.1% (n ¼ 78) White=Caucasian artists, 38.1% (n ¼ 56) Black=
African American artists, 6.8% (n ¼ 10) biracial artists, and .7% (n ¼ 1)
Hispanic=Latino artists. The race of two of the artists could not be ident-
ified. Roughly three fourths of the sample (76.2%, n ¼ 112) were coded as
adult; 21.8% (n ¼ 32) were coded as young adult, and the final 2.0%
(n ¼ 3) were coded as teen.
Also, because our results examined gender and genre differences, we
also considered the gender breakdown within each genre. Pop music has
the most balance in terms of gender. Of the 50 pop videos, 56.0%
(n ¼ 28) were by female artists. Representing the gendered dynamics of
their genres, only 23.4% (n ¼ 11) of the country music videos were by
female artists, and only 24.0% (n ¼ 12) of the R&B=hip-hop music videos
were by female artists.

RQs 1 to 3: Sexual Objectification of Artists in Music Videos

RQ1a examined whether the number of exposed body parts varied by gen-
der of the artist. Results showed that female artists reveal significantly more
body parts on average (M ¼ 1.02, SD ¼ .79) than male artists (M ¼ .27,
SD ¼ .69), t(145) ¼ 5.97, p < .001. In answer to research question 1b, we
ran a one-way ANOVA to examine whether the number of exposed body
parts varied by genre. The model was not statistically significant, F(2,
144) ¼ 1.96, p ¼ .15, indicating that there were not statistically significant
variations in artists’ skin exposure by genre.
For the remaining research questions, the gender differences are reported
in Table 1, and the genre differences are reported in Table 2.
RQ2a investigated whether the presence of gaze differed between male
and female artists. The relationship between gender of the artist and the
artist being the target of the gaze was not statistically significant, v2 (1,
N ¼ 146) ¼ .02, p ¼ .96. Thus, male and female artists were equally likely
to be the target of the gaze in their music videos. However, there was a stat-
istically significant relationship between gender and the artist as the
 488 AUBREY AND FRISBY

TABLE 1
Gender Differences in all Categorical Variables

Female Artist (%) Male Artist (%) Total (n)

Target of Gaze
Present 19.6 18.8 28
Absent 80.4 81.2 119
2
v (1, N ¼ 146) ¼ .02, Cramer’s V ¼ .01
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Perpetrator of Gaze
Present 7.8a 25.0b 28
Absent 92.2a 75.0b 119
v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 6.36
, Cramer’s V ¼ .21
Decorative Role of Women in Video
Present 2.0a 34.3b 34
Absent 98.0a 66.7b 113
v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 19.68


, Cramer’s V ¼ .37
Facial Attractiveness
Attractive 72.5a 31.3b 64
Average 23.5a 40.6a 51
Unattractive 3.9a 28.1a 32
v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 29.33


, Cramer’s V ¼ .45
Waist Size
Small 41.7a 5.6a 24
Average 50.0a 73.6b 77
Large 8.3a 20.8a 19
v2 (2, N ¼ 120) ¼ 24.12


, Cramer’s V ¼ .45
Muscularity
Very 10.9a 47.1b 21
Average 82.6a 38.2b 51
Not at all 6.5a 14.7a 8
v2 (2, N ¼ 80) ¼ 17.10


, Cramer’s V ¼ .46
Global Sexualization
Very 27.5a 1.0a 15
Somewhat 21.6a 7.3a 18
Not at all 51.0a 91.7b 114
v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 34.05


, Cramer’s V ¼ .48
Provocative Dress
Present 35.3a 5.2b 23
Absent 64.7a 94.8b 116
v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 22.84


, Cramer’s V ¼ .39
Sexually Suggestive Dance by Artist
Present 31.4a 4.2a 19
Absent 68.6a 95.8b 128
v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 20.97


, Cramer’s V ¼ .38
Sexually Suggestive Dance by Extras
Present 11.8a 35.4a 40
Absent 88.2a 64.6b 107
v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 9.41

, Cramer’s V ¼ .25

Note.
p < .05;

p < .01;


p < .001. Subscripts differing in the same row differed at p < .05.
Pairwise comparisons were conducted via Marascuilo contrasts. Pairwise comparisons were not
conducted on models in which the omnibus v2 test was not statistically significant.
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 489

TABLE 2
Genre Differences in All Categorical Variables

Pop (%) R&B=Hip Hop (%) Country (%) Total

Target of Gaze
Present 12.0a 44.0b 0 28
Absent 88.0a 56.0b 100.0c 119
2
v (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 32.86


, Cramer’s V ¼ .47
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Perpetrator of Gaze
Present 12.0a 38.0a 6.4a 28
Absent 88.0a 62.0b 93.6a,c 119
v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 18.15


, Cramer’s V ¼ .35
Decorative Role of Women in Video
Present 12.0a 44.0a 12.8a 34
Absent 88.0a 56.0b 87.2a 113
v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 18.57


, Cramer’s V ¼ .36
Facial Attractiveness
Attractive 46.0a 40.0a 44.7a 65
Average 46.0a 30.0a 27.7a 50
Unattractive 8.0a 30.0a 27.7a 32
v2 (4, N ¼ 147) ¼ 9.72þ, Cramer’s V ¼ .26
Waist Size
Small 33.3a 10.5a 15.0a 21
Average 54.8a 65.8a 72.5a 78
Large 11.9a 23.7a 12.5a 19
v2 (4, N ¼ 120) ¼ 9.14, Cramer’s V ¼ .20
Muscularity
Very 24.2a 40.0a 13.6a 19
Average 63.6a.b 44.0a 86.4b 51
Not at all 12.1a 16.0a 0 8
v2 (4, N ¼ 80) ¼ 9.73
, Cramer’s V ¼ .25
Global Sexualization
Very 20.0a 6.0a 4.3a 15
Somewhat 12.0a 16.0a 8.5a 18
Not at all 68.0a 78.0a 87.2a 114
v2 (4, N ¼ 147) ¼ 9.37þ, Cramer’s V ¼ .18
Provocative dress
Present 28.0a 14.0a 4.3a 23
Absent 72.0a 86.0a,b 95.7b 124
v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 10.51
, Cramer’s V ¼ .27
Sexually Suggestive Dance by Artist
Present 20.0 16.0 4.3 20
Absent 80.0 84.0 95.7 127
v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 5.18, Cramer’s V ¼ .19
Sexually Suggestive Dance by Extras
Present 20.0a 52.0b 8.5a 40
Absent 80.0a 48.0b 91.5a 107
v2 (2, N ¼ 146) ¼ 25.12


, Cramer’s V ¼ .41

Notes. þp ¼ .05;
p < .05;

p < .01;


p < .001. Subscripts differing in the same row differed
at p < .05. Pairwise comparisons were conducted via Marascuilo contrasts. Pairwise compari-
sons were not conducted on models in which the omnibus v2 test was not statistically significant.
 490 AUBREY AND FRISBY

perpetrator of the gaze, v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 6.36, p ¼ .01, Cramer’s V ¼ .21.

Pairwise comparisons revealed that 25.0% (n ¼ 24) of male artists perpe-
trated the gaze versus 7.8% (n ¼ 4) of female artists, a statistically significant
difference.
RQ2b investigated whether the presence of gaze in the music videos
varied by genre. The relationship between genre and the artist as target of
the gaze was statistically significant, v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 32.86, p < .001,
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Cramer’s V ¼ .47. In particular, 44.0% (n ¼ 22) of R&B=hip hop music

videos showed the artists as the targets of the gaze, which was significantly
more than the 12.0% (n ¼ 6) in the pop genre showing the artist receiving the
gaze. (There were no country videos with artist as the target of the gaze.)
Further, the relationship between genre and artist as the perpetrator of
the gaze was also statistically significant, v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 18.15, p < .001,
Cramer’s V ¼ .35. Although pairwise comparisons revealed no differences
between genres in the presence of the artist as the perpetrator of the gaze,
there were differences in the absence of the gaze. That is, country music
videos were the least likely to show the artist perpetrating the gaze
(93.6%, n ¼ 44), closely followed by pop music videos (88.0%, n ¼ 44). Both
had significantly less perpetration of the gaze compared to R&B=hip hop
music videos (62.0%, n ¼ 31).
RQ3a examined the extent to which male and female characters were dec-
orative in music videos. However, the coders did not observe any videos that
featured male characters in a decorative role. Thus, research question 3a was
only able to capture women serving in a decorative role, and on the whole,
only 23.1% (N ¼ 34) of the music videos were coded as portraying women in
primarily decorative roles. We further examined whether this varied by
gender of the artist. Not surprisingly, there was a statistically significant
relationship between these two variables, v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 19.68, p < .001,
Cramer’s V ¼ .37. Pairwise comparisons revealed that 34.3% (n ¼ 33) of
male artists’ videos placed women in a decorative role, compared to 2.0%
(n ¼ 1) of female artists’ videos, a statistically significant difference.
RQ3b examined the portrayal of women in decorative roles by genre. A
statistically significant relationship was found, v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 18.57,
p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .36. Although pairwise comparisons did not exhibit
statistically significant differences between genres in the presence of the
decorative role of women, there were genre differences in the absence of
the decorative role of women. Eighty eight percent (n ¼ 43) of pop music
videos and 87.2% (n ¼ 42) of country music did not portray women as
decorative versus 56.0% (n ¼ 28) of hip hop=R&B videos did not portray
women as decorative. While the difference between pop and country was
not statistically significant, the differences between R&B=hip hop and both
pop and country videos were statistically significant.
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 491

RQs 4 to 5: Appearance Ideals in Music Videos

RQ4a examined whether female artists conformed to stricter facial attract-
iveness ideals than male artists. The results of a two-way v2 examining
the relationship between gender or artist and facial attractiveness was
statistically significant, v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 29.33, p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .45.
Pairwise comparisons confirmed that female artists (72.5%, n ¼ 37) were sig-
nificantly more likely to be coded as attractive than male characters (31.3%,
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n ¼ 27). Research question 4b examined facial attractiveness by genre.

Although the results revealed a marginally significant relationship, v2 (4,
N ¼ 147) ¼ 9.29, p ¼ .05, Cramer’s V ¼ .26, the pairwise comparisons indi-
cated that within the three levels of categories of facial attractiveness, there
were no statistically significant differences by genre.
RQ5 examined gender and genre differences in body ideals through the
coding of two variables: waist size and muscularity=tone. In relations to
research question 5a, the results of two separate two-way v2 analyses
demonstrated gender differences in both waist size, v2 (2, N ¼ 120) ¼
24.12, p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .44, and in muscularity=tone, v2 (2,
N ¼ 80) ¼ 17.10, p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .46. For waist size, male artists
(73.6%, n ¼ 53) were more likely to be coded as having an average-sized
waist than female artists (50.0%, n ¼ 24). For gender differences in
muscularity=tone, the results demonstrated that male artists were signifi-
cantly more likely to be coded as very muscular (47.1%, n ¼ 16) compared
to female artists (10.9%, n ¼ 5), while female artists were significantly more
likely to be coded as average in muscularity=tone (82.6%, n ¼ 38) than male
characters (38.2%, n ¼ 13).
RQ5b investigated genre differences in waist size and muscularity=tone.
The v2 analysis for waist size by genre was not statistically significant,
v2(4, N ¼ 120) ¼ 9.14, p ¼ .06. However, the overall v2 statistic was statisti-
cally significant for muscularity=tone by genre, v2(4, N ¼ 80) ¼ 9.73,
p ¼ .045, Cramer’s V ¼ .25, and the pairwise comparisons indicated that
the country music artists (86.4%, n ¼ 19) were more likely to be coded as
average in muscularity than R&B=hip hop artists (44.0%, n ¼ 11). No other
differences by genre were found for the other categories of muscularity.
Thus, the results reveal only tentative evidence that ideals related to body
shape vary by genre in popular music videos.

RQs 6 to 8: Sexualization in Music Videos

RQ6a examined gender differences in the sexualization of the artists. The
results of the two-way v2 analysis revealed a statistically significant relation-
ship between gender of the artist and the global sexualization rating for the
 492 AUBREY AND FRISBY

artists, v2(2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 34.05, p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .48. Pairwise compar-
isons indicated that male artists were more likely to be in the ‘‘not at all’’
sexualized category (91.7%, n ¼ 88) than female artists (51.0%, n ¼ 26).
Research question 6b examined sexualization by genre. The results of the
two-way v2 analysis examining the relationship between genre and global
sexualization was marginally significant, v2(4, N ¼ 147) ¼ 9.37, p ¼ .05,
Cramer’s V ¼ .18. However, the pairwise comparisons do not reveal any sig-
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nificant gender differences by genre.

For RQ7a, we investigated whether there were gender differences in pro-
vocative dress. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship
between gender and provocative dress, v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 22.84, p < .001,
Cramer’s V ¼ .39. The pairwise comparisons indicated that female artists
were significantly more likely to be coded as provocatively dressed (35.3%,
n ¼ 18) than male artists (5.2%, n ¼ 5). Conversely, male artists (94.8%,
n ¼ 91) were more likely to be coded as ‘‘not provocatively dressed’’ than
female artists (64.7%, n ¼ 33). For research question 7b, the v2 analysis tests
for the models examining dress by genre was statistically significant, v2 (2,
N ¼ 147) ¼ 10.51, p ¼ .03, Cramer’s V ¼ .27. Pairwise comparisons indicated
that country music videos (95.7%, n ¼ 45) were more likely to have the
absence of sexually provocative dress than pop music videos (72.0%, n ¼ 36).
Finally, RQ8a investigated the relationship between gender and artists’
engaging in sexualized dance. The results yielded a statistically significant
relationship, v2(1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 20.97, p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .38. Female
artists (31.4%, n ¼ 16) were more likely to engage in sexually suggestive
dance than male artists (4.2%, n ¼ 4). Additionally, there was a statistically
significant relationship between gender and artists’ use of extra dancers who
engage in sexualized dance, v2 (1, N ¼ 147) ¼ 9.41, p ¼ .002, Cramer’s
V ¼ .25, but in this case, female artists (88.2%, n ¼ 45) were less likely to
have extra dancers who engage in sexualized dance than male artists
(64.6%, n ¼ 62). Also an important point in contextualizing this finding is
that all but two of the music videos in the sample used female backup
dancers.5 When they were in music videos, male backup dancers were not
coded as sexualized.
In relation to RQ8b, the artists’ sexual dance by genre model was not stat-
istically significant, v2 (2, N ¼ 147) ¼ 5.18, p ¼ .08. However, the use of sexu-
ally suggestive dance by extras did vary by genre, v2 (2, N ¼ 146) ¼ 25.12,
p < .001, Cramer’s V ¼ .41. R&B=hip hop music videos (52.0%, n ¼ 26) were

5
In one case, Britney Spears’s ‘‘Womanizer’’ video, the male backup dancers performed in a
group with female dancers as well. In the other case, Rihanna’s ‘‘Please Don’t Stop the Music,’’
one male character engaged in sexualized dance with Rihanna in a club setting.
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 493

significantly more likely to have sexually suggestive dance by extra characters

than both pop (20.0%, n ¼ 10) and country music videos (8.5%, n ¼ 4).

DISCUSSION

Content analyses of music videos have certainly dwindled since an explosion

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of research in the 1980s and 1990s, and this is probably because many
researchers perceive music video programming to be less relevant now that
the major music channels (e.g., MTV) do not use music videos as the back-
bone of their programming strategy anymore. Rather than dismissing the
cultural importance of music videos, we argue that they can still be a rather
potent medium, especially for young viewers, because they provide
rather salient imagery related to norms regarding gender and sexuality
(Jhally, 2007). The issue is not how much they are exposed to music videos
but whether they are exposed at all. Thus, one of the main goals of the
present study was to update content analytic work that has been done on
music videos, mostly during the 1980s (Seidman, 1992; Sommers-Flanagan
et al., 1993; Vincent, 1989; Vincent et al., 1987). Whereas much of the pre-
vious research examined broad themes related to how female characters are
portrayed in music videos, the present study examined specific visual and
behavioral features of sexual objectification that were based on objectifi-
cation theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). The present research suggests
that female artists in both the pop and R&B=hip-hop genres regularly use
sexual objectifying behaviors (e.g., dance) and styling (e.g., dress) to portray
themselves. Thus, an implication of the current research is to further con-
sider how audiences might interpret the apparent choice of female artists
to sexually objectify the self. We argue that a focus on the artist is important
because music videos allow viewers a glimpse of the musicians, not only aug-
menting the potential of adoration and idolization of the performers but
also increasing the meaning viewers attach to their actions (Sun & Lull,
1986). Thus, the message of these music videos to viewers who idolize these
artists might be that female artists are appreciated more for their bodies and
their sexual attractiveness than for their talents.

Summary of Key Findings

Gender Differences
Based on objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), another of
our primary goals in the present study was to measure gender differences
in sexual objectification, drawing on theoretically derived indicators of
 494 AUBREY AND FRISBY

sexual objectification. Not surprisingly, the findings suggest that female

artists were more sexually objectified than male artists. The first two of
the three sexual objectification variables focused on visual elements of music
videos that serve to train viewers’ eyes on bodies: the baring of sexual body
parts and the use of gaze. These visual techniques conform to the conceptual
definition of sexual objectification; the common thread being that they
reduce people to their bodies. Thus, in line with objectification theory, con-
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temporary music videos serve to reinforce the cultural notion that women
are valued first and foremost for their bodies and their appearance.
Moreover, that male artists were significantly more likely to engage in a
rather manifest operationalization of the gaze, i.e., the artist gazing at
female characters with sexual desire, falls in line with Mulvey’s (1975)
notion of the male gaze. Although women can engage in such gaze, in fact,
men are traditionally more likely to be seen doing it (e.g., Seidman, 1992;
1999), which supports the theoretical idea that men are granted more power
to perpetrate the gaze.
In addition to the visual techniques of sexual objectification, we also
coded another variable intended to gauge sexual objectification from a more
thematic perspective. That is, we measured the extent to which male and
female characters in music videos were placed in merely decorative roles
(i.e., ‘‘arm candy’’, dancing in the background) versus instrumental roles
in which they contribute to plot and=or music. The music videos of male
artists were more likely than those of female artists to portray women as
merely decorative objects. Thus, this finding is in line with research that
has found that for male artists, one of the ways they demonstrate power
is through collecting women, who do not necessarily contribute creatively
or narratively to the music video but instead add only to the visual backdrop
(Orange, 1996; Sandusky, 2002). It is also telling that our coders did not
observe any music videos in which male characters took on a similar decor-
ative role.
Not only in a global way were female artists more sexualized than male
artists, but also in specific ways, female artists more often used dance and
dress to appear sexually alluring than male artists. In particular, the results
revealed that male artists were less likely to use their own sexuality, but they
were more likely than female artists to have extras dancing in sexually
suggestive ways, and they were more likely than female artists to have
women in their music videos play purely decorative roles. Again, this sup-
ports the idea that for male artists, the display of attractive women’s bodies
is seen as self-promotion of the artists (Fitts, 2008).
Further, female artists adhered to stricter appearance standards with
regard to facial attractiveness and waist size, which, again, might communi-
cate to audiences that female artists are not only judged on talent but also
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 495

appearance, at least more so than male artists. That is, they have stricter
appearance standards to maintain than their male counterparts. For
example, one need only look to the constant criticism that Kelly Clarkson’s
receives regarding her body shape (e.g., Snead, 2009) to illustrate the notion
that female artists are held to different appearance standards than male
artists. After all, there has been comparatively little controversy regarding
the body shapes of some of the male artists in our sample who are objec-
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tively overweight (e.g., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Sean Kingston).

Genre Differences
Of the three genres, country music videos were consistently the least likely to
portray sexuality or to portray sexual objectification of women’s bodies.
While one interpretation of these findings is that portrayals of women are
more progressive in country music videos, another is to view this finding
in line with the socially conservative nature of country music (Andsager &
Roe, 1999; Wilson, 2000). For example, Freudiger and Almquit (1978) argue
that in the predominantly white, working-class world of country music,
women are viewed simply as supportive, submissive, and dependent. On
the other hand, men in the world of country music are regarded as aggress-
ive, demanding, active, and confident. The present study shows that com-
pared to pop and hip hop music, country music videos, for the most part,
maintain a more traditional view of gender.
Further, it is important to consider the differences between the pop and
R&B=hip hop music videos. R&B=hip hop music videos were more likely to
show the artist as the target of the gaze and as the perpetrator of the gaze
than pop videos. Additionally, R&B=hip hop vidos were more likely to
show women in primarily decorative roles, and more likely to feature sexu-
ally suggestive dance by extra characters than pop videos. There were no dif-
ferences between R&B=hip hop and pop videos on appearance ideals, global
sexualization, or provocative dress. On the one hand, it was somewhat sur-
prising, given the many criticisms against the R&B=hip hop genre for its
portrayal of women (e.g., Conrad et al., 2009; Johnson et al., 1995; Smith,
2005), that there were as few differences in sexual objectification between
R&B=hip hop and pop music. However, to provide contextualization, as
already reported, R&B=hip hop videos were dominated by male artists
(76.0%, n ¼ 38), pop videos were more gender-balanced, actually having
slightly more female artists (56.0%, n ¼ 28). Given the gender difference
results already reported, we have discovered that female artists are more
likely to engage in sexual objectification than male artists. However, this
is not to say that R&B=hip hop does not feature sexual objectification of
women. Rather, these findings suggest that these videos tended to sexually
 496 AUBREY AND FRISBY

objectify female characters within the videos or other background dancers,

rather than the artists themselves.

Theoretical Implications
By and large, the results of the present content analysis reaffirm the presence
of gender stereotypes in music videos, in particular, stereotypes related to
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women’s appearance and sexuality. Based on the findings here, we might

conclude that in the world of music videos, women’s roles are intimately
connected to their sexuality and their ability to adhere to strict appearance
standards. However, an important theoretical caveat to these findings that
women are more sexually objectified than men is that the objectification
is in female artists’ videos themselves. It is not the case that sexual
objectification only occurs in the music videos of male artists. Rather,
female artists have at least some, although certainly not complete, agency
in how they would like to represent themselves in their own music videos
(Fitts, 2008). Indeed, scholars have pointed to the importance of female
artists, in a historically male-dominated music industry, to have a voice
and to share their perspectives, not only in rap=hip-hop (Rose, 1994) but
also in pop music (Douglas, 1994) and country music (Wilson, 2000).
However, whereas female artists have the opportunity to be empowering
to women by illustrating female agency, one argument is that the artists por-
traying themselves as sex objects serves to undermine and disempower their
agency (Oware, 2009). In other words, the use of sexual objectification of
female artists’ own bodies might convey the message that for women, a pri-
mary way they can succeed in the music industry is to sexually objectify
themselves. For example, in a recent analysis of Black female rap artists’
lyrics, Oware argued that although many songs in his sample were ostensibly
empowering to women, the simultaneous use of ‘‘female self-objectification,
self-exploitation, and derogatory and demeaning lyrics about women in gen-
eral’’ (p. 787) ultimately reproduces and upholds hegemonic, sexist notions
of femininity. As McRobbie (2004) argued, these music videos are sympto-
matic of a popular culture that contributes to the ‘‘undoing of feminism’’
(p. 255), through the presentation of texts that oppose goals of equality
while masquerading as enlightened and contemporary.
In addition, the politics of postfeminism, and even the so-called third-
wave feminism movement, embrace a rhetoric of choice (Gill, 2007; Shugart,
Waggoner, & Hallstein, 2001). According to this thinking, women’s
decisions to portray themselves in sexy ways convey a sense of owning
and loving one’s sexuality, and being empowered in the third-wave sense
is about having the power to make choices, no matter what the choices
are. Thus, the female artists who sexually objectify themselves might be
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 497

interpreted by some audiences as empowering because they are making the

choice to embrace their sexuality. Certainly, the results of our content analy-
sis cannot definitively resolve this debate; however, if third-wave feminism
encourages women to make choices unrestrained by socially imposed gender
role expectations, then we might expect to see greater variability in women’s
roles in music videos.
To further examine this issue, we conducted a post hoc analysis in which
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we looked at four variables that measured visual sexual objectification and

sexualization (skin exposure, global sexualization, sexually suggestive dance,
and sexually suggestive dress). We chose these variables in particular because
they all communicate an element of choice, that is, an artist has at least some
voice in the clothes she wears, the movements she makes. Of the 147 music
videos, 83 featured artists did not engage in any of these sexually objectifying
portrayals. However, only 8.4% (n ¼ 7) of these artists were women; the clear
majority of artists who did not engage in any sexual objectification or sexua-
lization were male (91.6%, n ¼ 76). Thus, although the position of third-wave
feminism is that women can take advantage of a plethora of choices, in the
world of music videos, the roles appear to be constrained to their sexuality.
Our findings beg for future audience reception work, in which young people,
particularly women, share their feelings and interpretations of the use of
sexual objectification amongst female artists.
In addition to qualitative audience reception studies, the findings here
beg for future effects-based work, investigating how the use of sexual objec-
tification of female artists might affect the self-perceptions of young people,
particularly women. Both longitudinal research (Aubrey, 2006) and experi-
mental research (Aubrey et al., 2009; Harrison & Fredrickson, 2003) have
shown the exposure to sexually objectifying television can increase viewers’
definitions of their physical selves in terms of externally perceivable traits
rather than internal traits (i.e., self-objectification). Given the findings of
this study, this conclusion might extend to music videos. Future research
will need to explore this possibility further. In addition, future research
might explore the role of agency of the female artists in these effects. That
is, for women, it is possible that seeing female artists sexually objectify them-
selves (through dance, dress, gaze) might have a different effect on their
self-perceptions than female characters who are sexually objectified in the
videos of male artists.

Limitations and Future Directions

Although one of the contributions of the present study is the focus on the
artists themselves, it also deserves mention that two of the variables were
measured at the level of the entire music video. Clearly, this macrounit of
 498 AUBREY AND FRISBY

analysis reduces the precision of the coding of the variables. However, these
variables were meant to give a global picture about the themes related to
sexual objectification as communicated through the entirety of the music
video. In fact, we decided to complement the coding that was done on the
artist level with the video level to correct for the music videos that featured
a nonobjectified artist (usually male) against a backdrop of many objectified
characters (usually female).
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Although we used a probability-based method to select our music videos,

the sample frame is limited by the relatively narrow period we chose to ana-
lyze (March 2007–September 2008). Our goal was to analyze contemporary
music videos, but given our sample criteria, we chose a period for which we
could be certain that the videos would be available via an online venue such
as YouTube. Thus, our sample only generalizes to the music videos that were
on the top 10 of the Billboard charts from March 2007 until September 2008.
Our results cannot address systematic trends related to sexual objectification
that might occur outside of this sample period. Future research will be needed
to detect broader trends related to sexual objectification in music videos.
In addition, there were limitations in the coding procedures of the present
content analysis. First, both coders were women. Second, reliability was
assessed only in the beginning of coding; thus we cannot rule out the possi-
bility that coder drift occurred.

Conclusion
The problematic representations of women in music videos deserve further
research attention because they likely affect other attitudes and
self-perceptions as well, including attitudes toward sexuality, conceptions
and understandings of masculinity and femininity, and women’s rights. Just
as is the case with teen movies (Callister, Stern, Coyne, Robinson, &
Bennion, in press), video games (Beasley & Standley, 2002), and other teen
media (Pardun, L’Engle, & Brown, 2005), we argue that music videos pro-
vide an important source of sexual socialization for young people. As the
results of this content analysis suggest, music videos provide fertile grounds
to observe our cultural values about femininity and masculinity. As Jhally
(2007) stated in his influential Dreamworlds 3,

Across the whole range of our media culture, the link between a woman’s
identity, her body, and her sexuality, is told in the most compelling of forms.
But no where in popular culture is the story more focused and told in such
relentless fashion than in music videos. Examining the stories that music
videos tell us about both male and female sexuality, about what is considered
normal, allows us to do more than just understand one aspect of our culture. It
 OBJECTIFICATION IN MUSIC VIDEOS 499

gives us a way to think about how the culture in general teaches us to be men
and women. It gives us a way to understand ourselves.

Indeed, analyzing popular images of gender within the music video con-
text contributes to an understanding of gender in contemporary media, and
such analyses may ultimately contribute to how young people, especially
girls and women, are socialized to see themselves.
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