Voyeurism Theory

Voyeurism Theory

Voyeurism is the act of watching someone performing sexual behaviours such as dancing, undressing or intercourse. The person performing usually does not know they are being watched and in terms of music video, it is usually a man's controlling gaze towards women who have been sexually objectified. Goodwin states that female performers are sexually objectified by camera work and editing fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment towards the performer. However, in more modern times,  voyeurism in music videos could be female gaze over males. Voyeurism is often used to sell a product and create audience interest. In a much wider sense, voyeurism is about something that is not usually seen or where someone is not aware that they are being watched.




In the video for 50 Cent's "Disco Inferno", voyeurism is present in terms of male gaze of the female body in a sexual manner. The video features many half naked women being exposed to the camera and acting in an aggressively sexual manner towards each other and other men in the video. This is a clear example of the controlling male gaze and women being sexually objectified in videos in order to sell a product.