In Lisa A. Lewis’s article, “Being Discovered: The Emergence of Female Address on MTV” she states that female-address music videos (music videos where females are subjects instead of objects) hinge on the interaction of access signs with discovery signs. Access signs visually appropriate representations of girls and women engaging in experiences or environments traditionally associated with boys and men (street culture, for example).
Discovery signs, on the other hand, construct images of girls and women engaging in activities traditionally gendered as feminine without boys and men, often in an attempt to reclaim or subvert these spaces and practices. Today, I offer the bedroom and its associative images to be classified as discovery signs, via the following music videos.
The Gossip
“Listen Up!”
Standing in the Way of Control
Directed by Morgen Dye
Cibo Matto
“Sugar Water”
Viva! La Woman
Directed by Michel Gondry
I especially like Beth Ditto’s crocheting in the first video. I knew she was really into crochet, but I hadn’t realized she did it in a video!
Yes! That’s a great future post topic — female musicians who craft. Please feel free to contribute ideas.