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1. 1. Introduction to your topic
How is The Male Gaze relevantwhenanalysingthe work ofWalt DisneyProductions?
The theoryI will be lookingatforthisessayis ‘the male gaze’.The male gaze is quotedasbeing‘the
act of depictingwomen andthe world,inthe visual artsandinliterature,froma masculine,
heterosexual perspective thatpresentsandrepresentswomen assexualobjects forthe pleasureof
the heterosexual male viewer’.
In thisessayI planto explore the theoryof the male gaze inthe contextof the visual form using
popular, relevantandrecentexamples of film. Iwill alsodiscussthe originsof thistheory andwhy
it’scontroversial,evennow,forty-sixyearslater.
2. Introduction to your theory
Althoughthe conceptof ‘the gaze’ wasfirstusedby the art critic JohnBerger(Waysof Seeing,
Episode 1, 1972), itwas firstapplied tocritique traditional representationsof womenincinemaby
intellectual feministLauraMulvey. To explore thisfurtherwe needtounderstand Lauraand why
she decidedtocreate thistheory.
Laura was a feministwhichIfeel couldbe one of the maininfluencesbehindwritingthe essay,she
was an advocate of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. Feminismhighlight
that societiesprioritise the male pointof view,andthatwomenare treatedunjustlywithinthose
societies. Thistopicof debate isrecognisedgloballyandisasprevalenttodayasitwas back then.
Laura discussedthe conceptandterm‘male gaze’inher essaywrittenin1975 titled“Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema”(Jones2nd
Ed 2010).
The essaywas fifteenpageslongandwascontroversialatthe time of writing asshe talksabout the
imbalance thatexistsbetween male andfemales inthe contextof filmand picksuponSigmund
Freudsconceptof ‘scopophilia’ (Freud,SigmundFreud On Sexuality) whichdescribesthe pleasurein
‘looking’anddividesitintonarcissisticandvoyeuristicscopophilia.
Laura detailshow female charactersoftenactas a motivatorforthe storyline tomove forwardoras
an exchange article betweentwomen. She goesonto discuss how the female charactersand
personasare ‘passive females’comparedtothe 'active males’. Laurawas criticisedforstatingthat
the female viewerandherdesiresare notaddressedatall andthat womenare simply objectified
and stagedto please the male viewer’sdesire.
Althoughthisessaydiscussesthe theoryinthe contextof film,itisseenthroughoutall mediasuch
as digital social media,televisionandprintonmagazine covers.
3. Macro analysis
For thisnextsectionIwill be lookingat‘WaltDisney’ (Rothstein,2009). who isone of the mostwell-
knownfilmproducersandconsidereda‘pioneerof Americananimation’. WaltDisneywasalsoa
successful entrepreneur,animator,writerandvoice actor.
Disneyfairytale filmsare notthe sortof filmsexpectedtocome upwhentalkingabouttheories
such as the male gaze.Thishoweverthisiswrongas there are clearthemesthroughoutmostDisney
filmsandspeciallythe princessfilmswhichnotonlyincludemale empowermentbutalsothe
unrealisticexpectationsforgirlstolookacertainway.
Some examplesof thisworkinclude;Cinderella(Cinderella, 1950 WaltDisneyProduction),Sleeping
beauty,The little mermaid,SnowwhiteAladdinandbeautyandthe beast. Each of these filmshave

2. twomain characters,a female anda male,the female isalwaysseentohave anidealisticlook,
borderingperfectionwhich setsunrealisticstandardsfortheiraudience.
The male character is alwaysthe verystraightthinking,heroiccharacterandwill normallyrescue the
female fromwhateversituationshe getsinto. Thisshowsgreatbraveryanddetermination to
achieve thisandsave these ‘vulnerable’women.
Walt Disneyproducedsome of the mostwell know filmstodate andhislegacyisstill consideredto
be a maininfluence onhowfilmsare made today. Thisisscary as many of hisfilmsusedthe male
gaze theoryand were verypopular,withlarge,global audiencesrangingfromchildrentoadults.
It isimportantto highlightthatthe use of the male gaze throughoutthese filmsisnotthe traditional
waythe male gaze isused. For example,the male gaze inmostfilms asmentionedearlierwouldbe
the objectificationof womenforpredominantlysexual purposes,howeverthiswasn’tstrictlythe
case forthe Disneyfilmsgiventheywere targetingamuch youngerandmore easilyinfluenced
audience.
Walt Disneyusedthe male gaze tocreate ‘perfect’princesses. Thiswasachievedbyoftengivingthe
princessesverythinwaists,bigeyesandcleavage whichmade anunrealisticstandardforchildren
watchingthe filmstoshape theirfuture beliefsonthe idealisticfemale formascreatedbymen.
Showingfromanearlyage that to winoverthe man youmustlook and act a certainway.
4. Micro analysis
I thinkthe bestwayto showthisis by using a couple of examplesfrom popularDisney filmswhich
are basedonoldfairytale storiessuchas ‘SleepingBeauty’ and‘Cinderella’. Bothstorieshave been
globallywatchedandthe booksreadtothousandsof childrenacrossthe worldfor the longesttime
and are regardedasa ‘classics’.
For sleepingBeauty,the plotof this story(and film) issimple;abadfairysetsa spell onthe princess
(aurora) whichmeansshe will be curseduntil she meetsaprince whobreaksthe spell.Thisfollowsa
typical fairytale storyline intermsof overall theme,storysetting(time,locationetc),main
characters,and ending. We can analyse thisfurthertounderstandhow the male gaze isused.
Firstly,one of the mainpointsisinthe title of the story, Sleeping‘Beauty’asreferringtothe main
character. The Cambridge dictionarydefines‘beauty’as‘the qualityof beingpleasing,especiallyto
lookat, or someone orsomethingthatgivesgreatpleasure,especiallywhenyoulookatit.’ Walt
DisneyalsousesBeautyinthe film‘Beautyandthe Beast’.
For the Walt Disney representationof the story,the animatorsgave SleepingBeautythe unrealistic
and visuallyappealingfeaturesasmentionedabove,forexample,the longgoldenblondhair,
makeupandlipstick,thinwaist(nearlythe same size asherneck) anda prettydress.
The ideologyof beingmade tolooka certainwayon a questto findtrue love (aman) justshow how
negativelytheyimpactonsocietytoday. Today, womenare tryingto pushback onthe patriarchyof
menbut withthe huge supportbehindfilmslikeDisney'sSleepingBeauty,thisreallyisn’thelping.
Anotherexamplewouldbe ‘Cinderella’whoattractsprince charmingsolelybasedonherphysical
appearance whichlike SleepingBeauty isthin,blonde,bigeyesandbust butwithunrealisticallytiny
feet. Havingjustmet,andwithoutreallyknowingher, the prince fallsinlove andsetsouttofindhis
mysterywoman. He goeson to save Cinderellafromhersad,unfortunate life withhercruel
stepmother.

3. Fairytaleswere writtenintimeswhere menhadalotmore influence thanwomenandthisiscarried
throughintothe Disneyinterpretations. Because these are ‘classicfairytales’it’sjustifiedand
lookedoverthatthe womenare showninthisway despite manypeople tryingtospeakoutabout
problemslike thisinpresentday.
GivenDisneyFilmsare watchedbypredominantlyfemale audiencesthiscontinuestobe a significant
issue.
5. Your own work
Im nottoo sure yetwhat my final projectwill actuallybe,itwill more thanlikelybe aboutskatingor
graffiti twoformsof expressionthataren’t normallyassociatedwithgirls/the male gaze. Something
I have lookedathoweveris auteurtheory thisisa theorythatbelievesthe maincreative driveina
piece of mediaisthe director. Imay use thisin myfmpand like itto otherbitsof mediaandedits
I’ve createdinthe past this wouldbe goodas I alreadyknow the skillsandwhatto do but I can
elaborate andmake themlookevenbetterusingthe same effects.Thiswouldbe aninteresting
conceptto playaroundwithas it isas if youare creatingyourwhole ownworldbutthroughyour
chosenmedia. Otherthingsi can linkintomyfmpfromthisis make itmore welcomingforgirlsas
boththe twooptionsIam thinkingof are predominatelymale things howeverIknow skatersand
writerswhoare not thiscouldbe a goodthingto use as it will be more inclusive forall givingita
broadertarget audience.The lastthingIcouldlinkintomyfmpwouldbe there are a lotoff different
thingsthat will reallyhookawatcher/viewerin.Thiscouldbe reallyhelpfulasthismeanspeople
will enjoywatchingitandwantto watchmore meaning I mayreach a biggeraudience.
6. Conclusion )
Thisessayhas discussedThe Male Gaze and how the main charactersin manyDisneyfilmstake the
passive,exhibitionistrole asa bodyto be lookedatand displayedforthe male gaze. I’ve discussed
how Aurora (akaSleepingBeauty), aswithotherDisneyPrincesses (e.g.Cinderella)are typically
blonde,thin, have bigeyesand cleavage/shapelybodies andalthoughare the maincharactersof the
film, theyhave littlepresence intermsof actual role anddialogue.
Theirvisual presence drivesthe narrative of the film whichis beingsavedbythe prince witha‘true
loveskiss’. WaltDisneyfilmsclearly projectsthe male gaze ontoitsfemale charactersanduses
themas a sexual object.
From myown researchandexperience,Icansee how more recentWalt Disneyfilmsare starting to
take a slightlydifferentapproachthanthe oldones,thismaybe because of move towardsequality
betweenmenandwomenandlessacceptance of the stereotypical femaleform.
The main female charactersare no longerportrayedassimple,sexualobjectswithlittlerole and
contributiontothe narrative of the film,forexample,the femaleandmale characters often work
togethertoachieve theirgoals.

4. References:
Berger,John.“Waysof Seeing.”JohnBerger/Waysof Seeing,Episode 1(1972)
Cinderella (1950 film),https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(1950_film)
Freud,SigmundFreud On Sexuality (PFL7) pp. 109–110
JonesAmeliaEd2nd
ed. The Feminismand VisualCulture Reader.New York:Routledge,2010. 49-52.
Mulvey,Laura.“Visual Pleasure andNarrative Cinema.”The FeminismandVisual Culture Reader.Ed.
AmeliaJones.2nded.NewYork:Routledge,2010. 57-65.
Rothstein,Edward(September30,2009). "Exploringthe ManBehindthe Animation"