In the vast majority of pop music videos, a repertoire of norms disciplines the body through
stark imagery and processed sound. This is the underlying tenet of this essay, which
attempts to situate the gendered body as musically constructed. A claim is made for the
representational politics and mechanisms that shape artistic production. The chapter argues
that the analysis of performance in music videos relies on recognizing the visual
representation of gender as part and parcel of entertainment, because in the majority of pop …

This article appears in the Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics edited by John
Richardson, Claudia Gorbman, and Carol Vernallis. This chapter uses textual analysis of the
music video “Umbrella,” featuring Rihanna, to demonstrate the intricacies of sound and
image synchronization. It argues that music highlights subject positions according to the
viewer's expectations, assessment, and understanding of the displayed subject. Rihanna's
erotic imagery forms a critical point for contemplating the pop artist's physical responses to …