LAURA MULVEYThe Male Gaze Theory

Chloe Bowen

LAURA MULVEY Born: 15 August 1941Occupation: Professor of film and media studiesLaura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College in Oxford. She is currently the professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. Professor Mulvey has been awarded three honorary degrees.

HER THEORY: THE MALE GAZEMulvey came up with a theory to suggest how to audience perceive the actors and how they are presented. She came up with the Male Gaze in 1975. She believes that over the years, audiences have been made to see the characters in film through a mans heterosexual perspective. She also suggests that as its seen through a males eyes of interest, the gazer is given power psychologically. By this her theory suggests that women can more often than not view it from a secondary perspective and are only viewed for physical pleasure. Females tend not to have any importance other than how she makes a man feel or act, meaning that females only exist when a man is about.

Scopophilia- Meaning a sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engaged in sexual activity.

FOR A FEMINIST In the eyes of a feminist, this theory can be broken down into 3 parts;1. How men look at women- men tend to look more towards their curves rather

than other parts such as their eyes. 2. How women look at themselves- women pick themselves apart and see

themselves in a negative light due to how women are represented in the media. This triggers low self esteem.

3. How women look at other women- comparing one another. This can be from clothing to a woman's figure, to their hair. Men may compare one woman to another being very unfair but its very common with women to compare themselves to others.

There are cons of using the Male Gaze in things like film and advertisement. Examples are; men having high expectations of a woman's body and how they think it should be presented. Again, women looking at themselves or at other women and feeling very insecure, due to how men look at them and how the women are presented in the media for the male eyes.

FEATURES AND EXAMPLES The camera will linger on the curves or the chest of a women for a longer time than needed, and it will be made quite obvious what the audience should be looking at. This is to gain a pleasure that a heterosexual male viewer would enjoy.

Another example would be exposed on film posters, such as the women would always be looking up to a man, maybe in a sexual manner or an admiring manner, almost in a desperate way. On the other hand the male could be looking at the woman in a sexual needy way as this is how they perceive women sometimes.

Woman are made an object or a possession, with lack of power.

EVERYDAY MALE GAZE Advertisement: even when the female body has nothing to do with a product being advertised, it has been known to sexualize a woman's figure in able to sell a product. Both of these advertisements are aimed at men and men's products such as shower gel and beer. By sexualising a woman or the sexiness of her figure, this is putting the product at a higher chance of selling. This is due to the pure fact a heterosexual man would see a woman in this way and in a way of getting some kind of pleasure or excitement out of it.

THE IMPACT ON MY PRODUCTIONSA2- FILM TRAILER/ Poster/ Magazine Thinking about the image to use of my horror poster, this would influence whether the male and females in the image were displayed in an appropriate way. This causes deep thought about how to pose, the camera shots and angles, and the types of clothing used. Based on this, I will be able to find an image for my poster that wont impact on the Male Gaze. For example, the only male in my trailer could either be the tall dominant one, or just as equal to the 3 females. The right image will display either one.

As for making the trailer, one stock character of mine (drama queen/girly girl) will be showing skin because of the clothes she will be wearing. Therefore the way she is filmed on set will depend on how she is perceives when watched. E.g zooming in on her shoulders. However, all 3 girls could be portrayed as weak and scared, making the only male in my trailer the dominant, strong one.

When creating my magazine front cover, the Male Gaze wont really be involved due to the genre being horror. The images of women used will be covered up or displayed in a different way. This wont link with the male viewers have the gaze on my characters.