How does camera work construct the representation of gender?

How does camerawork construct the representation of gender?

The video shows various examples of catering to the male gaze by showing female body parts and showing provocative dance moves by said females. In the opening scene of the music video, there is a panning tilt shot, of Jade's fragmented body, from her stomach to her face. This shows Mulvey's male gaze theory as the camera shows the girl in a provocative way, showing a lot of skin and little clothing. By panning up her body, we are forced in a way to assess her figure as a man would, in a sexual way, objectifying her and forming judgement based on her body. Furthermore, the way that the male character is shown to be kissing her neck in the background conforms to the female gaze theory, as he is objectified as he does not play an active role in the video, as he does not sing, but purely dances and flaunts his muscles in tight clothing, grinding on the women in the video and showing domination, with close up shots of muscles etc to portray to a female audience a sexy male. this continued further on with instances such s full body shots of the males dancing around the female, and grabbing their genitals and biting their lips, as if to suggest that they find her sexy and arousing and can't control their desire for her. This conforms to both the female and male gaze theories, as the men are shown in a sexual way, many of them with their shirts off to promote their muscular physiques as the camera takes on the role of a heterosexual woman, but also in the male gaze way as the fact that he touches himself provocatively and pins Perrie against the wall suggests that he cannot control his desire, suggesting rape culture that the media frequently alludes to when the camera takes on the eyes of a male.

The video also alludes to a patriarchal society by the use of camerawork, for example, the camera pans away from the girls when they form a line formation and squat and start grinding, as this allows their whole body to be shown in the shot, with this being the main focus instead of the singing or their faces. This shows a patriarchal society as the way that the woman are objectified is suggested by the camerawork further, as we view them forcefully in a sexual way because we have to focus only on their movement, as would be viewed through the eyes of the men in authority. Furthermore, the slow motion camera shots of close ups of the girls sultry expressions also help to create this affect, as they seem sexual and flirtatious, which contradicts the loving and innocent words of the song, suggesting the camera only wants to focus on sexualising the women to attract a male audience, as shots that comprise of fragmented body parts and grinding help to intrigue a heterosexual audience. There is also the end scene of the video, where the girls separate themselves from the males and form a line and begin to body pop, accentuating their bums and chests, and also opening their legs which may in a way be suggestive. These compilation of mid shots and long shots to show all of the girls whole bodies is also evidence of the camera taking on the eyes of a male, as the audience are forced to view the whole body of the women as they perform these sexual dances. This undermines all of the feminist actions that the girls have displayed throughout the video, such as dismissing the male attention etc, as it shows that they are still sexual objects in the eyes of the audience. 

In addition, the video also further caters to the male gaze, particularly in the panning shot where the camera follows Jessie's progression forward as she crawls towards the camera. This could be seen as provocative as it suggests she is so desperate to receive the affection of the male he desires that she will fall to her knees and crawl for him, almost like an animal like desperation, suggesting to young male audiences that woman are in a way their objects who will do anything for them and are desperate to be used. This can also be linked to the female audience, as they will also be watching through the male eyes of the camera and perceive these influential female as role models and therefore will imitate the attitudes they have conveyed and will also feel like they have to be subjected to this kind of demeaning desperation for male affection. On the other hand, the way that the camera then pans to a mid shot of jade commanding the males with her hands, pulling them in and then dismissing them contradicts this view, as it caters to the female gaze and can be seen as empowering, as she has the control over her admirers and choses to be independent instead. This is continued when they sit on the chairs and the men grind against them, showing their sexuality and muscles etc in a full body shot, as this portrays the males in the video as submitting themselves to the women and as objects that they can dispose of at will.