Toni Braxton ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me’ – Music Video Analysis – How is Toni Braxton and her surroundings represented in ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me’. Does the video contribute to her star image?

The song ‘He Wasn’t Man Enough For Me’ by Toni Braxton represents women using their attributes to attract men and them gaining their independence by not relying on men for happiness. The idea of women using sexual appeal to their advantage is shown by the artist in the video, the costume and lighting is used to emphasise this. This allows the message to be sent out to her fans that if they are alike Toni Braxton they will also be able to gain their independence and rather than men being their stereotypical dominant role they are able to be belittled by the power of women. In the video the man is presented as a villain emphasised by the low key lighting used when he is presented to the audience.

The start of the video begins with a cartoon style title sequence emphasising the attributes of females and males. The woman being Toni Braxton we are drawn to her breasts as she unzips her tight outfit to reveal her breasts. This sends out the message that woman can gain power over men sexually. However, this is not particularly positive as it connotes that this is the only way women can achieve the power they crave.

Breasts are used throughout the music video as symbol to flaunt.

The video is amplified by the recurrent clips of Braxton singing alone dressed in provocative outfits relating to both Goodwin and Archer’s narrative theory.

According to Vladimir Propp’s theory, Toni Braxton would most like be the ‘princess’ whilst the man’s role is the villain giving a poor representation of men. The lighting used when the man is present in the music video is always dark signifying evil; the dark imagery along with the black clothing and sunglasses makes it obvious that he is the villain in this video. On the other hand, the girl being shown as the princess is shown by the colours used such as white backgrounds which represent purity but also red which represents danger and power which is the message she most likely aims to give off.

The main premise of the song is about girl power. This is presented throughout, at the start by Braxton continuously touching her female attributes and having one over the man. At the end this is shown when she teams up with her partners new girlfriend making girl power appear stronger. The ring is used as a semiotic, being continuously shown it is meant to traditionally symbolise love, happiness and marriage whereas in this case it symbolise deceit and pain caused simply by the villain (man), again emphasising his impurity.

Braxton’s fans will relate to this video if they have been through the same thing and may consider following the same path as her as she becomes and idol in a sense. Her star ideology shows that women are better off without men, quite a negative message portrayed in a positive way.