Voyeurism in Music Videos: Anaconda

Voyeurism in music videos is typically the act of performing in a sexual or sexualized manner in order for the audience to gain pleasure. The viewers who benefit from this are typically male as most examples of voyeurism are shown through female performance artists either in their own videos or actors/dancers within a male artists music video. This does not exclude male voyeurism as there are many examples of the male body being shown, generally for the female viewing pleasure.

This Nicki Minaj music video is a perfect example of what voyeurism in the industry looks like. The scenes within the video show off the female body in such a way which is appealing to the male viewer gaze. The song Anaconda contains several lyrics which is reflected in the video itself, as the song describes parts of the female body. Nicki Minaj is very well known for using mass amounts of voyeurism in her music videos as a means to either play with the conceptions of gender or subvert them.

Here shows off a mid-close up of a woman's body. This shot is used to accentuate the woman's figure and behind, which is a topic of the song. This is a classic example of voyeurism in music video as it shows the female in a light which would be pleasing to the male viewers. The close up on the body invokes a sense of intimacy with the audience and really sells the song. This shot could also be used as a more promotional strategy for the artist as this sense of intimacy makes the audience more likely to become involved and buy the artists produce.