The gaze theory

1. The Gaze theory
This theory is the one that looks into how people view others because of how they are presented to
them.
Laura Muvley, the well-known feminist theorist, thought of ‘the gaze’ in three ways:
 How men view women
 How women view themselves
 How women view other women
Her theory was that audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual
male. This is shown in the media by the camera’s concentrating on the curves of the female
body, and shows women to be like objects. Some examples within media include the focus of the
sexuality of the female body and the situation or context does not relate to it - for example, it
happens in advertising.