Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Music Videos: Gender trouble? Great Scots!

All this talk about who said what at the VMAs made me hungry for some actual music videos (if you haven’t heard what everyone else has been talking about, just read fourfour’s assessment). And after all this discussion about Beyoncé’s ”Single Ladies” music video, Janet and Madonna’s tributes to Michael, P!nk’s suggestive performance, and the pop spectacle that is Lady Gaga, I started to get all sentimental for two great music videos that cement themselves firmly as gender-queer video performances. Interestingly enough, Scottish women are responsible for both of them. Feast your eyes on Annie Lennox’s man-as-a-woman-as-a-man drag performance in The Eurythmics’ “I Need a Man” and Shirley Manson’s utter disregard for public restrooms as gendered spaces in “Androgyny.” Click on the artists’ names and enjoy!

The Eurythmics

“I Need a Man”

Savage

Directed by Sophie Muller

Garbage

“Androgyny”

BeautifulGarbage

Directed by Don Cameron

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