Women seem to be either presented as empowered, slightly feminist beings or contrastingly, objectified and used in videos. The objectification occurs in both female and male artist's videos.
Men don't seem to face as much derogatory objectification, but are often presented as empowered or 'sexy'. This is often when they are the desired object of a woman or when the artist(s) are male. The only time men are usually presented in a negative light is when the video has some feminist/ empowered woman theme.
In Rihanna's music video, Take A Bow, she takes on the persona of an empowered woman who has just dumped her boyfriend after he has cheated on her. She is shown as strong and independent, and as having a moral high ground in comparison to the man. Throughout the video there are shots of Rihanna where she points at the camera is accusation, showing her authority over the man. She acts feisty when she moves, and stays upright and strong whilst the man is seen leaning against her front door and running behind her in her car. She doesn't objectify herself in the video but makes herself look attractive and desirable. She seems to have achieved a good balance in this respect.
In Jason Derulo's video, Riding Solo, he plays a strong, independent male. He, like in Rihanna's video, has just become single though the reason why is never told. He conforms to the stereotypical alpha male, and throughout the video he sues cars and girls to highlight his masculinity and make him look "cool" and desirable. This video seems to be a lot more shallow than Rihanna's which has deeper meanings of feminist power and deals with the post-break up situation.
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