The Representation of the Lesbian Body In

CEU eTD Collection “In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of the of degreeArts/Sciences” of for Masters requirements of the fulfillment “In partial The representation ofthe lesbian body inmusic videos Thesis Supervisor: prof. Erzsebet Barat Central European University,Central European Budapest Second Reader: Eszter Timar Eszter Reader: Second ThirdAndrea Reader: Peto Novakovic Ravijojla Gender MA Studies Budapest, Hungary Budapest, 2008 I CEU eTD Collection writing. Special you mythank to thesis supervisors who have been extremely supportivemy during voice their claiming and artists performers women andall the Scream Club,Gina to Team is dedicated This paper Team some show appreciation ‘…Wanna Team Gina: II The rough The strongrough hands of a big butch dyke Butch dyke. Butch dyke dyke dyke…’ On behalf of the queer foundation x3 foundation queer the of behalf On Huh? What? know whatYou Ilike? CEU eTD Collection something fixedsomething and discourse. easily within accessible a heterosexist lesbian the as such decomposing displays to categorization, group acertain resistance lesbian, displays toappropriatetheterm queer group the attempts While heterosexist the major in understandGroupingme helped thetwo videos to categories their relationship. term lesbianthe seeif not. imagemodel positive Henderson’s to or Lisa fitthey would gender matrix, binary and Iidentified ifso, thejunctures of symbol clusters revolving around the challenging was representation the explore whether to was main concern My videos. andqueer videos heterosexist main categories: intwo features characteristic their dominant materials andvideothem onwards analysed to culture 1980spopular grouped according the of I videos. musicin body lesbian the of representations of overview an offers paper This Abstract III CEU eTD Collection Bibliography Conclusion Queer Videos Videos Heterosexist Methodology Literature Review Introduction Contents of Table ocuin...... 50 Conclusion Emphasis ...... 46 on the Personal Humor as a way of destabilizing femme/butch stereotypes...... 42 Anger and Might...... 35 ocuin...... 33 Conclusion Lesbian as a failed heterosexual woman...... 27 Lesbian as criminal...... 26 Lipstick lesbian- with or without men...... 25 Lesbian as immoral...... 22 ...... 52 ...... 1 ...... 54 ...... 34 ...... 16 ...... 4 ...... 20 IV CEU eTD Collection ones there is a link, which suggests a certain dialogue at which centre layimportance of atwhich centre the a dialogue certain suggests link, which is ones a there dominant less the and representations dominant the between that argue will I body. lesbian Therefore, Iwill explore how exactly the notions largerof cultural symbolic play upon the videos; most often they will be used as an additional attraction to the main act. in such represented lesbians samewith males. caseisthe mostly The mainwho are to the acts, male gaze model. Itseems that women in popular culture more often play as mere accessories and/or any visual cultural narrativeor more attractive andpleasing, conforming thus tothe However, it shows that women are still most often employed in order to make a video, movie Media Entertainment 1 observing the overall presence of women as performers,it shows that there are more of them represent alesbian body free of restrictions of cultural stigma often ascribed to it. Also, to neededinorder alwayssatisfy not all parameters thisdoes visibility However, before. ever than bodies lesbian more show finally another or way in one which advertisements, lesbians of visibility overall the that notice could we general, in culture seemspopular Observing sphere. dominantthe to be iswhat there within these representations thatkeepssuch onthe representations outside of at its lessthe modes dominant of presentation body lesbian of the would answer the question of rise. lesbian theanalysis body, In if what they whythesemodes and turn, of so, are and dominate. Therea presenting of ways dominant any are there whether with concerned is question arecentral plentybeI believe thatMy in constructions identify to dominantrepresentations. its those video of placards,and culture popular in body lesbian the presenting of ways overview I paper this In movies,Introduction books and Hansen, H. Christine and Ranald D. Hansen: ‘Music and Music Videos’, in Dolf Zillman, Peter Vorderer (eds.) , Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ, 2000, pp.93-113. 1 1 . CEU eTD Collection 17, No. 2, (May, 1998),pp. 153-185. meaningful content useful for analysis. However, as I will demonstrate, often videos these asIwill demonstrate, However, useful for analysis. content meaningful musical context (Hawkins, 1996). For that reason at firstmusic videos seem beto lacking any been argued that the visual aspect of a video is always to some extent subordinated to the 2 narratives asfailed be considered areits to contents them. Consequently, in featured artists of the aspossible records many sell as is to use primary its commodity: mostly as a is genrethe However, perceived eachother. conflate meanings multiple asa video’s andfragmented prism where narrativein argues that is constructed general becauseis the genre potentially multipleopen meanings to of lesbian body.Kaplanthe (1996) of music videos.My ismusicchoice for videosmeant mainly young and teenagers adults domain culture’s atthis withinpopular look question a will take followingI paper the In body. lesbian of the of types representations explore different to in order musicvideos focused on in in of music None cultural namely have videos. culture, representation these popular works that deals with image bodieswomen of as hardThere is 1996). (Brown, a notably section largeliterature of cultural representationin such ofhowquestions women invarious the cultural contexts, as general are represented andfilms independentimportance. of Ialsofound particular literature that deals useful with gender, however,which I have found Ann Ciasullo and Lisa Henderson’s discussionsonly of lesbian identity and littleof (in)visibility, lesbian of topics onthe written works numerous been have already There of them addresses itself presents symbolic order. as ‘natural’ within heteronormative the what of rethinking critical some employ that features or it, from detachment critical no with heteronormativity either reproduce that based onfeatures differentgroups in two categorized be andcan other from each they however differ order, symbolic heteronormative the inmy videos HerebyIunderstand tobe questions ofself-identification. all caughtwithin data Carol Vernallis: ‘The Aesthetics of Music Video: An Analysis of Madonna's 'Cherish'.’ 2 2 Furthermore, it has it Furthermore, Popular Music , Vol. CEU eTD Collection forming of ‘the spectators’ imaging of a lesbian identity. lesbian a of imaging spectators’ ‘the of forming in the highly influential as be considered videos offercan even thatthese representations employ representations that we can argue to be of a sexual political value, and at times the 3 CEU eTD Collection 5 4 and symbolic exchange can be can and modified exchange symbolic meanings beaspacewhere it and finds inyouth relation to close popularculture and culture betweenhighand popular culture…’ distinction undermining hierarchical the of ‘…the that political struggles of are these groups widelyhave to seen to contributed the Further on, she recognizesactivity and increasing groups and visibility subordinated of claims 3 'serious' are not to Railton refers that bands context in this taste- a preferred of is akind there As when become obvious, older. they visual lackinto of (p)leasure general itself resolves musicpopular asit theis Thus termed valuednegatively. illusion stance short a power of thissupposed of belistening type not to up,these ex girls are teenager once theygrow may enjoy temporary the position viaof power possessing the gaze. Railton suggests that thus mocked, beingand stars seethese media.girls Teenager inother presented as otherwise glamorous as half not are they when setting everyday their in them showing through models), reversing the stars’ (both males and females) status from top (role-models) tolow (anti- is magazines through of achieved these Thefestivity magazines. character these for audience core are the girls teenager assumption that lives, given the girls' teenage and magazines these of festive character between the describe therelationship of carnival to metaphor up with the hits andcomes top contemporary charts promoting magazines examines (2001) Railton gendered: In Literature Review Celia Lury: Celia Ibid. p.14. Celia Lury: Celia Consumer Culture Consumer popularculture. associated withsubordinated groups, suchas ‘vulgar’, ‘feminine’, ‘primitive’or‘juvenile’, to describe was historically elevated above popularculture culture, high which as is by clearfrom processes the the implicitly in involved derogatory deeply were age and use of race terms gender, ofclass, Relations Consumer Culture Consumer Culture 3 , Celia Lury , Celia Lury defines divide between‘high’ and‘low’the as culture , Routledge, New York and London, 1996, p. 43. , Routledge, New York and London, 1996, p. 58. 5 . 4 4 Lury views Lury CEU eTD Collection classify people in society. Goods thus act as sources of social identity and bearers of social of bearers and identity social of sources as act thus Goods in society. people classify we which by categories basic the stable and visible making of means ‘…a are commodities 6 In as unintelligible itis understood Railton, because states treatment, an academic get does not 'lower' pop tothe asmediadedicated as‘feminine’. Magazinesandshows well the to ascribed inherently is one physical the where divide, intellectual/physical an to music culturelinks now.hegemonic Furthermore, she thehigh/lowcontemporary rock divideof pop bourgeoishegemonic and be publicculture of cafes into barsthen the easily transcribed can Whatwasthe culture. carnival and circus andthe low, culture, high,the aristocrat between middle, in the somewhere scale marked aclass on existing bars, and cafes spas, masculine all resembles the and19th bourgeois century publicsphere,communicated18th namely through culture, andpop low pop the culture,designed for thefemaleThis greatly audiences. argues popularthat culture as it we know is today beinginto split high, the namely masculine She sphere. of public the interpretation Habermas’ links itto asshe terms, is in contemporary culture fragile.WhileRailton saying so, definition gives a very good whatof popular culture written interpreted or about in Academia isthatitwould deem masculine,'high'popular the get not does culture popular of area particular this why reason the that argues Railton itself 'more meaningful'. suggests that is this music exactly rock that way the needsdefinein 'silly' the to pop order strata neededbourgeois the and culture, 'lower' of markers the be to seemed circus and carnival The the carnivalaudience/viewers. of number to widest the to interest be of to beis thought what of terms in able preference, image to of tendency strong rather is a differentiate there later, see shall we As valued. less deemed thus enough, itself from the aristocracy. Railton Diane Railton:Diane ‘The Gendered Carnivalof Pop’ Consumer Culture , Celia Lury also argues that goods, cultural products and culturalgoods, that Lury also argues products , Celia Popular Music 5 , Vol. 20,No. 3, pp. 321-331. 6 . CEU eTD Collection 10 12, No. 2, (May, 1993),pp. 155-176, page 158. 8 9 23, No. 3,pp. 585-610. 7 some girl rock havethere been attemptsnumerous tochallenge this binarism of identification cultural by movements, Through kindthe music of being thebearer of social meanings, yes.(gendered) Even though such meaning.’ as Riot Girrrls masculine traits, while mainly feminine: mainly while traits, masculine notion of imagined communities, she argues for the production of ethos of communal for(lesbian) notion production imagined the sheargues communities, of identification positive lesbian inthe community. Anderson's of Benedict context on Drawing notion of Lisa Henderson's also revisit need to I andnarratives, characters identify the with live the expectation to mediamight through how this upto also individuals with of ways and media, the through identification of notions with concerned extent some to am I Since mainly within are for afemale culture aimed popular audience. existing fact products that of relevance the the feminine, approach still this underestimates very notionthe culture. Whilepopularisis popular itof generally argued that culture position to need isa there because debates these revisit to paper thisfor important is It isHere argument another about existing the regarding debate music pop music. and rock Barbara Bradby : Sampling Sexuality: Gender, Technology and the Body in Dance Music, Dance Body in the and Technology Gender, Sexuality: Sampling : Bradby Barbara Celia Lury: Celia ibid. p. 158. Gayle Wald: Just a Girl? Rock Music, Feminism, and the Cultural Constructionof Female Youth (Dyer1990),or the'women's music' movement in USAthe (Lont 1985) feminist ideas on the debris of the rock scene, while gay and lesbian subcultures deserted rock for discoexcluded by musicand rock relegated to 'pop'. Thewomen's punk bands allowedbrief a outburst of gender contradiction of a masculinity claiming to represent 'collectivity'. Feminine subjectivity was because the unity is purported to represent split apart upon its owncontradictions, one of which was the subjectThe same ofrock for 'died' the as other reasonsubjects andauthors died 1970sthe in and 1980s: has been around the significance of what has been summoned up as 'the death of death 'the as up summoned been has of what significance the around been has debate the music, of popular area the in while practice; critical and political for means women between of differences recognition a what through work to need the meant has postmodernism feminism, For 7 Consumer Culture Does this commodification of identity resonate with the divide of rock/pop? , Routledge, New York and London, 1996, p. 14. 6 8 , rock is still perceived to be mainly 9 rock Popular Music ' 10 , Signs , Vol. , Vol. CEU eTD Collection 11 movie the from stemming popular culture of 20 the of popular culture in body lesbian the of representation the of maintypes three collected (1995) Creed and the marginalization of such imagesin public wider the scene of musicthe videos representation negative of the move out a represents her,it For context. motherhood strict the outside of is of re-appropriated black femalewomen motherly the that important power most paired images upwith young of andslim women, white. possibly She finds, nevertheless, is more visual black with of representation women theirpowerful image isvoices; often there a conclusion that 1990sand to came inthe of videos Britain observeddance Bradby argues,humourisneeded: Henderson ‘positive’ such istowards For reading, that beexperienced onlywithin communities. to spacewhere is the meaning arguesHenderson, because, the communities ‘lesbian’ shifted of lesbian of imagery an entails image positive Henderson’s notion. context-dependent 'positive images’; a first by in lesbian/queer notion place. employsof the Hereshe produced the and for audiences notion that is often culturediscarded and trying tofind queer readings, subplots and/or queer traits. These new materials are in many academic they negatively. from are coded of issomething different observing works This dominant texts for it is inwhich innarratives lesbian characters of be appearances or satisfied with readingstexts, of a highly longerlookThese before.lesbian no differentaudiences than for audiences queer needto GoFish! the She that argues chapter. second in the Idiscuss audiences non-dominant videos with Henderson, Lisa: ‘Simple Pleasures: Lesbian Community and "Go Fish"’. sense through the progressive appropriation of popular forms. of popular common of appropriation progressive the transformations as through think, I sense understood, better are images' 'Positive club. symbolic and social positions, orsimply rewriting the rules about who can and cannot be represented as a memberof the 'Positive' no longermeans portraying of historically marginalized groups inmainstream or high-status movie, together with the accompanying New Queer Cinema, offers materials for materials offers New QueerCinema, accompanying with the together movie, th Go Fish! Go ct. cinema narratives. The first one she termed the masculinized the she termed one The first narratives. cinema ct. This ishappens This thebands something Iimagine with and 7 11 Signs , 1999, Vol. 25,No.1, pp.41 12 . CEU eTD Collection (eds.). 13 12 book The Monstruos-feminine, drawing on Kristeva, Creed argues that: largely beyondgo scope the of I will paper,this heronly of concept use monstrous.the Inher While Creed uses a lot of psychoanalytic theory I do not choose to go into that as itwould forward. image, which - mirror of impression a lesbianoffers an narcissistic The image of repeated. recursiveness according to natural narcissistic body is threateningand asa presented negative influence society layson in the waysbody narcissistic is the of type third The societyoutbursts. - means whose behaviornot tobeis associated with is mind,but the by instincts driven and hormonal regression instead human of a half sort a animal, as naturalized a woman category of into the fallsthis type ofCreed For animal. the going with associated body, lesbian animalistic the is type second The patriarchal structure. and withintomboyish features more them replacing for 'feminine' styles the appropriated is narrative model arole instructingin the 'proper' women of way- the abandonment the clitoris the of journey a of metaphor Freud's behavior. and display of modes masculine attains therefore who someone castration- of the frustration managed the overcome to who hasnot assomeone idea of Freudian the a lesbian itwith aligning theimage of tomboy, places the before termlesbianthe wasutilized. also Hereshe presented 19thcentury inthe 18th and the was it as tribade, the as terms also she representation This identity. lesbian masculinizing type, threat lesbian the the that body existingpresents tothe wasresolved gender order by through clitoral penetration of the anus or with the useLesbian love-making was '...through sodomy pictured with womenother in ways:of one of two diabolical instruments'. In this first lesbian body, asit was thelesbian features. by was always body masculine that characterized Barbara Creed: ‘Lesbian Bodies: Tribades, Tomboys and Tarts’ in. Mariam Fraser and Monica Greco Monica and Fraser Mariam in. Tarts’ and Tomboys Tribades, Bodies: ‘Lesbian Creed: Barbara ibid. pp. 37-64. The Body. A Reader. .Routledge,New York and London, 2005,pp. 109-115. 8 13 . Creed argues that the reason the lesbian the reason the that argues . Creed CEU eTD Collection 1993, p. 10. 14 TheimageDegenerous). mostaudience have straight is lesbians more shapedin however on a was lesbians, standardized attractivea universal, imageof Ellen (including outted same heterosexist assumptions of awoman likewhat look shouldpass. inorder to The result model by Henderson mainly in former thatthe transpose fails meaningto by repeating the image positive the from image’ herediffers ‘positive the of assertion The one. heterosexual order to assert a 'positive'in feminized- bodieswere which lesbian tothose restricted was renaissance that However, image 'renaissance'. of relative its the lived lesbian 1990s the in visibility body lesbian that as notes that Ciasullo which butch the body is renderedinvisible. is no different than why isthereason Ciasullo, that at weshall see as with passivity. Secondly, bethus associated the beto stylized by femininethe markers (Judith Butler would term: usethe corporeal style) and body refuses is asitthat most, the law' the of the 'fragility body challenges lesbian that butch is the it Firstly, videos. in music in media, isrepresented lesbianism when works apparatus films), Iam hersympathetic with of terminology feminine, monstrous the a as similar of deal While Creeddoesnot lesbianin(only in the with media horror the representation the order and that which threatened its stability'. As she states: symbolic the between encounter an about 'bring isto monstrous the of function the Creed For She uses horror films as an illustration of the work of abjection at least in three ways. Barbara Creed: Barbara which fascinates desire, but which must not be repelled for fear of self-annihilation. fear for be repelled not must which but desire, fascinates which abjection by beset constantly is subject the thus, - ofmeaninglessness place the abject, the by spoken also is meaning, for desire a through language, in/through constructed subject, The collapses. meaning where place the ofabjection, place upthe take to self the beckoning there, always is it - free feel from thatwhich threatens its extinction. But abjection isnot something of which the subject canever 'the fragility of the law'Abjectionalso occurs whereand anindividual isa hypocrite,that a liar. Abject things are existthose that highlight on the other side of the border which separate the living subject feminine challenges the view that femininity, by definition, constitutesthe passivity. reinforce to work phallocentricfunctions notionthat female sexualityreproductive her to is abject. Onthe other hand,relation in the notionof the monstrous monstrous as woman define which images those hand, one the On difference. ofsexual theories based psychoanalytically for consequences of anumber has practices signifying patriarchal the in feminine monstrous of the representation The The Monstuous-Feminine: Film,Feminism, Psychoanalysis 9 , London, New York Routledge 15 14 CEU eTD Collection unequally and used accordingly to describe differences between between describeunequally andused groups. differences accordingly to is distributed power where dominance, heteronormative of principle overarching an involving expose much relationships help parody onewantsto notion isJudith when Butler’sof of magazine in appear ifthey by feminine markers,were to especially beany and social looking/marked women iflessshould it andcoded: made suchbystandardization itcharacter, did,even was of Lesbianism and the Lesbian Body in the 1990s’, the in Body Lesbian the and Lesbianism of 17 fans. art and lesbian amongst spaces limited 16 15 1990s popular (excluding culture in kiss, apassionate more in rather a cuddly, hug.According desexualized to author, the be lesbians seen not engaged could meaning thatoutted desexualized, werealsoThese images and avoidance ofinherently the instead exposingthatlook butch clothes 'neutral'.wardrobe; stylizedbracelets and akiss), pouted rings, lips for longer(calling heels,high hair, clevelage necklaces, accessories-pearl are'feminine' representations insuch utilized markers were that bodily of Examples audiences. female straight for identification of possibility the and gaze, feminineonly by hersuch invoke interest of qualities achieved would male assigning that the that shape them. Indeed, with along caused inlesbian notion markers of genderroles the the polarized relationships, the author claimsin andhomophobic intrigueof audience, and straight the turn accompanying the pathological that 'the attractiveness' body.butch This ambivalence of what alesbian body really is (rather what itshould be like), of an outted lesbianbutch body despite wasthe fact that it was the femme body that form, imagefilteringbutch and the fem out, body thus implyinglesbian the that a equates always got exposed, and not the I am aware that Go Fish! is a movie that does not entirely belong to popular culture. It is Ibid. p. rather151. existing in Ciasullo, Ann M. ’Making Her(In)Visible: Cultural Representations parodic identities have beenunderstood tobedegrading either to women, in thecase of and cross-drag drag, of practices cultural the cross-dressing,within and the parodied sexual stylizationoften is of butch/femme gender identities.primary or Withinfeminist original theory,of an such notion The 17 . Go Fish Go movie for example for movie Feminist Studies 10 , 2001, 27 (3), 16 ) sawno dyke 'real'butchor pp. 577-608. CEU eTD Collection Theory and the Body homogenisedof understanding a follows identity lesbian of mechanisms heteronormative of application the Through body. male is specifically blindfor filtering, and thus disapproves masculinitiesof existing outside of lens the imply that would that arescarce, representations couple butch-femme Knowing that feminized. both they are is represented, couple femme-femme a when However, images. two these into coded behavior, proper the them assigns representations, these in surveiled 'natural'the man-woman relationship. Thebinary branching of gender role assigning,as to counterpart seem alessvalid as made to isoften relationship femme-butch the that implies: Notimages, it lens twopolarized not). also only creates really whatit this butthat silences makeslesbian imageinto split binaries,these two abutch and afemme (one exposed, another which lens a through 'filtered' is personas lesbian of representation the that seems It imaging a certain as category always behavinginways prescribed. evolvethat that identity around isbeingas recognizedis destabilize away base to on which identifies its with image own thoroughly, enacting practices/cultural consciously semiotics implies representation of a lesbianbody of which drag thatthe Thus, Butler’s concept 18 one latter The zone. fantasy sexual male straight the within placement and appropriation heterosexist understanding asbeingmendablea lesbiansexuality but of its deviant, through between lesbian sexuality and lesbian sexualities. The former refers to a unified and largely JudithButler, ‘Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions’, M.in Schildrick and J. Price(eds.), gender itself - as well as its contingency. fictionof heterosexual regulatory the coherence. through unity Inimitating a as gender, drag naturalized implicitly falsely are reveals which the imitativeexperience structuregendered of of aspects those of distinctness the reveals also it oppose), often critics its (what of'woman' picture aunified creates drag as much be reframed...As might experience gender subsequent - and gender to accorded meanings gives us aclue to the way whichin a relationship betweena primary identification - that is, the original 'imitation' and the 'original' is, Ithink, more complicated that the critique generallyof allows. Moreover, practice the it heterosexuality,within from especially stereotyping the in case role of butch/femmeof sex lesbianidentities. appropriation But the relationuncritical an betweenor the dressing, , Routledge, New York, N.Y. pp. 416-422, p. 418. the lesbian. That restriction does not make not distinctions does restriction That lesbian. 18 11 Feminist CEU eTD Collection by the political activity of lesbian personnel’s, or any by lesbian political body)butch activity personnel’s,or the invisibleof unheard. and supporting is its structure, throughrendering anykind offurther denial maleof power (done which I believe ishappening simultaneously with abovethe mentioned mode and also body in a contextin itswhich only ispurpose to give mena sexual arousal. Theother way, sexualization achieved through of lesbian the body, which isbasically the lesbian putting is power male of denial this 'cock-blocking' of way One satisfaction. sexual immediate heterosexual women's bodies in that it will not bare men a child, neither will it ever give them from the is different body lesbian particular this culture andpatriarchal heterosexist For no surprise, an outted lesbianbeingfor successful. that wonder is eighth atasifsheworld or shethat) beinglooked an was performer is rarely to be foundbeand thatclaimshenomind must aprostitute that to achieve (stereotypes like something on top chart successes. In body all being of accused iseither woman culture performer pop fashion,a similar a In type of cultural representations which claims upon its own will. any to refers term rules. The tothe according act not does which one, imageasthe lesbian terms. Iespecially like the misbehavingterm becauseit bein the used can context of the asSherdon toacollective lednotes, ineventually voice to, their done things heard,getting which own, their on means money to get to managed slowly women these breadwinners, breaking through (dis)conformitythe theirof Suppliedsettings. bymen, everyday main the misbehaving. She observed African context of women's groupsmaking changes in history by each. For supportinguse my like Iwould Kathleen position, to Sherdon’sterminology of of multiple various centres shifting balancing between these and constant upon their depends for thevitality of a singleone, is not action-reaction them between dynamics The resistance. of attempts dependant contextually by juxtaposed are efforts homogenization These hegemonic, denying, thus andatthesamedifference. time claiming to refers an understandingto lesbian of andinsexualities, generalof all sexualities, asnon- 12 CEU eTD Collection 1996, Vol. 35, No. 3, p. 56. with shown are that bodies feminine those interpret to needs one when outdated and sensitive In his of discussion Laura Mulvey'snotion gaze, Brown of the itinsufficientlyunderstands 20 19 heroines. body hard through identities gender aredestabilizingexistingrelationship andtraditional assumingthey roles, within gender understanding such action female characters of the cinema should employ a more complex femalethat figures should action be as not interpreted a mere misogyny. resultof Instead, argues and further drag of ambivalence the of notion Butler's pushes Brown A. Jeffrey such wore achieve apassin outfits. eyeif public critical the women up and hairunstyled. While image some for this suitable was manitbands, nevermanaged to style, theirimage was based on a traditionally masculine -plain look jeans, usually no make- their with wrong nothing media. in cultural There was pop be more prestigious the promoted marginalized and sponsored solely by women independent artists. Their style seemed unfitto 1970s,whichthe was parallel theemergenceto of 2ndthe was wavefeminism.however It presence LGBT inmedia,in lesbian the musicof women there was someof woman's present AfterEllenAccordingto culture. by thedominant stance for need a reactionary the will 'threat' amount of produce considerable marginalizedas opposed ortoosilent voicingto the of heterosexual dominantthe matrix, a andlesbian by While mediadominated have does outted producers avoice,active however Brown, Jeffrey: ‘Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the "Point of http://www.afterellen.com/music/2008/4/womensmusic101No Return feminine bodies that are not easily read as merely humorous or sexually perverse. sexually or humorous merely as read onto easily not are that bodies performances feminine gender destabilizing by repositioning further by one ofdrag example Butler's gone has film action modern traits...... The of gender arbitrariness of awareness an and women for roles non-traditional of acceptance growing a indicates cinema of the men action baldest the and biggest The development of the hard body, hardware, hard-as-nails heroine who can take it, and give it with the 19 , an Internet magazine which updates daily the visibility magazine dailyand visibility the whichupdates , an Internet 13 20 "’, Cinema Journal , CEU eTD Collection recursive, creating a type of automated repetitive proclamations of a certain position. I will at will I position. certain a of proclamations repetitive automated of type a creating recursive, bodies.human Thisis be made to very visible the usage andthus of such symbols becomes of surfaces on even practices, cultural narratives, into they are embodied communication; The outcomes chapter. inthe second as we shall discuss dynamic, a butch/femme into needs appropriation of these it Consequently, inappropriate. fakeor assomething power as other, heterosexuality’s articulated relations is general in homosexuality that understands heteronormativity that conclude can We come to be visiblepotent, visible or`normal`. on variousbehave with ascribed less tosomemake would drawback that either valid,successful, them levels always will in those presented woman lesbian the for ofscale, smaller or larger in femininity cultural are displaying in chapter form discussedthe videos of heterosexist videos apologetic the the all that say could We pass. to in order straight, acting called also is femininity Apologetic employheterosexualneed kicking but pass. would to that rules ass, allowthese to play them no whoare doubtingly characters male of those the flirtingaudience with in certain characters' introduces While notion the of femininity motherhood. healso with beapologetic associated allowto them not does narrative in, are the they context the because them) happen to not does I assume then that the butch bodies are marginalized, left aside in the narrative (the main thing understandinga hardbody by be must that associating itappropriated instinct. a motherly with in moviestraits dominant involve He transvestites. action notion also the employs the that possible interpretations both her of and(played Terminator byArnold Schwarzeneger) as (played byLinda Hamilton) of character as WhenConnor a sexual subject. body Sarah the bediscussing can constituted is this whether needingresolving question isa sexualanymore. The not body hardobject as the new use here, more at is no gaze masculine that the Hesuggests traits. masculine more Terminator Terminator II , it is important to notice that the author admits author the that notice to important is it , 14 CEU eTD Collection groups in the music videos choose to identify themselves based on the symbols they use. of meaningclusters based intoorganize how symbols of various patterns symbolic on these will I chapter second the and first the In in general. bodies their stylize they how and wear they things on based the signs, bearcultural women these how at alook take need to times 15 CEU eTD Collection section all feature women whose approach to lesbianism womenit. is approach to The section feature all of to out videos whose queer the have heterosexist practice.‘lesbians’ of aname? Thevideos imagery Dothese queer the of poor inbound therather prescribed, and is described, lesbian the special case).Here, is a Etheridge (Melissa main act the thataccessorizes something as of narrative, the merely a part useful to mention that almostitis Also, occur. by not Henderson does imageshift allin positive these cases would say that the videos I in homophobia. theinternalized severe from heterosexist suffering herself is spectator this unless lesbian, category present a lesbianmaterial butshifting evolvingsignals everything the meaningclusters around the imageof the as visual of the tactics for narrative the videos, heterosexist the noticeof heterosexism to the Itisfor easy apurpose. rather paper very this of the base lays at of categorization uneasiness videos,groups structural base. with of However,this groupshaving arather different these two constructing am I for trap, logical a into fall immediately could I point, this At people whofollow queercultural products. with sexism inmedia,while I queervideos the personal of networks searched forthrough forums deal which on befound could Internet into group theheterosexist Igrouped videos gendermatrix,not who,speak nevertheless, artists publicly do sexuality.theirof Most of the consider those artists whose image may besome to extent of a challenging effect tothe binary also I lesbians. outted self-proclaimed, are who artists are there in which videos as well as lesbianism with association direct or implicit is an there in which videos music included random of selection music of spanningexamples videos from 1980suntil the today. Ihave character supporting the heterosexual and patriarchal system. In order to show this I analyze a lesbian the of deployment the shows bodies lesbian the of presentation the of Most Methodology 16 CEU eTD Collection reactionary’ to the dominant culture. This isculture. tothedominantreactionary’ approach informed by method. Vernalis’s Carol someone's public with personatogether influencestheir their work overall of effect counter- well, such as theirinterviews and/or their style, gestures and overall engagement toshow how as sources video extra employ Ineedto Therefore situated. are artists images of and texts in.juncturespropose appeared where readmusicvideos by then the videos I these to defining At times Iwill make references to popular cultural magazines so as to establish contexts less often. moreand often majorinto two parameters: these ratings generalize times of the two types of videos. Therefore I rely only partially on these counters and will Vol.17,No. 2, pp.153-185, page 155. numbers providedby these 21 to the more much often according videos areviewed tothe queer videosasopposed heterosexist the isdiscussed, tendency that anobvious there amongvideos that note as well, weshould part economy the Bearing representations. original timescale did not seem to provide enough data for a more sensitive stratification of the because a longer to period, research span extendthe the of needed to I analysis detailed would not be sufficient. plannedsoon realizedfirstI I pickvideos from only at data 1980s, the the that to Though Even if there are whatplenty is act and what is not. of music videos is notionidentity andarefiguration as political,mere outingof asort tactics of where the of in the 1980s, for a moreinto furtherit proclaiming butgoes act, merely main not the lesbianas the represent category Vernallis, Carol: Aesthetics ‘The of Music Video: AnAnalysis of Madonna's 'Cherish'’. among various modes of continuity relation in and sound, and image between give-and-take this in lie video ofmusic meanings of the Many modes. In image to musicexchange, in whichthe image must give up its autonomy and abandonsome of its representational of a musicvideo always effort.Video requires makers have developedof a setpractices forputting construction the and theyear, to year from change footage performance of styles image natural; as be taken simply cannot combine image and music that way The gains image. and music between tensions the by complicated on flexibilityrelations among avideo's narrative, formal and sociocultural aspects, particularly as they are andWe cannot look toany one place foranunderstanding ofmusic video, a but mustrather deal with the play, as well as in polyvalence in meaning. You Tube . 21 counters will not accurately describe the actual view theactual accurately describe not will counters 17 You Tube counters. However, the However, counters. Popular Music , 1998, CEU eTD Collection Music 23 22 withinmetculturally soundstructures points arranged point where Hawkins was able to state how her, Annie Lenox's study closed data, videoand the finallya song.This the study to interdisciplinary arrived semiotics of gender and style caption of a single, to from caption image, the analysis itof to the juxtaposes music and Annie Lenox’s videos, Hawkinslyrically whatcompares happenswhen we intellectualize bordering within music itself includingpractice tonality, sound, and dynamics. Analyzing inknowledges influence culture, inpopular various leveling contexts their aestheticthe and trends/communal how of question in the interested mostly is Hawkins Stan example, For constructed. is image the way the with musicology combined have scholars Some most significant meaning attributes come from the narrative itself, combined with the image. the happens that image, itoften their regarding yet, appearance, women’s of symbolics these the is on analysis my of emphasis the While representation. overall the influences narrative the how then and if, see to as so made is video the way the observe carefully we which in analysis of kind an intersectional to space gave This atonce. itall see whilewewatch not we do that inanarrative happening see whatas activitiescanbe beother so ableto to order, chronological in their scene, by scene it cutting through narrative overall the divide I watched. be can movie a way in a video a watched I narratives, video analyzing to comes it When match a songs lyrical interpretation with accompanyingthe images and videos' narratives. concentrating on a song’s lyrical contentif I feel it will provide a fruitful contribution to effects meaning final in the lyrics a way that does not exclude the role of music, in socio-cultural aspects readinga musicvideoinclose relation to of Carol proposes Vernalis (in particular the 'sound' of the song), nor the Ibid. 153-185. Hawkins, Stan:‘PerspectivesPopularMusicology: in Lennox, Meaning Music, and 1990s in Pop’, , 1996,Vol. 15,No. 1, pp. 17-36. 22 . I will pursue a similar approach and will sometimes be 18 23 . Ifind very this approach inuseful Popular CEU eTD Collection symbolics together with lyrics. with together symbolics methodology. Inthis paperIwill of theimportance stress imagery the visual of cultural am concernedis I Since allowed. adetailed close upof individual one artist incase where studies especially with moreunmasking than one misconceptionsperformer at a time,of performance I am not going as a stateto follow of art thiswhere gender has no roles, 19 CEU eTD Collection Publisher, New York, 1993. York, New Publisher, (eds.) Robinson Victoria and Richardson Diane in 24 1998) (Marshment act political a as representation Understanding Videos Heterosexist of lesbianism that reproduces heterosexist and patriarchal patterns, of woman whose body is body of woman whose patterns, heterosexist andpatriarchal reproduces lesbianism that of from visibility ithaveis of onwards,representations 1980s kind newageof that achieved the seems (in)visibility lesbian overall if Even one. heterosexual the is which way, ‘right’ the males, which equates/defines something lesbian can that as be‘repaired’ always and turned to mainlyof model body made interests heterosexual the a lesbianaudience, of for satisfying in videos the done mostly by male producers In thisI plan demonstrate preference chapter the of to femme a the lipstick figure,or lesbian, more stylized heterosexual,. thatare bodies lesbian passonly byletting those heterosexualised following videos,underscoring that thepublic presence lesbianof bodies is dominantly lesbian bodies butch inof mass (in)visibility the cultural examines which essay, inspiring sites, Ciasullo’s on I Drawing will demonstrateI identified threesubtypes within video group heterosexist representations.of how heterosexism mechanisms. heteronormative through various cultural appropriated terms, madetheir own on is at work in the be will representations these that obvious is rather it male, heterosexual is a who by someone notions of women hood and lesbianism. When this representation of a lesbian body is made interestednot in lesbian producing representations which would challenge traditional the is by someone, who made were it these representations that seems inthischapter discussed cases all In body. lesbian image the the of who produces pay to attention to importance Marshment, Margaret: ‘The Picture Is Political: Representation of Women in Contemporary Popular Culture’, Popular in Contemporary of Women Representation Political: Is Picture ‘The Margaret: Marshment, In his discussion, Novak concludes lipstick a that in lesbian is popular culture that Thinking Feminist: Key Concepts Womens’in Studies 25 20 . 24 , it is of high , to CEU eTD Collection Body, A Reader 29 28 and theBody 27 Paulic(ed) 26 such. is content its but because producers, ofthe sexualities and/or sex the of because heterosexist 25 audience, which is thatwhich defines itself as lesbian 2002 (Novak, lesbian forin and in terms heterosexual de-sexualised for purposes, time the same sexualised styles have a history, and those histories condition and limit the possibilities: regulated.' is politically whichmeanings according is to body boundary,the 'avariable whose permeability asurface of structure a designate to order in style corporeal of notion the uses Butler Judith recognizes those signs that ascribe dominance elsewhere ascribe dominance signs that those recognizes only which eroticization, occurs, eroticization a certain way the Along women. for primarily templated beauty, functional isthe figuration in this dominant A model status. displayed strategies Accordingof body.the Baudrillard, to is body the functioning asameans of modern of notions Baudrillard’s to linked be may style corporeal on notion Butler’s lesbianism, as portrayed in all three types of videos I have analyzed. of appropriation in casein inheterosexist results our turn heteronormativity; which Here, whilenotion so,Butler saying admitsthe of dominance intheexpression of white. and slim young, are heroines the all in that attraction of homogeneity certain a display videos Jean Baudrillard: ‘The Finest Consumer Object: The Body’ in Mariam Fraser and Monica Greco (eds.), Greco Monica and Fraser Mariam in Body’ The Object: Consumer Finest ‘The Baudrillard: Jean p.167. ibid. JudithButler, ‘Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions’.InSchildrick and Price (eds.), While most of these videos were indeed produced by male produces, it does not mean that these videos are videos these that mean not does it produces, by male produced indeed were videos of these most While Miroslav Novak Miroslav culture; indeed,we regularly punish those who to do fail their gender right.contemporary within individuals 'humanizes' of what part are genders Discrete consequences. punitive Hence, asa strategy of survival within compulsory systems, gender is a performance with clearly Svezak 1 Svezak , Routledge, New York, N.Y.pp. 416-422. , Routledge, New York, 2007, 277-283. ,’ . Broj 1. Zagreb, 2003. Lipstick 27 lezbijke: emancipatorski šik ili heteroseksualizacija homoseksualnosti’.In She states that the styles of the body are never fully self styled, for styled, self fully never are body of the the styles that Shestates pp. 15-24. 21 29 . I argue all heterosexual argue of that the . I 26 28 ). Feminist Theory Feminist The CEU eTD Collection lesbian body lesbian body itthat suggests a something vicious, kind of isotherness markedby that death, black suits of other maledressed inblack. clothing mean Black many depending can things ontheinstance(for context guests might suggestsings with a semi-sad expression on his face. theirThe couple is dressed in white, while the host,man isthe while credibilitycouple, the in woman the with chit-chatting starts party the of host the hunger), and authority), it ismanner seemingly so: eating-decadent scene (one suggests forpleasure-not devouring on that a in mingle people As couple. the of part female the as attractive as and lesbian, seemingly hostess, party a third woman, a and couple, the of party female attractive the couple, the identify three main characters; the singer of the song who is at the same time the male party of a huge location intovilla). Wecan see acararriving (we can gardenof a countryside follows: A seemingly happy andvideo, 1983Gazebo In the promotion/presentation. straight couple arrives at a houseBearing party, that at ina rather mind, isolated it consequently playingvideos started a biggerroleinconstructing andpromoting of apersona artists. the meant that more music that 1980s the inis itpeoplebecause all above 1980s; madethe in video a with start I were exposed to heterosexual 'average' and lesbianaudience. this kind of one in which a lesbian body was/is coded in mass culture negatively both for the eye of the turn video, Gazeboturn to a1983 presented assomething whichissimplybad, bringingluck, evil and/or deathormalaise. bad I alesbianis bethe inwhich one will portrayal homophobic subversive of of the types the One sets of practices. term different come to later which symbols, stanceof practical the also, and life, everyday of contexts ‘practical’ the both includes This practices. homosexual against hate of portrayal a public as remains still - explicit less or more is times at while - which homophobia, subversive of kind a observed I discussions, video following the of all In Lesbian as immoral I like Chopin , in order to demonstrate this type of representation, 22 I likeChopin , the narrative goes as goes narrative , the CEU eTD Collection inside/out 30 her because has The died reasons. woman possible for three immoral ‘deed’ one, as an her portray comes to asan picture asset at the islooking woman lesbian sceneinwhich the the of Thesentimentalization output. symbolic has death,adifferent with narrative the through punished being isactually which character that symbolize, it to comes what or character, documents However, ‘troubledness’anditsthe ittowards. isresignification when that not and carries thus and martyrdom, of out is born itfor deceased, the life of tothe connected understand death to be a revolt wecan sometimes because its resurrection canmean character troubled death the of which has a life of its own. At thevideo same may be timeread as a thissign of revoltdisrupting isthe heterosexist portray longingand and regret, comes that as a decisive pointfor question the whether this symbolic order. For in some cases, looks at the picture of The death theof the woman in the couple is followed bydeceased a scene, in which the lesbian woman woman a it thestigma on of death carrying couple of years later.ithas a long history as being portrayed assomething meaning lethal,dangerous and/or Her facial expressionsimage, gayman the on article Nunokawa's remembering sexualities, of’other’ representations of common Thistrait isarather death. him for left heloves on his faceasthewoman sing asemi-sad expression to with continues man/singer woman in couple hasdied. The the see endthe the wecan andat in a couple), seen woman previously (the is misplaced dress woman's the that wesee in asecond for scene, which next the into narrative cuts where the is bushes.labyrinthThis of a walka intofor women go two the scene, thefollowing In questionable. ischallenge soasto whether theexisting readingispowerful order enough subversive this is black.But flag’s anarchy color Note the that order. heterosexual political disruption the of an inabilityor procreate. Subversively,to however,itmight suggestan anarchic the stance, Jeff Nunokawa,"All Sad the Young Men: AIDS and Workthe of Mourning," inDiana Fuss(ed.) , Routledge, New York, 1991, pp211-324. 30 . 23 CEU eTD Collection character, can not occur. character, what image the of a lesbian in video comesthis to mean tothelesbiansidentify who with this of shift symbolic The character. this with audiences lesbian of identification positive a assume worthy. In terms of Henderson's andtook, itall summons anidea up to lesbianism of her inappropriate, immoralas and guilt- positive image model, this video’s she isincapablemoreover, she having a lover,manof causes sadness 'whose' to woman she representation does notnot surprisingly,man. another Itfurther reads eventhat, if she tries, she is denied happiness, with, a couple in is who one the chooses she if Especially woman. another with relationship fulfilling a and a successful have never can she that says that one into transformed sincebutcode this toflirt in body herattempt results negatively, themessage is death, not thisher videodoes the invite point to party. friendshas Up to to house, she style, even The video’s message thus reads that the woman in black is asuccessful one; she has a big immoral. assomething lesbian whichequals amoralizing context, in Resulting story suggests held death,the asecret. around house.the Even hidingthis awaysuggests aview in which what they are doingis tobe when she takes the woman in the couple aside and alone into the secret labyrinth of the garden bein when alesbian,woman, instances activities she indulges into flirtatious another with or might host party the that realize we that narrative video’s the of context the through is It support my reading of videothe narrative ashomophobic. becauseor she was running awayfrom it, and it even though sounds impossible, it would still there were no other signs pointing to her illness whatsoever. She could have died out of guilt, reading of that video is a nonsense, however, we do not have to believe this to be the case,my and ill, narrative as shewassimply whole has then woman the If the diedbecause disturbs. somethinghandle that lesbian would bereadas not the heart setting-could whole then the 24 CEU eTD Collection Analysis. 31 somehow this representation of the lesbian body does not manage to escape theexistingmanage not lesbian body of does to the somehow representation this with makingthem up.They look gorgeous andall delicious and like they are havingfun,but girlsthe spreadingfrom some gossip one tothe whispering,other, it andgradually up ends video, all very young and extremely attractive. They are all very stylized. titled The video Video Disco Mobile starts Simian In by and for straight women to admire them for grasping such attention. these videos are not in the possession of any agency andmen entertained andvisually (pornographically)pleased. Lesbian bodies and charactersof they merely exist for men to look at forexist themselves butneed be to surveilled bymen,further is more, their purpose have to not lesbians do impression that gives an videos inmen lesbian with the of coupling The patterns. heterosexist to subculture.this Since Iwill content,observe video’s only Iam considerobliged to these overallrock’s cultural butonlyproduction, in personal lives and practices of people belonging in for queerness plenty of were places there inthesecommunities, of heterosexism patterns re-occurring with together that argued Schippers male gaze. the of term the she rejects female however, body, the of sexualizing practices concerts employed often rock alternative gaze enjoying them. This is usually of rock videos.characteristic AccordingSchippers to assumes amale aremadein a way that these videos in Sometimes be videos. present to the with heterosexual males who find watching lesbian action sexually arousing. Men do nothave existinginin not but forthemselves butarecoupledthey athey are put which context are as portrayal isfollows. constructed We in seesome ‘inherently lesbian(ish)' action videos, the negative a of category the into fall easily can that representation the of type Another Lipstick lesbian- with or without men Schippers, Mimi: ‘The Social Organizationof GenderSexuality and in Alternative Hard Rock: An Gender and Society . 14. 2000. pp. 747-764 Hustler 25 2007 we see a similar setting of 2007wesee asimilar setting of ina all girls 31 , CEU eTD Collection rules of ata 'decentgirl', singerlooks the while them as ifhe is vastly entertained with what They continue to kiss and notinvideo appear also a couple of scenes where they are standinginfront of stand. a mugshot minding that what they associated with paradigmof the lesbian the previouslyas acriminal. girls kissinginthis The do simply does not comply iswithvideo particular this of aspect problematic highly another one, this from the Stemming pleasuring. along a girl bandfinish leave, playing their song andpackuptheir eachoneof to them things dragging previously thingAll they should lesbian andthat keep it. the seizes ondoing exist action the when to involved lustful looks, suggesting aredoingobviously these that the rightwomen thesewomen give in whatband the of members other and singer male might the turn, In other. each arousing physically have seemedthese as womena lesbian attains traits. Theironic content is notalready) almost (if part of this pornographic video that seem actto beof extremelybaby,baby, baby,make whichseems to sexual the girls gowilder and wilder until video’s the aroused themale lustfully. keeps While dothat, 'girls' singer on words: thepronouncing refrain the and ravagingly clothes their off taking start girls the So by rises. room the of 'heat' the theplaying, male start they As women. young attractive band, white, of full a classroom in play to school high and end upis ata made in male bandas follows: setting an The all arrives 2007. called EndEverAfter, kissing and An example for this representation is the video entitled video the is representation this for example An Lesbian as criminal white. always almost and eyes, male's straight in desirable and feminized if lesbian areacceptable bodies that pattern repeats the boundaries. It sexuality 26 Baby, Baby, Baby Baby, by the band by the CEU eTD Collection brothers from the comic They are wanted alive on alivewestern-like on They arewanted aesthetics- blood theseangry woman produce whenwarriors a lot of men. those punishing like aTarantino with men, oppressive and/or abusive violent from women endangered fear no law history inany Theyshare ofbeing with way. of acommon saving restrained Hell's Kittens video, Age Stone of the Queens bymen.the In mistreated were they because lesbians became beginmisogynistthey justto of with, e.g. context areaproduct simply becausethey are,or (identifying themselves of instead identified)being theirlike sexuality, are thatbecause they whether these lesbians are actingwho soempowered, proactive inclaiming andowning is in made whatisnot cut narratives these clear words, 'lesbian'. other In to actthat a reason positive representation is that these lesbian women appear in a context in which they are given lesbian'sthe 'problematic' mightWhatsexuality. be troubling from pointthe view of of it not displaydoes any of kind sublime homophobia. Neither itdisplay does fix tendencies to grasp, as is harder place to slightly in group this liketo avideoIwould of third type The Lesbian asafailed heterosexual woman wholethe womankind. towards of attitude misogynist generally and anti-lesbian heterosexist, most in the fantasies, top male straight which is actually, doneterms on theirby an amusingdemand - andforin their arousal produced of ascene sexual areall performing masculinity representative, amicabletheir affirmative play of indecent, he members isseeing. The band,the looks. thesinger of especially asthe hegemonic rock Thisalmost video criminal is among behavior by the girls, we can see four wild outcast girls rummaging around, escaping the forces of Lucky Luke Lucky . However, they are all fully fitting the attractive woman attractive the fitting fully all are they However, . Wanted! 27 posters, thus slightly referring to the Dalton CEU eTD Collection this videoasitis made tolook old-ish, asif material and filming the was torn projector the in it isishappening whatexactly detect hard to ofthemalegaze.Furthermore, construction andthe character female apowerful of desexualization the both employed producer the this, While doing meta-narrative. inthe those and narrative, inthe women link between desexualized them puttingthrough inan meta-narrativeextra which separates symbolicthe director the mighty, and empowered are ifthey Even isproblematic. activity lesbian inherently in an indulge not do they because screen on ‘lesbians’ really not are narrative visually i.e.editing the image, blurring deliberately the image. The fact thatwomen thewithin of technique the some help different with of look made is to which meta-narrative, the whilepornographic. So, narrative within the isno there ‘lesbian activity’,is it within placed meta-narrative in which two girls are kissing - not just anyhow,but extremely eroticized, even mini a he creates Instead, itself. thenarrative itwithin place not Hedoes video. the within is importance of It how of the directorof videothe decided putto the'lesbian' factor alone. do that weak and thin too one isbeto needfor is obviously there four, that, foras too but them a to men, punish actually women these is that difference only The hands. or mouths their in penis women are shown as sexy killers, their bodies presented in any porn pose with a gun against a matter as long as they look nice on the screen. Indeed, the video is quite sexualized, these four function as another type an of eye candy.Maybe, these women are empowered butit doesnot may easily video the that out points structure, hero the numberof usual the one, to as opposed arefour, female these outcasts fact that mere the Moreover, look starlet. of a pornography the image resembles is overall The women’s it, at their deep. look asingle decoltage ever takes These women’simages tobe pleasing quite whenitcomes tovaluing material.sexually arousable clothes are tight-fitting, may findthese image of taste viewers leastcontemporary wise,andmale stereotype, at made to make their figure accessible to who 28 CEU eTD Collection from his bedroom, and the other T.a.t.u. character rescued her. Even if we disregard the mere the if wedisregard character rescued her.Even T.a.t.u. other his the and bedroom, from inher. Sheescaped then from violent sex and demanding heaggressive and more became him, want not did she however, but him, with on going a thing had girls the of one and video, the into man a brought they videos later their In lesbian. as play-acting their strengthen to girls. was fragmented away by obviousthe hegemonic and intended desirability of those teenager fragile inand needof careof.taking gains Whatever it theirvoicing of 'lesbian'brought, the fetishization of body a ‘teenage’ and an overall awakening of notions of women somethingas the way that the T.a.t.u.shock value of lesbianopenly in Russia.Furthermore, marketthe success was strengthened by singers look like, on ‘Russia’. This consequently upfunctioningended as a means makingprofitof basedtheir onthe school girl’s timeof cultural drawingstanceexpectation global and on reinstatingstereotypical the the pop uniforms also conformin same the a global audience, appeal to to marketing strategy a and usedas heterosexualized to the play-acting theiridentity.itis However, highly lesbianismproblematic how outtobeturned negative portrayal the from liberation of a kind presented have might It faked. of entirely is a lesbianism lesbian their body on the face ofin singers appeared media the lesbian,itsoon as camebeopenly to known publicto the that the popular T.a.t.u. the While culture love. in are them of two the because all environment, if their by rejected they had notbeing and beenparents their with fights their about sexuality, young their about openly singing She Said T.a.t.u. 1996 the is category this in attention deserving video Another one. just inmore than ways must involved for bean there obstacle emission fully representable, workingwas not reliably. technique,believe,lesbian I This addsuptothe assomething not Perhaps they became aware of the problematic of their representation, so they attempted so they representation, of their problematic the of aware became they Perhaps or the or Not GonnaGetUs for the same reason. Both videos present the ‘school girls’ 29 All the Things All CEU eTD Collection questionable. As Judith questionable. As argues: Butler Judith masculinity isaman is byit.his needed,deems Foronce is turn threatened not that existence in which masculinity, a to relation in only problematic is lesbian terms heterosexist In experience on basisthe of owning and appropriating of men.whatwithout they do different? invariably as attractive woman’s bodyis any other men,sexually to pleasing wouldbe it any No. The problem by produced madea lesbian?If a video that bylesbianportrays lesbians as producers not is it That faux? is what is know we do how and Why issue. an not is the another identify assumptionThe question of of whya itpower is soessentialism. Islesbian everything looks wesee lesbian? that girls Is two lesbian? making out exclusively stance lesbian of problem the a occurs commoditysection in this inspected subtypes the all In males. for arousal foron straight the men wholeto have lesbian is destructive,manageable criminal,but andsurveilled the attractive when producing rightlesbian to lesbian body in in similar We notice popularculture. the a can videos' group; patterns these videos groupwhichreproduce existingimage of manages patterns dominantto the of a faux lesbian called in the so bemay grouped kind the of many others videos and These by image. overall their enough of imagean tomake less anylesbian asit heterosexualized representation was done another, new of product dynamicduo,whoseportrayalthe convincinglesbianism is not of anticipates audience the that major reason is for Theirreunion audience. the majority of the of expectations hereronormative stereotypically challenge to representation this for it inenough reunitestill iscontext manage endofthevideo, whichtwoof atthe them not to with male,the only anda in context observe the of characters one the of putting ‘necessity’ desired, but now hates. And lesbianism is nothing other thanthe effectof a love embittered by of a love embittered by disappointment or rejection, the incorporationof the Otherwhom one originally understood tobestrictly produceda logic through of repudiation; hence, is effect drag nothing but the is love where object, repudiated ostensibly the for is befound to is love only place the Indeed, 30 CEU eTD Collection hand, reading: later realize, awomen's comewe to what atattooon features scene follows. The opening lesbian. The three women inlesbian. Thethree women are not theimage videoonlyallsatisfying the of an attractive a of representation manner of thesame is expressing and director the inanother, themselves lesbian possessed narcissistic byakindof as endlessly creatures of disorder craving for a forhas documented imaging aportrayal tendency lesbian. Creed of the heteronormative of for videoconcludeas almost notentirely it this heterosexist, does from escape extent a certain to might we however, intimacy, supposed their into insight the is, which context, a different in lesbianism showing representation, liberating a as seem might This and sleeping in bed while hugging. this, the director uses cuts of women showing theirarguments, their tender moments, caresses, a a temptationwomen. by relationshipvisualize woman posed to another to two order of In third one is flirting with one of the women in the relationship. That is what the videois about, characters in the video; There are three another. belong to to of flowerwanting asasymbol creating symbolization all three are women,relationship, two of themlove a signify to lyrics her in symbol involvedflower uses writer, song the Etheridge Melissa While in a relationship, thing' tenderand a but fragile, the videotitled, Etheridge’s gender InMelissa role. video image not lesbiannecessarily challengethe a of and awoman’s overall openly does gay artist director of heteronormativity. This will serve asanexample show that avideo to by produced an Maria finally,lesbianappropriatingby Andvideo example aspects produced artist, an a of a several Maggenti complies with her 32 JudithButler: . The narrative of the video is revolved thoughtfully around the symbol of a flower. of the symbol around is revolvedthoughtfully video . The narrative of the butchness, the appropriation of the masculine position that one originally loved. disappointment or rejections, and of recoil from that love, a defense against it or, in the case of Bodies that Matter. On the Discursive Limits of ‘Sex’ 'say itproud' , and a couple of seconds later it reads: later , anda of seconds couple 31 The Weakness inMe Routledge,New York, 1993, p.127. 'Aint 'Aint nothing butashe , the narrative isas narrative , the 32 CEU eTD Collection patriarchal identification of lesbian discussed in chapter.this notionstraditional lesbians of on any than other videosthe heterosexistwhich employ and heterosexualizingnarrative, her bydoing video so, the came as no more out challenging the couples. kiss-and-makethe upnarrativesin found usually videos dealing with troubled heterosexual or lovers, new the of passion the is evaded, The activity lesbian sexual of sort any of depiction the directorHowever, passion. of portrayal explicit more some employed have might it lovers, different being songisEven though the verge sad,the on about betweentwo speaking of choices of other. each thespoon-hugging together, sleep they when one the only is image sexual most The videonot havesex. girls’, whodo be ‘innocent to areshown lesbians as these affectionate remain may have isIntimacy video’s displaying achieved through heroine’s affectionate hugs, which only desexualized. completely as wanted– displayed is intimacy how in is aspect problematic Another tooutside of the spotlights. evaderemain is to butch that claim implicit an made has she this, omitting For narrative. video’s the even if she act notdid in video,the she could havepursueda lookingbutch possibility for like actress the Melissa herself being only butchy, a rather tells Hetheridge as a story reporter. side-standing Herrolevery inHetheridgerarely video. singing the from as separate is narrative,put she the of seeMelissa We only are. butches supposedly, as, such creatures, 'scary' those not are lesbians common cultural practice of displaying of common cultural practice a it to refers but lesbians, real not femmes entail are that not This does femmes. are narrative the in women three the all but butch, a signifies style corporeal Etheridge’s Melissa communities. Lesbian audiences may someto extent relate to this video, but not entirely. lesbian imagined of identification positive of failure a almost as results aesthetization, femmes sake forunpoliticized the of looking identical of preference The director’s look almostwoman,but identically, also hairstyles, through choice the dress make-up.of and only femmes in order to show, apologetically, that 32 CEU eTD Collection following chapterdeals with videos thatdisplay voicing of such oppositions. The environment. emergeout of heterosexist the such would still representations opposing to case,comes them. everythingand that In dominant that everything to exclusive of opposing are representations heterosexist then these ones, creating alternative or representations, entails, that if is there noenough voicingpowerful lesbianof identities either opposing to this it run long the In representations. such with communities lesbian of identification positive something different, ‘othered’, and inneed of appropriating. Thereislittle for possibility negative portrayal, by aportrayal which audiencethe being is of instructed lesbian identity as portray a lesbian as a politically threatening entity. In all of the cases discussed, itis a form of to grounds wants one dependingonwhat ina atonce bemay video, All fourspecific atwork woman. heterosexual failed asa lesbian and acriminal as lesbian lesbian, lipstick immoral, as evolvelesbian lesbian identity: four general that around to are polarizedstereotypes according that representations types of these constructed I have heteronormativity. and/or heterosexism of signs several display that videos of overview an given have I section this In Conclusion 33 CEU eTD Collection notalways as clear cutin all the videos. Nevertheless, the reason for categorising these videos artists choose drag when communicating their identity. Whether itis a conscious act not, or is visual narrative refer to. For instance, as we shall see in the reading videos of I provide, many various and ever changing, so that it is still somewhat possible to trace to what contextsbut beand recursive, repetitive seems to language them. Pop’s can to meanings areassigned a certain which to time of amount a tiny and ornaments bodily fashion, and music pop between videos Idiscuss in sectionthis a posses of kind Itexists temporariness. fracturesthe on infar understanding and anythingitis social Thereforecultural. mention useful thatall to the point for future reference, for through this statistics of self-identification one befixed tonorm render the and a to avoidance the anything doesparticular category. Moreover, not go very seazes to be of any help or use to the ones who choose to namea categoryinto is avoidance eventually being the of of put which off course, queer. That or label, or identify with this completely miss on whatI out believe was one ofthe original ideas behind the whole concept deny to process of isitself.the itcategorizing In away, asif jumpI woulda andinto trap seems queer for videos, queer the videos as of establish group this uneasy isto rather It Butler’s sense of drag. be capturedby analyzing the ways videosthe display a considerableof amountinparodying, can identities andtheirperformativity. gendervideos suggestacertain the revisiting This of of because contents the but videos, of the counter-reading becauseIoffer aqueer or queer, becauseidentify as by not as made bequeer is people who they themselves were understood queer videos. Aspoint Ihave triedearlier, to out reason the why followingthe videos are to the title could we Something videos. music of type another explore I chapter this In Queer Videos 34 CEU eTD Collection their they steppers); rather, are pursuing strengthening the of kind exercise, which looks usually see whenfemale is aerobics presented(abunch jumpingof women mindlessly on we style aerobics the exercising be to shown not are They thighs. their exercising while later on in the video.inlike sharp knife object heel looking place of the the is where is.- actually It usually worn In several subsequentThe secondimage is cut to imagethe of someone shiningthe high whichheel shoe has a scenes we can her skin. of in surface on the carved Spit'n'Glitter words with decoltage, women's displays a see four women gettingby Rhani Kelly Justin Remedes and The narrative goesasfollows:(2008). Thefirst scene ready, Hereby I provide an analysis of a video titled video a of analysis an provide I Hereby Anger and Might model. identification andbelieveis patriarchy. I this Hendersonin hadwhat mindwhen herpositive thinking heterosexism informed bythe from traits the gets one very meaningthe terms shiftingof the rejection of by definition is others usually shaped as a self-definition by embracing and certain this feminine.ownership of overarching principle oversign of rejection to the This times can showa at is lesbian body presented way the the butthat patriarchy heterosexist of heterosexist not patriarchy. arguinglesbianam that bodies I in thesevideoscan exist outside existence lesbian and ownership bodies of definition, primarily of claiming as parts the emerges in comparison with the heterosexist videos, which display a certain exclusivity of meaning in value its span, time given a At still? queer, as them identify I do how Then temporalities. and communities process of meaningisconstructing as the its queer temporary,varies meaning with be This queer. to markers understood to including references open is as queer their content 35 Spit'n'Glitter by Scream directed Club by Scream CEU eTD Collection dresses ripped down so as to show off/shove their breasts. At the end of the video we see all?' of appearance): inorder (listed saying carrying placards most be there, shown to are people More scenes. previous seeninthe already women, some of group the by organized/populated time gathering, this street another is follows What broken heal behind as she has finishedher job. shoe of one of the girls as membersshe of the religious bunch. A briefmakes shot of ending this battle is summarized by showinga a step and goes away,onetortures protesting guy with herfor practicing tool thighs, they off also tear of clothes the leaving the glass woman Another in aforced kiss. maletogether glitter protesters heads of two the woman, pushes of hera bunch, angry the of member One symbolical. and physical is both fight their instead, them; these people.religious Itis manner.done inaninteresting They not goanddo simplyhit Soon the devils. were if they army as bunch angry arriving the onto it ofshowing women and perhaps some'Spit Glitteris Un-american' men, the street fighters, arrive and fight refrain we can see a group of refrain saying- can seeagroup people placards protesting, their we lyrics: the singing are make-up heavy and dresses girly in women three follows, as is refrain The shown, while abutchy looking is woman raping. are makehandmade ache harder.These actions item, to punches has knuckle-rings a stylized them, andthey all carry their knives,gunsandlogs of Instead of wood. a ring, of one them find out they that meetandare gettingface ready Aman streets. to the in femaledragjoins fashionwe soon style.is Indeed, street akind of dresses…It tubeshirts, patterned, leopard feminine-heavy and skirts,mini tights clothes make-up andtheirarerather andcolorful various necklaces with wear hairs they pins, Their theirareequipped colored, tough. nails are , and ' spit andglitter All tits are equal' , dancing, with very serious expressions on their faces. After the After faces. their on expressions serious very with dancing, , . Members of the crowd dance around topless, or with their , some holding the Bible, some carrying crosses. And some 36 'Tit in' , 'So, some tits are not tits at 'So, sometitsarenot 'God hates Spit Glitter' , CEU eTD Collection overall manneroften followedof expression and surveilledoccurring topic as the straight-out-of-jail narrative, of peopleby successfullywho live inpolice, the hoods, who are andre- often hip-hop's a appropriation by achieved sois culture hop hip the on.to link Another Both themanaged director asitcan be.their asclose to terms own and tothe portrayband in within,their the it seems image as it identification iswhich limited isand by informed heterosexist very the surroundings it exists theof onlya lesbian way one can of self- possible traps backto iffalling image. the Even creates for sheis who one terms, the attainas existence andin virtual the sphere. Through virtual this space sheis ableexistto and be seen inherown possibility to interact‘myspace’ page, and on both she has fans. I am finding accounts for her visibility,in which exist bands’ video. She hasher‘myspace’ page,her outside is of this particular artist present also mainstream butchimage figure? We of needtofocus on figure.This visibility the this of positive non- the from differ representation this does how is: here answer needing question The comfortably. masculinity her who wears awoman Sheisabutch character, hip hopartist. represent her to asmade are heavy movements bodily her feminine, andstylized not and tough.blonde and longer is hair Her Her movements are somewhat up. growing similar against protesting culture’s rave, asmeansyouth of similarly to scene iscoded to movements of a clothing she items, is is Whilehip-hop glittering. masculine, coded newtraditionally the rave bagginess of her clothes males American (the African byhip-hop fusion worn clothes of a accurately; appropriates she and her hat) and also,more lyricistHerclothes in-your-face are wideand'manly',put woman. making,ugly-faces less known, the tough, newa as presented is she - butch rave coded is style corporeal singer/rapper’s lead The (flashyfemininity. traditional coloured) of only not shapes, of women, whoall portray faces,serious heavy wearing in makeup, coming all sizes and memberanother of singing band, the whilewalkingtowards followed camera,the by a bunch 37 CEU eTD Collection Vol.41,No. 3,pp.122-139. traditional femininity and the deviation from it offers both of a space for employment this re-signification,through that argues author The on. so and obesity of portrayal hairdos, stylized emphasizedand makeupand/or exaggerated language, excessively obscene only) employ both the symbols of traditional femininity with these markers of ugliness- use of bands of howthese male. women (consisting women observes Eileraas dominantly gender women/s body. While 'ugliness' as a stylistic strategy from stems it1970's punk, was overall persona public deviantfrom as existingthe andtraditional ofbeauty notions a on theirtypeslook, soundand make inwhich construct of representations women themselves 33 feeling. Eileraas of kind rebellion rage and/or acertain evoke displayed) images the and lyrics song the both (of producers video particular this In yousaying, cannotfool with us. There has been enough of us beingidentified as or this that. if as faces, angry very showing bunch queer the of antagonists for reason the is also That glitter, symbolize coming spit and words, these In turn, is ‘Spit’n’Glitter’. noplacefor as a there country, where God’s out in a way that shows is America seen that as they voice tellsprideclaims usso Spit’n’Glitter’ hates and‘God American’, of the power of self-identification.is Un- ‘Spit’n’Glitter The saying they placards Bible. from the read basedonwhat speech as In the video, the pronouncing wishes of queercommunities.the religious group is madeappropriating the‘thugs’ motive hiptaken from hop narratives in asong sang bywomen, to seem as if they were by exactly for lesbian asacriminal, to approach satirical is of amanner It reason. reasoning their valid non a for way that of is thought who but hate criminal, be a to is thought who someone Eileraas, Karina: ‘Witches, Bitches & Fluids: Girl Bands Performing Ugliness as Resistance’. 38 33 sees 'ugliness' as all those all as 'ugliness' sees TDR , 1997, CEU eTD Collection the Body,the 416-422.pp. page 417. 34 Banishers. Thatfollows them,the Queer bunch/The Banishedby reacting assuming those let's of call inthe women recognize group the of the, thethem doing/manifesting themselves manner of fighting banishment the against in revolves a following manner:firstly group the of making effects of banishment against the other group,is arecommunicating- voicemajor voiced, groups people one Two or themselves. get clearly while the other one fights against. The where place space: public a of metaphor a as stands and place, public the is Street of instance the matrixhow isingender traditional destabilized this video. innotis possession unique such masculine/feminineof polarizedis roles. Thisgender one pattern heterosexual the that itsignals accordingly women, between two ismade relationship videos where a man raps and pattern of a man and awoman, whichis a very structure in or1990s hip-hop, often seen a dance woman singsheterosexual the inresembles video chorusin this relationship femme-butch the Thus (see femmes. all are above). However, because videoindrag, while In woman is the the the women the who butch this who chorus sing raps this Judith stated: Butler in of women videos. other the femme-ness and is herbutch-ness only not bywhatdefined sheis wears,but also defined in comparison to cultural comein tomean stylizations Sheis to sensitive inabutch an practices. analysis drag, the style of the body, Lookingentails at the bodily markers, orwhat Judith Butler would call the corporeal style, as in, watching domesticity.' and 'femininity' of modes traditional defy carefullyflagrantly and body female how their bodyconsequently, act traditionally this of style 'flaunts hidden unspeakable or aspects of the is stylized and what these JudithButler, ‘Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions’.InSchildrick and Price, Feminist Theory and structure of gender itself - as well as its contingency regulatorythe fictionthrough unity of a as heterosexual coherence. naturalized falsely Inare imitating which gender,experience drag implicitly gendered of aspects reveals those the of imitative distinctness As much as drag creates a unified picture of 'woman' (what its critics often oppose), it also reveals the 39 . 35 34 CEU eTD Collection Theory’.University of MinnesotaPress, Minneapolis, 1993, pp.193-229. 36 35 nameNation Queer the of under performed rebellions Queer Nation text- asetof on cultural Warner's Michael invokes direction.another This beingcomply banished,andyes, wearepowerful in thebanishing reversing into action This in turn revolves as anwe can apply the imagewhatever is called, then ungodly on you so as to show you whatof exactly it is. group's exclamation: of punishing thatwaspreviously againstused them,saying:if you arecalling usungodly, then there are a lot of end upbeing us, by punished Queerbunch.the TheQueerbunch are using veryterminology the we will not Banishers The when scenelast the in comes groups’ conflict two the of resolution The group of Banisher's. indoctrinated the of group theheterosexist cultural religious inreferto video of practices 'weapons', which Club video, andeven if rap naked they show were femalebreasts these did protesting breasts, uttered in not Scream was thissexualization as an However, at object. sexualized andlooked videos being at,repeatingsemi-nakedly, the looked patternof skina woman's being meaning African-American male dominated hiphop arealwaysthere women in dancing 'authentic', In sexuality. one's to also but sex, biological one's to fixed is identity gender larger political a of asapiece clearly is articulated video Club’s Scream The commodity/property. body as statement. Thisappropriation of thevideo lesbian body through patriarchal notions on reproductionis and female an example to the section. of asareaction This comes videos previous inthe recognized the patterns of a destabilizationEheridge’s video there of wasthe neither, lesbianismallusion to eroticas love likeitindoes mostnotion of heterosexistthe types videos.of In however, that in instigate Screamway any in not does Clubvideo the that is we here can invisible made not directly detect detail A any kind of Ibid. p. 418. Warner, Michael, ‘Introduction’.In Michael Warner (ed.) ‘Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social and Politics Queer Planet: of aQueer ‘Fear (ed.) Warner Michael ‘Introduction’.In Michael, Warner, 40 36 . CEU eTD Collection argues, yes. Its representation then finally might produce an affirmative effect to those effect an affirmative produce finally might then representation yes. Its argues, by beingvoice?one'spractices of punished Ciassulo denied sex.Isthis assigned person to the 'default' gender with the necessarily analogous not is notion) biological actual sex (the comply with person'ssexthe sexualityor in supposed natural their understanding.A person's role (masculine, feminine voice.granted is What shown claims freedom absolute in anyone assuming whichever gender or anything else) as theyYes. In init awoman is,forcase a silencedidentity- of amale it imagedrag- seems has this please, whileis awoman? she that important thisit Is man. real a was she if as rolemasculinity this imitating simply does not have to incan bemerely as thewoman in body a female read video assomeone a male drag, this be solved remains visible. masculinity natural to the The and only question that iswhether on perfectly is as shown a woman’s body on Masculinity in awoman. case this spokesperson- the voice of the is still it - less untouched more or isleft masculinity hand, theother On like object put on a shoe of one of the women in the videos, instead of a heal. faceswar paint African on certain Anotherdetail tribes. is sharpdangerous knife the looking of resembles aprocess of putting invideo, the beginning the of process ready Note the getting ofaweapon. asakind is shown femininity their model).Indeed, image positive Henderson herethe gaze- of feminine looks the the approving (instead gaze masculine the of titillating powerful,fearsomeas something andbynoforpassivemeans, thepurpose not andfeminized traditional view, both femininity and masculinity on this videos’ the to women’sContrary bodiesbodies. are female shownon masculinity and femininity the with plays and further play lesbiansalong with existingthe beliefs ofwhat arelike, doand/or it one step also goes matrix is in the juxtaposing of two types of women bodies. Its representation does not merely speaks back.is The video a sort of a queermanifesto putin video. on their (in)visibility. Instead the video showed a different kind of femininity, the one who Another levelAnother videoat which displays featuresthis thatchallenge traditional gender 41 CEU eTD Collection Gina: Aha, she's sotuff. she's Aha, Gina: Gina: Yeah, they were good. Tattoos of stars so they can recognize each other... wouldn’t get arrested... youdays, know, and they had towearat leastpieces two of for womenclothing so they it'sGina:see womenlikein like Damn, thatanymore, sad!Youdon't these back Iknow, the they'reGina: breed. adying True, makeGina: Theydon't them like thatanymore. Gina: Oh,she real looks good. with one leatherman? Gina: the the Yeah, Gina: Damn, doyou see that girl over there, Gina? wall. Here is a transcript of their dialog. music wesee playingyet, girls,femmetwo looking, talking each to whileother leaningon the Gina Mainwal,year 2007.The narrative goesas follows: in whenan opening part, isnothere videothe isanalyzeherewould titled likeI to Another video heterosexistvideos do. the do loudletnot it astherearecertain not enough, triggersthat within it cross over like mostof of videosdiscussedin the This previous isthe chapter. because issimply this representation most than often less watched been has it that claim might we emission video of counts Tube femininity even if both are seen on a biological women’s body. However, based on the You towards oppression resonates masculinity whether case regardless in this entities, between culture/nature and Itsuggestsanon soon. linear andnon binary distribution power of gendered innot manner woman/man, gender, the traditional a polarized sex/gender, of isthis Itrather deploys relationship that ‘real’ of heterosexual relationship. practice 'imitative' be isif the it as is understood butch/femmealigning of the notto usual an present, dynamics Even juxtaposed. is women these of masculinity and femininity way in the lies with, comply in complydo doesnot listed bodies types chapter videos of what heterosexist previous with identify images.individuals who with Thedepicting reason women's such why way this of Humor as awayHumor of destabilizing femme/butch stereotypes 42 Butch/Femme by a director CEU eTD Collection I’m not trying tobe predictable, but you have topin me against this wall. polite, and girl, receptive femme a passive be of I wanna astereotype notthat It's a bottom. Gina: Heybutch girl, I’mkinda having aproblem,Isee from yourhanky you're that flagging like...The rough strong hands of a big butch dyke... Wanna show some appreciation on behalf of the queer foundation, Ha, yeah, you know what I daddy. Butch girl: Who sayslyrics are quite witty in playing with meaningsthe of words: that a femme Indeed,thesong's video. be casein isnotthe weaker.However,this women this to are seen can't pay for a date, desire. is from idea This stemming the thatallwomenin men’s are partners, a way that if you've gotta femmes, not activeinportrayed aspassive,andconsequently usually sexual achieving one's problem, call lesbian of construction traditional isme video this in with play producers issue Another lesbian women. butchandfemme on stereotypes of traditional merere-utterance evadethe make surethey to wanted producers if the as presented, image the clarify sometimes lyrics the for lyrics, benatural. The visual aspect of particularthis is video tobepaired upwith accompanyingthe is to considered notions of what refigures andthus underscores effectively so, one expressing by be and ''nature'', on of cannot top other the For one'nature' istime re-naturalizing. it in same and the as naturally masculinity perform a piece a can,of open wood, cut manage to are butches who women these where actions, them,let successful us call performing, who are participants those to marks best give Ginas styles. looking butch all but in various, another, after one appear were shown asbutch) all video whoareread (in who women the participants Ginas (they are both called Gina)aresitting behind ajudge's table and givemarkstothose Further on in the video we can see a parodied version of TV series about dating. The two walks in all the femmes make fuss, cause there's like one of them and thirty of us. Ginas (both):butch! so She's Gina: I likehandsome. so she's butchDamn, Gina: girls and I cannot lie. You other femmes cant deny, when butch 43 CEU eTD Collection 37 stigma. cultural of amount an already carry that terms meaningfully use how to about following discussing when the stated Butler Judith around constructed them. uses video femme/butch playthe butsemiotics, meanings with around the traditionally notmerely sitaround and wait until a butch comes to ‘take’ them. Instead, the producer of the this view.Ginas traditional The openly two upon discuss they find attractive,what do They video Ginasto suggestsan opposition beginningof the at the Also, dialoguethe of two the that proscribingisthat which what right, is contained usually within the morality of TV game is seriously.saying which asiftheyare It ‘seriousness’ cultural aretaken other products of for showssymbols of the dress codes of teenage audiences who are supposedlike to be the primary audience that, membersthe of bandisthe look madelike to they fordo a reason. Inappropriating the the of motorcyclists. Thestyling as butches of stereotypes faces. Theyplay with they funny make members flashy colourslike designating design. the 1980 looking Theirclothes are almost childish, and of Team wearing rather are characters Thevideo’s TVchannels globally. on present became they soon Gina employbut in 1990sonMTV, the emergingapproximately like that, areshows There preferences. a certain fashion likeness and dating, of genregame show TV on based is narrative video’s The revoltexisting gendermatrix. the to effect challenging is of categories these of against understandings traditional underscoring theTherefore, repeating images lesbiansof femmesas and butchesin videothis while Butler: ‘Bodies thatMatter. On theDiscursive Limits of ’Sex’’, Routledge, New York, 1993. p. 123. originating aims. their displace and reverse that directions in berepeated to ought they regimes, such within constrained and produced been have terms such because precisely contrary, the On spawned. are they which such of use make never terms,we ought that entail not does of heterosexism, service the as in only exists if'gender' that such terms couldinterpellating only moment, that 'race' is the instrumentand and effect of 'racism' or itsinterpellatingalways moment, In reconsolidate this thesense, oppressive regimesthe of argumentpower by that the category of 'sex' is the instrument or effect of 'sexism' is the 37 44 CEU eTD Collection Gina’s video. destabilization, so is humor a powerful vehicle in assuming a power stance, as seen in Team Just as fearsomeness and monstrosity are vehicles of empowerment when self-proclaimed in aperformancestatement. apolitical ugliness of as or depiction, Scream women angry Club’s in feminine caseof the isachieved monstrous the be to thatwould ascribed fearsome images of simulation the way the with analogous somewhat is politicization humorous Its emerge in contexts other as well. Thevideo’s message is politicized and intended. does, andoften seems can, original all that that notions employs video this categories, these inWhilebutch/femme traditional of expectations away ridicules that using representation see this at work in this video with an aid by a humorous mechanism. Butler argues that: Wecan video. aspectof the humoruos strengthen the as to so image this they are using nature, This is how the ‘impossible’ happened in video.Team Gina’s Theory and the Body 39 38 that: voiced.Butler states canget mal-represented or under- culturally voiceof the the is where culture placefor feminine, the the views,popular viewed.itissome In traditionally as asnaturalized is not gender that basics of on the ridiculed canbe also as those, such shows JudithButler, ‘Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions’, M.in Schildrick and J. Price (eds.), ibid. p. 124. The usage ofhumourThe in videosthese is Whileconsiderable. assuming supposedly childish derived. embody.this In sense laughterinevitably emerges inthe realization that all along the original was 'normal', 'theThe loss of the sense original'of the 'normal', however, can be its own occasion for laughter, especially whenis the revealed to be a copy and an inevitably failed one, an ideal that no one can possibility of a reworking of the very terms by which subjectivation proceeds-and fails to proceed. to fails proceeds-and subjectivation by which terms very of the areworking of possibility constructions; it is always thenexus, the by those spacenon of culturaldetermined subject collision, the is inwhich neither and opens up the constructions, its to prior subject no is There 39 , Routledge, New York, N.Y. p. 419. 45 Feminist 38 CEU eTD Collection these videos offer a traditional symbolic gender roles' destabilization so that butch butch can come that so destabilization genderroles' symbolic offer atraditional videos these is how of that One of examples the one. as natural be heterosexual as the acted to out lesbian the allows it in which representations employs time same the at politicization This general. way challenging againstthe stance isa women's image in imaginedin videos culture popular a is wayofpoliticizingoffer whichwould representation question any other whetherthere the stereotypical traitseffect in theirwhen overall to identifying oneself lesbian as narrative,through a video’s it may still be of challenging a performer public persona.references explicit no if Even are there their personas. to attached cultural stigmas no are there openly that It pretend and lesbian as seems identify they that admit to irrelevant is identifiesit that saying be as would then that it is moreasvideos, use these issue when watchingand analyzing sexuality asapolitical However, notto lesbianfruitful to elsewhere, they imply waytheyshape the that with are doinganythingpersona. their political public exclusively,notlesbian, but lesbian Just audience directed. the fact does not they that as are out long as thereAll videosdiscussedthe in lesbian section this for/by are made outted primarily artists, are no importance toidentify clearly and openly as lesbian is either avoided, or considered irrelevant. where level a on relationships intra-human of stories show that experiences of view of point denotinglesbian. something Avideo’s narrative can also be as constructed beingfrom told the are all cultural with tolargerbroader andgroup of narrated usedwhen sets symbols references political calls for a rethinkingneutral. Observingsuch videos and these bands womens' representation’s lesbian of as of what exactlybe gender seen rather aresimply made to videos as Certain of self-identification. politicization they want to achieve. Videos As suggested be beginning atthe somevideos showing of chapter, willnot the explicit as in the previous Emphasis on thePersonal 46 CEU eTD Collection observe their clothing, as they are both coherently (in all their videos) reluctant to wear to reluctant videos) their all (in coherently both are they as clothing, their observe to need only we identities, gender fixed about much say not does narrative this While black. Suddenly a coupleof people dressedinblack appear on stage, and thegirls run. under which the theatre, is full of these people dressed inwhite, and one person dressedin space the see we shot next the In audience. the along horizontally move that colouring red of dressed costumes inwhite becomes an dressedinaudience organized instripes redcostumes, we see audience the that after Soon has disappeared. black was wearingwho person the that nodding their heads in rhythm. Soon we notice, as one of the girls from the band notices too, motionlessblack costume, beginningthe at video,the of butgraduallymoving start by music. The audience consists of people wearing white costumes and asingle person wearing a by a piano and the one otherare, names) (their Sara one and Tegan both behindand stage, the of sides the at thestatues women drums,two as they mime the lyrics of the songmade to lookand that playthe girls (band consists of two twin sisters) perform on a theatre stage, with at the first sight. Their video, Their sight. first at the so seems it least At sexuality. their of politicization such no show videos their but interviews in outted are who artists of generation younger a of example an are Sara and Tegan their lesbianism, and so do the Gossip in their videos. theiridentity, is which befound to usually ininterviews. Both Tegan and Saraopenly claim on theirsexuality. such one In cases, for should other spaces look inexpression of voicing as based identity claimingnot their they are because of silencing issues sublimation, silent or issues about and of artists sexuality, mighteasilybe These producers accused of being too less adamant usually for aparticular are genre, expected primarlily than widerthose audience a by listenings achieve which videos those is that cross-over, are that artists of Videos masculine man feelswho by threatened image. this itis in surface, as the become more Consequently to powerful grasping. andfemme agency 'I Just Want Back In Your Head' Your 'I JustWantBackIn 47 barely has narrative. barely any It’s CEU eTD Collection protagonists arrive,exchange anothermeaningful andlook between wanting each andother In the nextleaving andlikewise, place. the an outfit, couple of sceneshair, for severalmoustaches he anewpairof in reaching among hiscollection, keeps picking we onlymoustaches wesee cutsheJuxtaposed, the'man',without (in his previous had them),oiling see the band heelplaying shoes, and in statues themake cuts quick up. In we can see objects surroundingherfluffy her,cat,pink high walls, disco.of women. She Soon puts images.in mirrorgetting puttingat their her starts her offherwigand ready,as woman takes The both wig backlooking on,mirrors, of front in home, a in their dress characters both see we where scene the is andNext leaves the place.as they perform next toa window of a dark room,light coming in from the outside. band the to seecuts happening,we is occasionally this by.Whileall woman another passing also'checksout' The 'woman' appreciatively. meet, looks each their other, towards directions justfinished shopping. She is more fit than the 'man'. He is slightly obese. They walk opposite had if she as bags carrying is 'woman' The astreet. on walking day, by them see We woman. mana and bea seem to individuals who two portraying of narrativeconsists video's The section. than any of the other isvideos, with only that watchedfor this video difference far being more times onYouTube videosmentioned above the like ways in similar in drag with plays version radio this for video The song. section, and Gossip: The narrative. evenpolitical some of the videoscross-over tothis amongdate all in videos the section,this less butcontaining explicit in the previousmost video a of example an as willserve category inbe this analyzed to video next The neutral. term is I call‘hybrid butch’,asthe gender stylization body of their and/or masculine rather typical girls' clothes- skirts, dresses and so on. Their appearance can be summarized into a Listen Up . There are two versions of the videos of the same 48 CEU eTD Collection University Press, 2003, p.30 40 masculine/feminine/gay interpretationsis it perhaps bringuseful binary inanother to matrix andof rock/pop/disco and To so. widen waytheydance the suggests binary musicof the andtheir genres cultural Stylistically, this videois a nod towards the disco culture- its scenes of dancing in the club dancing, obviously enjoying band the play. start dancing together. This lasts till the end of the video, when we see more and more people proclaimed lesbian, and the singer is an obese woman and also a self proclaimed lesbian, both asqueer.challenging lookingbend drummer the However, or, of one, isabutch self the roles too, passesasagender this video audience, heteronormative non within Henderson butaslongwatched, is by as a forthere possibility 'positiveas constructed identification' within narrative video do notrecognize whoaudience heteronormative non this subtle the the when be simply overseen is can big chancethis a There adrag. wearing they are still through a set of actions. meaning isonthe surface. Or,subtexts are implying how show gender to Twois lyricallymade antagonists are seeminglyand cooldom heterosexual, to offer buta and drag dance using discosymbolics, different to truly succumbed director the video Gossip's evenIn if they representation.are,there. be to want not would who one no been have would there like Here we do not need video'sthe lightsshine)- dimmed noboys to inthere,dancingawoman to sang lookingsong, to read subtexts, made director (the atmosphere in moves cool a ratherglorious show off giggle, their interact, the Girls new record. the to room the around dance they and masculine, some are feminine, girls These are asteenagers. time coded lesbian this bodies, presents also tosome extent anotherIn video version of the same song the settingis different, but the video's narrative she is alesbian. she states spoken lesbian. During live shows, she proclaims: this one isfor dykes. the In interviewsher Tim Lawrence: Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970-1979, Duke 1970-1979, Culture, Music Dance of American A History Day: the Saves Love Lawrence: Tim 40 . It is perhaps important to note that the singer is an outed self is note singerthe anouted is tothat important . It perhaps 49 CEU eTD Collection base of what mechanisms inbase used the creating existingas challenging them of what to were gender explicitly identified section subgroups, I political distinguished one form two on the other the the Within political. still but explicitly, so not the and political explicitly the types: major Irecognized two chapter. indiscussed mechanisms previous the I of heteronormative the assume any not do in cases all that videos videos, queer with have dealt I section this In Conclusion conditions of the dominant culture will have obstacles in crossing over. commodity is culture, andin most of in mostly existthem subcultures, and in top50chart not hits. Acultural the hands ofgender matrix. Indeed, so isnot there much inof these challenging features pop dominantthe the dominant andpopular of product theamount andopenly politic explicit challenge traditional of the culture. Thereforemaylink aglobally between mightbesuggest that there as pass what I a Instead, narratives. their in politicizing what efficient less thus and political less is persona public overall band’s does not satisfyinstance).for Here itis notmyintentionshow how particular to videos, or theirthe producers the lesbian body in is popular culture (for their culture pop more popular than ScreamClub's the of a representation consider if alternate to an are we importance isconsiderable of successful they are major factthat by publishingcompany. The ofAsia,a are signed and and parts Europe USA, bands, allover crossover touring are Gossip Tegan The and and Sara Both globally. communities lesbian for identifications positive allows and self-identification of power the them public persona I believesobecauseisrepresentable? hereit grants their visibility that overall their in is political what image their Is globally. videos these watches who anyone to visible 50 CEU eTD Collection traditional notionstraditional onthe matrix isgender being as we speak. created it (Butler,Lury,others new aspacefor for Marshment),meanings seems that Ciasullo, these traditionally silenced social If entities. visibility measures power,and Ithink along with as produce, long as they offer place for positive identification,is useful in public voicing of thatthe effectvideos these Iargued within. Inthis chapter, thepower division of ordinates conditions. Any of the objectification to these conditions emerges out of the system which co- a certain in dominance isthis section popularof which shaped culture, byheteronormative more chance to cross over to a popularityhave on theimages globalpolitic level.challenging This in turnexplicitly entailsless that that theretendency a is observed I Consequently, provoking fear and showing itself somethingas threatening. matrix. One of these mechanisms is the usage of humor, and the other one is the one 51 CEU eTD Collection filtering device: the audience who finds these video’s narratives appealing on basisfindsthe appealingon narratives of whothe audience filtering video’s the these device: likea works effect blinding this band/video, queer over a cross caseof Inthe narratives. isfurther on by appropriated contentthe mechanism, surveillancesome is blind which to sphere surveilledmore live of interviews thoroughly, or are.This than concerts these artists is a media a as videos that suggests It lesbian. explicitly less and politicized, less are name openly identify lesbianas in interviews and live shows, the narratives of videos under their themselves politicization within it. outside and video the Whilethese of producers/artists images positively. Incrossover cases,there seemstoappearadivision in employing enjoy global fame, and a considerably valid numberof audiencesidentify who with these may nevertheless who communities, smaller of practices sub-cultural into succumbed remain knowledge of all identifications. At timescounter-reactionary these willcultural products they spaces, on less voiced,those featured its whichclaim are usually andless absolute counter-activity of their Because videos. queer through voiced consequently are restrictions these to counter-reactions The employs. it mechanisms restrictive the through as audience, for global the asa role-model be featured likely morealways to are videos heterosexist the most voice of by the becommunicated will Dominance work. at mechanisms are heteronormativity numerous, where from understanding asstemming all cultural of to dominance contexts relations and/orgroup. Grouping and intothe also videos heterosexist the heterosexist gave queergroup way the of claims mostnaturalizing self- the to counter-reactionary are that features such display videos voiced.queer the turn, In concept. heteronormativity the to refer namely I Here contexts. social larger Therefore foundin comply traits the with that features show videos heterosexist the can concludethat cases We two. between these relation is there videos, wecanseethatadialogue-like and queer the and heterosexist major the categories, into two videos of types of distinction the made Having patterns foundConclusion in the 52 CEU eTD Collection corporeal corporeal andmannersstyles of with areassociated performance meaning,a certain occurs. is boarders fractured where lay. possibilities image, ways of transforming those On the an is areblurred, On symbols between wheremost whereboundaries spaces representations. the these of successfulness the into buy possibly will and threatening too or strange too it find notdoes that letitaudience ofpoliticizingwill pass,asthey recognizethe symbols not will The restraining. less be to seem then narratives These presented. thus terms with identifying through more of such appealing and/ortraits readthese andfind interviews concerts ‘positive identification’ model by Henderson willwantmore Thusof that. they will to go the 53 CEU eTD Collection Henderson, Lisa: ‘Simple Pleasures: Lesbian Community "Go Fish"’. Lesbian Community Henderson, Lisa:‘Simpleand Pleasures: Pop’, ‘Perspectives in Stan: Hawkins, Musicology:in Music,Lennox,andMeaningPopular 1990s TDR Resistance’. as Ugliness Performing Bands Girl & Fluids: Bitches ‘Witches, Karina: Eileraas, London, NewYork,1993. 1979 Tim: Lawrence, (ed.) Kaplan E. in Ann MTV’, of Case The ‘Feminism/Oedipus/Postmodernism: E.: Anne Kaplan, 25, No.1,pp. 37-64. Barbara: Creed, 115. Monica Greco (eds.). Greco Monica Barbara Creed: ‘Lesbian Bodies: Tribades, Tomboys and Tarts’ in. Mariam Fraser and Lesbian inBody 1990s’,in the Ciasullo, Ann M. ‘Making 1993. Her (In)Visible: Cultural Representations of Lesbianism and the Butler, Judith: Butler, Price(eds.), Judith Butler, ‘Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions’,in M. Schildrick and J. Cinema Journal Brown, Jeffrey: ‘Gender and the Action Heroine: Hardbodies and the "Point of No Return Music’. inDance Popular Music Body the and Technology Gender, Sexuality: ‘Sampling Barbara: Bradby, Greco (eds.), Monica and Fraser in Mariam Body’, The Object: Consumer Finest ‘The Jean: Baudrillard, Bibliography , 1997, Vol. 41,No. 3, pp. 122-139. , DukeUniversity Durham,Press, 2003. Postmodernism anditsDiscontents: Theories, Practices,verso, New York, 1988.31-49. Popular Music Feminist TheoryandtheBody The Body,AReader , 1993, Vol., 1993, 12,No.2,pp. 155-176. Bodies thatMatter , 1996, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 52-71. Love Saves the Day: A History of American DanceMusicCulture,1970- of History Saves theDay:A Love The Monstuous-Feminine: Film,Feminism, Psychoanalysis , 1996,Vol.No. 1, 15, pp. 17-36. The Body. A Reader. Feminist Studies,Feminist , Routledge, NewYork,2007, 163 . On the Discursive Limits of ‘’sex’’ .Routledge, NewYork and London,2005,pp. 109- , Routledge, New York, N.Y. pp. 416-422. 54 2001, Vol. 27 (3),pp.?? . , Routledge, NewYork, Signs , Routledge, , 1999, Vol. , 1999, "’, CEU eTD Collection Rock: An Analysis. Schippers, Mimi: ‘The Social Sexuality of and GenderinAlternativeOrganization Hard 321-331. Diana Fuss (ed.) Nunokawa, Jeff: ’All SadYoung the Men: AIDS the and Work of Mourning’, in InPaulic(ed) homoseksualnosti’. Melissa Etheridge: The Weakness in Me, directed by: Maria Maggenti, 1995. Gazebo: ILike Chopin, directed by: Junichi 1983. Tanaka, AndEverAfter: Baby, Baby, Baby, directed by: JAX ,2007. atAfterEllen.com. to befound also references Manyother videos. lesbian Some also tobe found at: girlfriendisahomo.wordpress.com, under the name of: top three faux from All Tube. collected You Videos: Youth’ Wald, Gayle: ‘Just aGirl? Rock Music, Feminism,and the Cultural Construction of Female Politics and Social University Theory’, Minnesota Press, Minneapolis,of 1993,pp.193-229. Queer ‘Feara QueerPlanet: of in Warner(ed.) Michael ‘Introduction’, Michael: Warner, 'Cherish'’. Popular Music Madonna's of Analysis An Video: Music of Aesthetics ‘The Carol: Vernallis, Railton, Diane: ‘The Gendered Carnival of Pop’ Miroslav Novak,’ Concepts inWomens’ Studies in Popular Culture’, Robinsonand Richardson Diane Victoria (eds.) Marshment, Margaret: ‘The Picture Is Political: Representation of Women in Contemporary Lury, Celia: , Signs Consumer Culture , 1998,Vol.No. 3, 23, pp.585-610. , 1998, Vol., 1998, 17,No.2,pp. 153-185. inside/out Lipstick Gender andSociety . Routledge, NewYork, 1991,pp.221-324. , Publisher, New York,, Publisher, 1993. , Routledge, New York , Routledge, NewYork and London,1996. Svezak 1 lezbijke: emancipatorski šik ili heteroseksualizacija ili šik emancipatorski lezbijke: . 14.2000,pp.747-764. . Broj 1. Zagreb,2003,pp.15-24. 55 Popular Music , 2001, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp.Vol.No. 3, , 2001, 20, Thinking Feminist: Key Thinking CEU eTD Collection The Queens of the Stone Age: 3's & 7'sHell’s Kitens, directed by: Rio Hackford,????. The Gossip: Listen by:Up, directed Whitey McConnaughy, 2006. Tegan and Sara:IJustWant Back ToYour Head, by:directed Jamie Travis, 2007. Team Gina: by Butch/Femme,directed Gina Mainwal, 2007. T.a.t.u: All the Things She Said, directed by: Ivan Shapavalov, 2003. Scream Club: Spit’n’Glitter,directed by: Rhani andRemedes Kelly, Justin 2008. 56