For this entry I decided to analyze the “Treat People With Kindness” music video by Harry Styles. Harry challenges many gender stereotypes, both male and female, in this music video. Among the male stereotypes he challenges is the some of the male background characters are wearing more jewelry than the female background characters. Additionally, both the main woman and Harry play essentially gender neutral roles. They are both wearing exact same outfit and the woman does the traditional male role in the dance, this is most evident at the end when she dips Harry. Harry goes to the effort of removing his bow tie when he and the woman begin to dance together so that their outfits match to every detail. Harry is also cheerful and warm throughout the entire video which are booth traits traditionally associated with females. This is seen through the way harry is carrying himself in this video. The entire time he is smiling and carrying himself in a way that is very inviting. Among the female gender stereotypes that are broken is at the beginning of the music video the woman is seen behind a desk evidently in some role of authority. This implies that she is independent, assertive, decisive, and ambitious, all traits traditionally associated with men. Also, while many of the background female characters are wearing dresses the female background dancers are wearing the same suit that the male background dancers are wearing, this furthers the gender neutral roles being portrayed in this video. The gender stereotypes that we do see is the stern man in the beginning of the video talking to the main woman behind the desk. This man being stern looking and standing in a way that makes him take up a lot of space goes along with male stereotypes. And the main woman in the video gets asked to dance by Harry, this might be seen as wooing.
Shared by: Margaret Shiverick
Image Credit: https://www.news24.com/channel/music/news/watch-harry-styles-kicks-of-2021-with-surprise-music-video-20210101