Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory analyzes how women are sexually objectified and represented in media like films for the pleasure of male audiences. It suggests that women are presented as objects to be looked at by active male viewers. Mulvey's theory originally focused on cinema but can also be applied to other media like music videos, magazines, TV, etc. The theory examines how camera techniques and shot types portray women as sexual objects for the male gaze. It also considers how women view themselves and other women based on these objectifying media representations.

1. Representatio
n Theory

2. Laura Mulvey
Representation of women in the media
Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory looks at how
women are represented within the media, especially
how they are sexualized to appeal to a male
audience. The idea behind Mulvey’s theory is that
women are defined in the media as objects to
viewed by an active male heterosexual audience.
Mulvey’s theory originally focused on films however
the theory can now be related to music videos and
other formats of media such as magazines,
newspapers and TV programs.

3. Laura Mulvey continued….
Laura Mulveys concept looks at:
How the audience view women who are presented in the
media. She states that women are there to be seen and
that the use of camera portrays them as sexual objects
through shot types and movement.
Her focus is on:
1) How men look at women from those images.
2) 2) How women look at them selves from those images.
3) How women look at other women from those images. (do they
also see them as sexual objects or unrealistic ideologies they are
supposed to conform to?)

4. From my understanding of the theory, cinematography and
costume are the key elements to the Male Gaze theory, as
women are typically objects, rather than possessors this is
displayed by the control of the camera. For example the camera
focuses on the curves on the woman’s body. The camera uses
specific movements to perceive women in an idealistic view. As
the media portray this view of women, it encourages the
audience to see women in this way too, becoming the norm.
Another ideology from this theory is that the man emerges as
the dominant power within the created film fantasy; the woman
is passive to the active gaze from the man. Due to the fact that
the media ‘force’ this representation onto the consumers, it
makes all audiences to see women from the perspective of a
male audience. So therefore women feel they need to look a
certain way or perhaps meet a specific criteria to be seen as
attractive or desired. Mulvey also states that the female gaze is
the same as the male gaze because women look at themselves

5. Richard Dyer
Richard Dyer’s Star Theory is the idea that icons
and celebrities are constructed by institutions for
financial reasons and are built to target a specific
audience or group of people. Dyer’s theory can be
broken down into 3 sections:
1. Audience and Institutions
2. Constructions
3. Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs)

6. Audience and Institutions
Dyer’s theory states that stars are made to make
money and for that purpose alone, audiences want
to consume what they think is the ideal (or made to
believe is the ideal. The institution then modifies the
stars image around the target audience. The
institutions make their star based on what they
believe the audience want, for example in the
popular TV show the X-factor during the audition
stages the judged often make the comment ‘we are
looking for the full package’ this because they want
to please the audiences as they are what will make
the star a success or not. The ‘full package’ can be
the individuals look, personality and voice.

7. Constructions
The star is built specifically for an audience and is
not an actual person as they have a new persona
and look to be this star that the audience want. A
persona is created for the audience to identity with
and so stars can differentiate between different stars
and why they like them or not. Each star that is
created is built specifically with someone’s signature
to them that differentiates them from other stars, for
example Lady Gaga’s extreme fashion choices, Biffy
Clyro’s covered in tattoos, Amy Winehouse’s
beehive and bold black eyeliner.

8. Examples
Here are some of my own examples of how various
different stars from diverse genres are created to
appeal to specific audiences and their certain
signature styles. Die Antwoord are a rap-rave duo that originate
from South-Africa, they are styled to be very
distinctive and indie. For example in this
picture they aim to shock through their choice
of outfit and make-up which appeal to this
specific target audience that listen to rap-rave.
The artsit ‘Pink’ dyes her hair the colour pink to link
to her stage name which is signature to her. This
makes he stand out and become recognisable to the
audience.

9. Hegemony (Cultural
beliefs)
In society we relate or admire the stars that are created
in the media as they have a certain feature that we
appreciate or even share with them, this develops from
an admiration into an idolization. If this idolization
becomes antagonistic some people may attempt to
replicate what they admire about the star. Sometimes this
can have a negative affect if the star becomes a role
model, as they can be bad role models as the pressure of
the media takes its toll and they engage in behaviour
which may be negative. So if the audience witness this
behaviour they make act upon their idols actions and
copy negative actions as they believe this to be ‘cool’ and
‘in’. An example of this is the pressure in which girls often
tend to want to be slim and attractive, and men want to
be fit and muscular.

10. Tessa Perkins
The definition of stereotypes is; ‘Stereotypes are
assumptions we make based on groups of people.’
Perkins identifies 5 such assumptions;
- Stereotypes are not always negative (e.g. 'The
French are good cooks').
- They are not always about minority groups or the
less powerful ( e.g. 'upper class twits').
- They can be held about one's own group.
- They are not rigid or unchanging.
- They are not always false.

11. Stereotypes continued….
Stereotyping is not a simple process and various
assumption can be challenged, firstly the majority of
people assume that stereotypes are negative, for
example teenagers are always seen as troubled youth
due to the hoodie culture and previous events that
have made this stereotype be seen as negative for
example the mods and rockers fights are Brighton
beach. However not all youths behave like this and
can be seen in a positive light but the media does not
promote this positive attitude. People assume that
stereotypes are largely aimed and targeted towards
the low class and less powerful, however this can be
argued against as we can make assumptions and
stereotypes about upper call minorities in the same
way, for example we immediately associate the words

12. They can be held about ones own group- collectively
people are stereotyped within groups for example at
college people are categorized into certain groups.
‘Together as a representation of people we are based
as a group within Wyke college, within our own group
we stereotyped people demonstrating even though
we all belong to the same institution and hold the
same ideologies as a whole, within the group we
stereotype based on our assumptions. This makes
each of us feel part of the larger community.’