Selena Gomez - Hands To Myself

Male gaze in music videos

For this project I decided to choose the music video for the song 'hands to myself' by Selena Gomez. I made this choice based on the actions which promote the ideas of sex and intimacy, as the singer attempts to seduce her male partner.

At the beginning of the video we are presented with Selena Gomez lying on top of a bed handcuffed, immediately associating her with the performance of sexual activities due to her surroundings and the use of sex related items. She immediately breaks the fourth wall by staring at the audience, a facial expression giving the impression of intent and seduction.

Slightly further on in the video, Selena is shown to be creeping around a house wearing only a dressing gown, indicating that she might be preparing herself for sex. The scene frequently switches to her lying on top of the bed breaking the fourth wall, sensually caressing herself indicating an attempt to seduce a male, thus allowing her to fulfil the representation of a seductive mistress. Selena's facial expressions indicate that she is feeling pleasure doing what she is doing, perhaps linking to the pleasure she might experience doing sex.

At around 30 seconds into the video, Selena proceeds to strip down from her dressing gown to show very little clothing apart from pieces of lingerie. This immediately makes her more appealing to a male audience due to the sexual attraction she has with the audience. By doing so, Selena creates a powerful image by drawing all attention to herself, this creates a lasting statement through the provocative way she presents herself. Furthermore the presentation of Selena may be viewed as someone of a higher class, as the low camera angle makes it look like you are looking up to her and are therefore inferior as she is portrayed as untouchable.

Slightly further on, Selena Gomez is shown to be lying on top of a bed wearing very little clothing and sexually caressing her body. Her facial expressions and her constant touching of herself indicate she is feeling great pleasure, perhaps associating to sexual activities. This gentle and seductive caressing of her body is done for the male gaze as its purpose is to attract male attention to Selena and what she is doing, in doing so making Selena appear powerless

 

Halfway through the video, Selena is shown to be kissing a male counterpart, further indicating her desperation for a male partner, therefore making her appear completely powerless in contrast to the male. This attracts the audience to Selena who is appearing to pleasure the man, henceforth demonstrating key aspects of the male gaze as it is the women who is doing things to impress a man, both in the video and the men watching it.

Towards the end of video, Selena is shown to be completely naked in a bath, with her hands caressing herself and her head tilted backwards showing a facial expression that indicates she is feeling pleasure, immediately producing connotations of sex. The lack of clothing is extremely provocative to attract the male gaze and hence make the video and the song more successful. The video ends with Selena being arrested by a group of male policemen, showing her lack of control compared to the opposite sex.