The male gaze theory proposes that in film and media, the camera adopts the perspective of a heterosexual male viewer. It objectifies and sexualizes women by lingering on their bodies and presenting them as objects for the male gaze. Women are portrayed as passive objects for the male characters and the audience, while men are depicted as active and dominant. The theory suggests that media socializes both men and women to view women as objects that exist for the pleasure and reactions of men.

2. The male gaze theory is one that looked in to how the
audience views the people presented. Laura Mulvey (who is a
feminist film critic) suggested the term ‘male gaze theory’ in
1975. She believes that in film, audiences have to view
characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male,
referring to how visual areas are structured around a
masculine viewer.
The male gaze consists of three different gaze’s:
• that of the person behind the camera,
• that of the characters within the representation or film
itself, and
• that of the spectator.
The male gaze occurs when the audience are put in the
perspective of a heterosexual male by the camera. The
camera may liger over the curves of a woman for example.
The woman is usually displayed on two different levels: as an
erotic object for both the characters within the media and for
the audience watching the content. The male is presented as
the dominant character and the woman is passive to the
active gaze from the man.
In "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", Mulvey discusses
several different types of spectatorship that may occur while
viewing a film. They can involve unconsciously or, in some
cases, consciously engaging in the typical, ascribed societal
roles of men and women.

3. • According to the male gaze theory, the camera will linger on the curves of a
woman's body, and when events occur to a woman they are presented largely in
the context of a mans reaction to the events. However, for the male gaze theory
to come in to play the curves of a women have to be highlighted with specific
conventions such as deliberate camera movements, slow motion shots and are
edited/cut in certain ways.
• The theory also suggests that the male gaze doesn’t let women have a human
identity – they are just see as objects to be admired for physical appearance. It is
often seen that a female character has no real importance herself, it is how she
makes the male feel or how she makes the male act that is of importance. It is
suggested that the females only exist in relation to the male.
• Some other theorists have suggested that the female body is sexualised even in
situations where female sexiness has nothing to do with the product being
advertised.

4. In the eyes of feminists it can be looked at in three ways:
• How men look at women
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women
Women then gaze at other women the same way as a man would and thus end up
objectifying other women. When women are looking at them selves in the male gaze
theory they view hem selves in a negative way after they see airbrushed women in the
media. This triggers a lack of self esteem and aspires the women to be like the models
seen on the media – women become reflective. When women look at other women
they may look at them in a sexual way but they mainly compare and judge themselves
against other girls. E.g .looking at a girls clothes and comparing it to their own.
The characters that look at others are seen as the active role (male) the characters that
are to be looked at are passive (female) they are under control of the males gaze and
only exist for visual pleasure. Females often slow the narrative down, they act as an
inspiration for men to act. Males push the narrative forward and make things happen
and are seen as active.