Reading Gay Music Videos: An Inquiry into the Representation of Sexual Diversity in Contemporary Popular Music Videos

Abstract

The representation of sexual diversity has recently become common within popular music videos. Whether as part of a subplot or as main narrative, gay and lesbian identities and same-sex desire are key to these “gay music videos.” Drawing on queer theory-informed popular culture studies, this article investigates the way these videos negotiate heteronormativity. By means of a textual analysis of how seven contemporary gay music videos represent same-sex intimacies, the article demonstrates the diversity in the videos’ politics of representation, ranging from reiterations of the heteronormal to provocations and queer critiques of heteronormative discourse and homonormative aspirations.

Videography

Call Me Maybe. Perf. Carly Rae Jepsen. Dir. Ben Knechtel. 2012. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Domino Dancing. Perf. The Pet Shop Boys. Dir. Eric Watson. 1988. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Don't Deny Your Heart. Perf. Hot Chip. Dir. Peter Serafinowicz. 2012. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Full of Fire. Perf. The Knife. Dir. Marit Östberg. 2013. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Latch. Perf. Disclosure. Dir. Ross McDowell and Ben Murray. 2012. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Same Love. Perf. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. 2012. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Smalltown Boy. Perf. Bronsky Beat. Dir. Bernard Rose. 1984. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

True Romance. Perf. Citizens! Dir. Arnau Valls Colomer. 2012. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Vogue. Perf. Madonna. Dir. David Fincher. 1990. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Wut. Perf. Le1f. Dir. Sam Jones. 2012. Music Video. YouTube. Web.

Notes

1. Exemplary was the removal from YouTube of an advertisement clip for the new record by Perfume Genius in which the artist hugs an older man because the clip was claimed to depict sexual themes of an adult nature (Winistorfer).

2. She stressed her support of the LGBT community after cancelling her performance at the annual National Scout Jamboree organized by the Boy Scouts of America, who, at the time, prohibited teenage members from being openly gay. She withdrew after the American NGO GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) requested that she and another act, Train, withdraw from the Jamboree (Sieczkowski).

3. The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders version can be found at http://youtu.be/rLMbF5C7Y4A and the US military tribute can be found at http://youtu.be/B_zhaji9eos.

4. The appropriation resembles the way the derogatory term “queer” was appropriated by grassroots organizations such as Queer Nation and ACT UP, who stood up against homophobic and heteronormative oppression by mainstream society (Hall 53).