Male Gaze theory ---- media studies

1. MALE GAZE THEORY
REBECCA WEIGHT

2. WHAT IS THIS THEORY SAYING
• LAURA MULVEY COINED THE TERM ‘MALE GAZE’ IN 1975
• THIS THEORY SUGGESTS AUDIENCE MEMBERS ARE POSITIONED TO VIEW
CHARACTERS IN MEDIA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A HETEROSEXUAL MALE
• SCENES MAY FOCUS ON THE BEAUTY AND CURVES OF THE FEMALE BODY AS IF
LOOKING AT IT FROM A MALES POINT OF VIEW
• IT IS ONLY CONSIDERED TO BE THE MALE GAZE THEORY IF THERE HAVE BEEN
SPECIFIC MEASURES TO HIGHLIGHT THE FEMALE BODY INVOLVED IN THE VIDEO
E.G. SLOW MOTION
• THIS THEORY SUGGESTS THAT WOMEN ARE DENIED A HUMAN IDENTITY AND
ARE MERELY OBJECTS TO BE LEERED AT BASED ON THEIR PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

3. EXAMPLES
• ON THE NEXT FEW SLIDES ARE IMAGES OF MUSIC VIDEOS I HAVE FOUND THAT
DEMONSTRATE THE EFFECT OF THE MALE GAZE THEORY PROPOSED
• A LOT OF R&B, HIP-HOP AND POP MUSIC VIDEOS FEATURE SHOTS WHERE THE
MALE GAZE THEORY CAN BE APPLIED
• SLOW MOTION IS A COMMON CONVENTION TO USE WHEN FOCUSING ON THE
FEMALE BODY AND OFTEN DISTRACTS THE AUDIENCE FROM OTHER FACTORS IN
THE VIDEO

4. ‘ANACONDA’ NICKI MINAJ

5. ‘WIGGLE’ JASON DERULO

6. ‘JUST A LIL BIT’ 50 CENT

7. ‘WRECKING BALL’ MILEY CYRUS