1. The Male Gaze – Laura Muley
- An audience views the people presented.
The way men look at women
The way women look at other women
The way women look at themselves
Laura muley coined the term Male Gaze in 1975. Film audiences have
to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.
- Camera lingers on the curves of the female body and events which
occur to women are presented largely in the context of man reaction
to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. Female
viewer must experience the narrative. Secondarily by identification
with the male.
Critism of Muley and Gaze Theory
Some women enjoy being looked at (beauty pageant)
Gaze can also be directed toward members of the same gender for
several reasons of the same gender for several reasons not all of
which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or in clothing.
Women
- chocolate box.Half smile, lips together
- intellectual. Eyes, mouth shut, head one side.
- Super smiler. Full face, eyes open and smiley.
- Romantic or sexual. Dreamy, heavy lidded, overly sexual.
Marjorie Ferguson (1980)

2. Men
-carefree.Active, healthy, vibrant
- Practical.Concentrating, eyes direct.
- Seductive. Cool, eyes less wide, confident.
- Comic. Over exadurating, pulling faces.
- Catalogue. Neutral look. Eyes and smile, looks empty.
Trevor Millum (1975)
Jonathon schroder (1998) – to gaze implies more than to look at – it
signifies a psychological relation – shop of power, in which the gazer
is superior to the object of the gaze.