The Male Gaze Theory
Laura MulveyShe was born Aug 18th 1941. She is currently 73. She is a British feminist film theorist.
What is the Male Gaze? The concept of the gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented. For feminists it can be thought of in three ways'
- How men look at women.
- How women look at themselves
- How women look at other women.
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 presened largey in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female view must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.
A great example of the male gaze would be Scouting For Girls- Shes so lovely (official video)
"I love the way she fills her clothes"
"She looks just like those girls in vouge"
If you take the time to watch the video you will see how its centered around the girl and her appearance and that's it.
Criticisms of Mulvey and Gaze theory
- Some women enjoy being 'looked' at eg beauty pageants and models.
- The gaze can also be direted towards members of the same gender for several reasons, not all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or in clothing.
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