| Music Television (MTV), Video Hits 1 (VH1), and Black Entertainment Television (BET) reach a combined crossover audience of over 200 million viewers. As a part of their daily programming these cable networks distribute rap music videos featuring modern day hottentot-venuses caged within our television screens. Seen by a wider audience on television than in movies, African American women personify the jezebel stereotype as Queen Bee.;This study uses formal analysis to examine how African American women are presented as jezebel stereotypes in rap music videos where the lead artists are African American males. These women are cast as background dancers and characters in the mise-en-scene. Specifically this study will involve an analysis of acting, costuming and framing of African American females in six rap music videos spanning the years 1999--2004. |
