Representation of women inLana Del Rey – National Anthem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxDdEPED0h8

Intertextual References• The beginning of the video for National

Anthem is intertextually referencing Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday Mr.President” by Lana singing the song, wearing a similar dress and by the video beginning in black and white. This is a representation of women in this video being feminine and sexual figures, as that’s what was often associated with Marilyn Monroe. It also highlights the representation of women in the past, and compares it to the now once the video progresses to after her singing Happy Birthday Mr. President.

• There is also an intertextual reference to the assassination of JFK as the President is shot at the end of the video

Women presented as sexual objects

• There are a range of close ups during the video, specifically of Lana. This creates a sense of to-be-looked-at-ness, as it gives the viewers pleasure from looking. At other points, there are also close ups of different parts of her body, for example shots of her legs whilst she’s wearing a short dress.

• Not only this, but the video consists of other shots which sexualise women in this video, specifically Lana Del Rey. Firstly, there is a long shot of her laying down with a seductive emotion and wearing a short dress, following the theory of the male gaze by focusing on her legs.

• There is another shot of the President groping her, which is used to represent their love but initially presents women as sexual objects more so.

Women presented as sexual objects

• When Lana and the President are shown dancing, it starts off with her crouched down and him standing up, which presents the sexual objectification of women and suggests the sexual relationship between the two in this video. Also, the next clip of them dancing shows her in front and him behind her with his hands on her body, suggesting the sexual relationship between the two again.

• Fashion plays a major role in sexualising women in the video as all of the women who are in it wear short dresses, and most of them are low cut. Not only this, but the women are also dancing in the scenes that others are presented, which sexualises them in a similar way that it would in a rap/hip-hop video: short skirts, cleavage and dancing.

Women as sexual objects

Women presented as feminine• Close ups are also used to present women's femininity, portrayed in

the part of the video when Lana is in a field of flowers and there is a close up of her face and she is putting a flower towards her face to smell it, which creates the sense of femininity as flowers are seen as feminine and girly rather than masculine.

• Housework/cooking is stereotypically a “womans job”, and in the video it shows a mid shot of Lana making food which could be seen as feminine in this sense. However, although the feminine side is represented it also portrays, again, the sexual side of the representation of women through the theory of the emotions of men and women: Lana’s emotion being seductive, smoking and wearing a low cut dress.

• Fashion presents women as feminine in the video as all of the women that are featured in it are wearing low cut and short dresses, and Lana Del Rey wears heels which are all gender specific and feminine.

Women as feminine

Women presented as motherly figures

• Women are not only presented sexually and feminine in this video, but also as motherly figures as part of the narrative is Lana Del Rey as a mother, shown by multiple shots of her, the president and their children looking as if they are having a picnic and close ups of her posing with her children. All of the people involved in these shots are smiling, especially Lana who’s emotion is portrayed as “super-smiler”. However whilst this part of the video is going on, women are still sexualised at the same time, as the presidents hand is still on Lana’s leg and they kiss infront of the children, both sharing the emotion of “seduction”, a typical emotion presented in media pieces held by both men and women.

Women as motherly figures

Women presented as dependent• Throughout the video there are signs of love from both Lana and the

President, but when they are on the boat it shows this more from Lana’s side. The President is just sitting there, and Lana is curled up and has her head on his chest, and is looking up at him lovingly. This presents women not only as loving, but also dependent, as she’s the one who is resting on him, whereas he doesn’t feel the need to rest on her, presenting men oppositely as independent.

• There is a close up when they are walking across the beach where they are holding hands, and the President has his hand out normally and has no grip of her hand, whereas she has a grip of his palm and a couple of his fingers, making her seem the one who’s more involved and dependent in the relationship.

• The lyrics to another section are “dark and lonely, I need somebody to hold me”, and it is a close up of Lana singing but also looking sad. This presents women as dependent as she says “need” rather than “want”, and the fact she looks sad about not having someone.

Women as dependent

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

• The relationship between the lyrics and the visuals present women as having less power than men but also sexualises them at the same time. When she sings “everybody knows that it’s a fact, kiss, kiss” Lana and the President kiss. The President holds her face and she leans in, almost obediently, presenting that women have less power than men. It also plays the role of sexualising women because the whole video has focused on Lana through the male gaze and this kiss is presented to be seductive.

• The lyrics are: “it’s a love story for the new age”, and the visuals are them in a car: Lana wearing old fashioned sunglasses and a scarf around the back of her head, hugging him whilst he drives. This shows a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, because it shows the love between them, but it also creates a juxtaposition because it says “new age” but the pair are presented in an old fashioned way, showing again the representation of women in the past.