2. What is the Male Gaze?
The term 'Male Gaze' refers to the way audience perceives women in all forms
of video. Laura Mulvey believes that the audience have to view the film from a
heterosexual males point of view. The 'Male Gaze' theory is bought down to 3
points, how men look at women, how women look at themselves, and how
women look at other women.
The focus is on the way the camera moves around the body of a woman, focusing on
her body. This makes the woman seem more of an 'object' or 'goal' to the man, which is
why the videos have to be seen from the males point of view, in order to take the
storyline in.
The term also refers to how nothing else in the shot is important apart from the
women's physical appearance. The camera doesn't necessarily focus on the clothes of
a woman, but more on her physical features. Sexualization of women is used everyday
in all forms of media, not just videos. If a business is advertising a product towards
men, the business may be inclined to produce an advert with a good looking women in
order to grab the attention of the man, therefore calling it the 'Male Gaze'.
3. Flaws and Opinions
There are some arguments against Laura Mulvey's theory,
as some women liked to be looked at in that way, which
then defeats the object of having to look at the video from
the males point of view.
Laura Mulvey's theory is true to a certain extent, however
nowadays, women stereotypically preferred to be seen as
good-looking, and would want the 'Male Gaze', as oppose
to no male attention at all.
