Alternative representation

In general, the Hip Hop genre has a distinctive image where females in the hip hop videos are represented stereotypically as sex objects wearing skimpy dresses and showcasing flesh for the pleasure of the male gaze. They are further represented as weak and vulnerable while being under the power of men, therefore, they are depicted as the subordinate sex. Meanwhile, men in the Hip Hop videos are depicted as the superior sex and they are represented as aggressive, powerful and dictator's of women. However, the Hip hop video of Eve and Gwen Stefani (Let me blow ya mind) challenges these stereotypical gender roles within Hip Hop video’s in a number of ways to reveal alternative representations of male and female roles in Hip Hop genre.

The video begins with mug shots of Eve and Gwen, which has connotations of crime, trouble and resistance towards authorities that is normally associated with young male rappers, and is a total reversal of gender roles and an alternative representation of women in comparison to other Hip Hop videos. Furthermore, Eve is featured riding a quad bike sitting in a poised posture and wearing a leather jacket with tattoos of tiger paws revelled on her chest which all foreshadows an intimidating masculine gangster image and connotes power and superiority to challenge the male gangster role often featured in Hip Hop videos.
Where usually men are seen as the rappers in Hip Hop genre, the Eve featuring Gwen video challenges this stereotype to show Eve rapping throughout the video taking the male role. Moreover, she is seen riding a quad bike while being accompanied by a gang of female riders impersonating Ruff Ryder’s, a well known group of black male rappers who come across aggressive and as the stereotypical male hip hop rapper.

In the video, Eve and Gwen are shown to gate crash a high society party on their quad bikes causing affray which contrasts the gentle female image in Hip Hop as females are mostly seen as sex objects being caressed and hovering around intimidating dominant male rapper figures. In the video Eve is featured sitting on a bar bench position higher than two male figures on either side of her which shows her position to be higher than the males pictured alongside her and this also challenges the hierarchy of Hip Hop as females are always looked down on to as inferior sex objects.




In some way the video has created an alternative stereotype for females, a countertype. This can be connoted from the use of props, lighting, shots and costumes. The clothing gives the impression of a more male influence with leather jackets which are normally worn by bikers of male gender this connotes change of roles, where the females are more dominant and have equal power to what men are normally given. Also looking at costumes, within the scenes of the ballroom once Eve has enter and started rebelling it shows the females in classy formal clothing where as compared to the stereotypical representation where they are given clothing of short and skin tight clothing such as skirts and bikinis.