For decades, music videos have been a key element of the daily social lives of youth. In a series of studies the gender representations in the top 100 music videos in the USA and Germany were analysed and the use of music videos was surveyed among n=748 representatively selected adolescents in Germany. A qualitative study revealed the extent to which girls and boys recognise the sexualisation in the videos and if this was really needed to fulfil what they are looking for. The results confirm that music videos often show highly sexualised representations of women. 13- to 19-year-olds, of whom 80 per cent watch music videos at least once a week, idealise the artists’ representations as self-determined statements, see artists as role models and often misinterpret the sexualisation as a symbol of strength. Here, media literacy is needed and a media pedagogical unit was tested.