The Male 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:

1.      How men look at women

2.      How women look at themselves

3.      How women look at other women

Main features of ‘The Male Gaze’ theory (1975)

1.      The representation of women as a sexual fantasy and from a heterosexual point of view

2.      Scopophilia – the pleasure involved in looking at other peoples bodies

3.      Patriarchal society

4.      Objectification of female characters

5.      Active male and passive female

6.      Men – controlling subjects

7.      Women as an image

8.      Men do the looking and the women are there to be looked at

9.      Needs of the male ego

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.

 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.

 Use of the Male Gaze in everyday life

Some theorists also have noted the sexualising of the female body even in situations where female sexiness has nothing to do with the product being advertised

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.