Dove Cameron – Breakfast
( video is restricted so i cannot paste the link on my college laptop (sorry)) Dove Cameron as an artist is already a trailblazer in fighting against stereotypes, particularly her own as a child star on Disney channel. ‘Breakfast’ is no different, having male stereotypical roles played by women and vice versa. The video opens with a non-diegetic sound talking about ‘men's reproductive rights’ and downplaying the severity of ‘men's’ autonomy over themselves. This is reflective of the way that men tend to speak on women's rights over abortion and their own bodies, stating ‘where are the women in this conversation?’ and laughing afterwards. The laughter given, in a female voice no less, is representative of how women are never taken seriously by men when speaking out on serious issues. Further on in the video we see a shot of dove and her husband, playing a domestic housewife role. This 50’s esc theme is quite prominent in the majority of the video, presumably to provide watchers with the knowledge that how women were treated then is not entirely different to how they are treated now. He spills her breakfast on the floor and dove glances at him, infuriated and it cuts to the husband framed in a high angle shot. This visual code represents doves' power and superiority in the household, as it makes her husband seem small and inferior to her. This theme of ‘men's’ inferiority is explored in many ways in the video.
Further along in the video we are shown a scene of a man in the workplace on the phone before rushing and leaving work. Dove remarks on this with more non-diegetic sound, saying ‘oh my god men are so f-Ing emotional, like get it together’ again reinforcing how men do not take women seriously in society. The scene then shifts to her coworker on a bed rather exposed Asif he is having a gynecology appointment of some sorts. The doctor (also a male) says ‘everything will be okay, but next time mare sure you don't drink so much. Make sure your dressed appropriately so you're not provoking women’ and is handed a leaflet on how to keep himself pure for his wife. This entire sequence as a whole is such a strong and powerful take on how women are always blamed for being taken advantage of, and men are just ‘men’ who can't control their urges. The strong parallels in this sequence really put into perspective how men fail to understand the way women are treated, even now in modern day.
One of the final scenes within the music video is at the end, as a series of shots appears all of the modern-day abortion protests in America on the 50’s esc television, as a news announcement plays overhead about the government overturning Roe v wade. The male version of Dove sits back from her seat looking shocked, as the news announcement talks about the severity of the announcement. I think this revisits the overarching theme I mentioned earlier, the fact that the way women were treated in that era isn't dissimilar to the way they are treated now. This reflects the old-fashioned nature of the overturning of Roe v Wade, as women's rights have come so far that it seems Asif those decisions revoking women of their autonomy are more fitting of a 1950’s setting than a modern day one. The final shot of the music video is a simple black and white, again, 50’s esc screen displaying the words ‘NOT THE END ‘as determined music plays in the background. This is showing Dove's support of the issue and driving feminists forward to continue the fight on abortion rights. The music video as a whole is such a powerful reflection on the limitations that men persistently put on women. And how despite how hard we seem to try we are constantly pushed back.
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