The Male GazeThe Male GazeLaura MulveyLaura Mulvey

““Visual Pleasure and Visual Pleasure and Narrative CinemaNarrative Cinema””

Assignments

• Read the following:– History of Film Sound– Various Kinds of Film Sound– Creative Use of Sound Film

• The Theory of Film Auteur

• Hum3.blogspot.com

• Eliab.tripod.com/film

Questions

What does Mulvey mean with this statement:

“mainstream film coded the erotic into the language of the dominant patriarchal order”

“interweaving of erotic pleasure in film, its meaning, and in particular, the center place

of the image of woman.”

Question

• What is scopophilia?

• What is the relation between scopophilia and the constitution of the ego?

• Mainstream cinema (Hollywood) produces a sense of separation and plays on the voyeuristic fantasy of the audience.

• What is the effect of this voyeuristic separation?

Montage

• What are the various functions of montage?

• Explain the relational editing and give examples from previous film– Contrast– Parallelism– Symbolism– Simultaneity– Leit Motif

What is the Gaze?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 theoryGaze 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 Features of the Male GazeGaze

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.

Take note of the following MTV:

“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 questionsQuick questions1. What colour top was she wearing2. What is the colour of the car in the video?3. What is the color of folder her mother is

carrying?4. How many prints are hanging on the wall

in Stacy’s room?5. What is the name of the magazine used?6. What is the freebie mentioned in the cover of

the magazine?7. What colour is the floating sun lounger?8. What is the slogan on the boy’s t-shirt?

Why some of you may not have known the answers to all the

questions?

You were too busy looking at the woman.

The Male Gaze in everyday The Male Gaze in everyday lifelife

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 Criticism of Mulvey and Gaze theorytheory

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.

Categorising facial Categorising facial expressionsexpressions

Women:• Chocolate box• Invitational• Super-smiler• Romantic or sexual

Marjorie Ferguson (1980)

MenMen::•CarefreeCarefree•PracticalPractical•SeductiveSeductive•Comic Comic •Catalogue Catalogue

Trevor Millum (1975)Trevor Millum (1975)

Key theorist 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.”

Male Gaze: Active

• Active: operational (most of the time unconscious)

• General assumption on the movie audience

• Presence in every instance of watching a movie