I’m sexy and I know it

This master thesis examined how young Dutch men and women, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-­‐five years old, construct meaning of the female role and sexuality in popular music videos. Previous studies in the field of music videos suggest that most of the time women are represented as sex symbols that have a submissive role. According to feminist theories this representation has a negative effect on gender ideologies in society. There is, however, a shift visible in contemporary feminism that posits that the sexual role of women in the media is a form of female emancipation. This is also known as postfeminism. According to this movement, gender equality can be achieved by seeking for sexual freedom of women. As many studies argue that postfeminism fits in contemporary postmodern society, this thesis also examined whether young adults give meaning to the female role and sexuality in a postfeminist way. To investigate this, qualitative research, namely interviews, was used. During these sixteen interviews with young men and women three music videos were shown. The results of the current study show that the way young men and women give meaning to the female role and sexuality in music videos is complex. There is both a postfeminist, as well as a traditional feminist interpretation possible. On the one hand, a postfeminist interpretation entails that women, according to the participants, have agency in showing their female sexuality and as such they are described as beautiful and strong. On the other hand, a feminist interpretation is possible, because the women, according to the participants, have a sexual role in the music video and show too much nudity which negatively affects their image. In addition, the participants think that this sexual and nude role for women leads to a distorted view for children in how women should behave or dress in society. The participants did, however, indicate that they understood why women in the music videos are represented like this. According to them, it will lead to more attention towards the music(video). Participants also were critical of the way the media messages were constructed. Their construction of meaning can be described as referential and critical. And while the way young adults constructed meaning around the female role and sexuality in music videos in a complex way, it also seems that when women show their sexuality it is not experienced as something negative. It seems that the postfeminism idea that women should be sexually free is gaining more popularity among youngsters, especially in an economic sense. According to the participants, it has a commercial value to show your femininity. Whether this construction of meaning is also a result of female emancipation and sexual freedom, however, remains questionable.