Laura Mulvey (Theorist) On

RepresentationBy Harry Denn

The concept of the male gaze

• The concept of the male gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people being presented.• It is often shown in videos through: • How men look at women• How women look at themselves• How women look at other women• Laura Mulvey despised the male gaze. 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 mans reaction to these events.• Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must

experience the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.

Uses of the Male Gaze in everyday life• Some theorists have also noted the sexualising of the female body

even in situations where the female sexiness has nothing to do with the product being advertised.

Criticism of Mulvey and the Gaze Theory• Some women enjoy being 'looked' at such as beauty pageants.• The gaze can also be directed towards members of the same gender

for several reasons, not all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or clothing.

Categorising facial expressions

Women• Chocolate box• invitational• super-smiler• romantic or sexual Men• Carefree• Practical• Seductive• Comic• Catalogue

Key Theorist Beliefs

• Jonathon Schroeder suggested that '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.'