Sexual Objectification and Gender Display in Arabic Music Videos

Abstract

A content analysis of the most popular Arabic music videos on YouTube (1991–2019) revealed females are sexually objectified compared to males. In the current study of 150 videos, female artists acted in stereotypical manners, displaying both subordinate and sexual behavior. They posed and danced sexually, used facial expressions to seduce, and exposed their skin. Gender differences were also evident in the individual measures for sexuality, where females were dressed provocatively in more than half of the videos compared to none for males. Besides gender, some differences appeared among the countries in the Arab region: Lebanese artists were six times more likely to display sexuality than Egyptian artists, and four times more than all other nationalities combined. Further analysis, however, indicated gender is the only predictor in the model that included nationality and gender. The sexual tones that characterize women in Arabic music videos reinforce the existing notions of women as sexual objects to be gazed at for male pleasure.