The Male Gaze

Laura Mulvey
Visual Pleasure and
Narrative Cinema
What is the Gaze?
The concept of gaze is one that deals with
how an audience views the people
presented.

For feminists it can be thought of in 3
ways:
How men look at women,
How women look at themselves
How women look at other women.
Gaze and feminist theory
Laura Mulvey
coined the term
Male Gaze in
1975. She
believes that in
film audiences
have to view
characters from
the perspective
of a heterosexual
male.
Features of the Male Gaze
The camera lingers on the curves of the
female body, and events which occur to
women are presented largely in the context of
a man's reaction to these events.

Relegates women to the status of objects. The
female viewer must experience the narrative
secondarily, by identification with the male.
Stacy's mom has got
it goin' on

She's all I want and
I've waited for so long


Watch the video and
then be prepared for
questions
Quick questions
What colour top was he and she wearing?

What is the colour of the car in the video?

How many prints are hanging on the wall in
Stacys room?

What colour is the floating sun lounger?

What is the slogan on the boys t-shirt?
Why some of you might not have known
the answers to all the questions.



You were too busy looking at the woman.
Use of the Male Gaze in
everyday life
Some theorists also have noted the
sexualizing of the female body even in
situations where female sexiness has
nothing to do with the product being
advertised.

Can you think of any examples of this?
Criticism of Mulvey and Gaze theory
Some women enjoy being looked at e.g. beauty
pageants.

The gaze can also be directed toward members
of the same gender for several reasons, not all
of which are sexual, such as in comparison of
body image or in clothing.

Are there any flaws in these arguments?
Categorising facial expressions
Women:
Chocolate box
Invitational
Super-smiler
Romantic or sexual

Marjorie Ferguson
(1980)

Men:
Carefree
Practical
Seductive
Comic
Catalogue

Trevor Millum (1975)

Key theorists beliefs
Jonathan Schroeder (1998), to gaze
implies more than to look at it signifies a
psychological relationship of power, in
which the gazer is superior to the object of
the gaze.

Charlie's Angels female
empowerment vs sexuality
Watch this clip and
note down
examples of female
empowerment and
sexuality.

Are they mutually
exclusive?
Does Shroeders
belief apply to this
trailer?