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1. Tuesday3rd
October2017
The male gaze theory
LO:
 To understandandto applythe male gaze theory.
Male gaze theory- The male gaze isthe way inwhichthe visual arts andliterature depictthe world
and womenfroma masculine pointof view,presentingwomenasanobjectof male pleasure.The
phrase male gaze coinedbyfeministfilmcriticLaura Mulley in1975.
1950’s
advertisement
Womenwasa
man’sworker
Womenwasa slave
to the man Theywenta worker,
theywere onlya
housewives
Theywere the maincooker
inthe house the manonly
enjoyedthe meal noman
everhelpedawoman.
Womenwere onlyallowedtodothingsin
the house,nothingelse like working
Womenwere
men’sobjects
Most of the adverts
mostlyhadwomen
inthem

2. Plenary-
The audience are positionedtosee all of the characters inthe advertto representgenderinthe
male dominatedsocietyof the time because womenwasamen’sobjectandthe mantoldthe
womanon whatto do. Thisisshownwhenthe twowomenare kissingthe manand reachingdown
for the chocolate bar.This meansthatwomenhave beenstereotypicalisedbyallowingthe manto
do whateverthe mantellsthe womantodo.The male gaze theoryallowedthistoworkbymaking
the womana general stereotypical womanthatdoeseverythingforthe man.
The man is framedinthe centre of the
advert,controllingthe situation.
The womeninthe
advertare bothkissing
the cheekof the manas
theyreach towardsthe
chocolate tininhislap
The man is looking
downon hislapwhere
the product isbeing
heldbyhim.Thisis a
phellcsymbol
The man’s costume isa suit
whichhas a connotation
that he is a businessman

3. Thisguy is VladimirPropp.
He says: there are a varietyof keycharacter rolesthatappear inalmostof
everynarrative.
(hero,villain,princess/damsel indistress)
He alsosaysthat these charactersare involvedinaseriesof different
stages/functionsoractionswith narratives.Forexamplethe hero,is
dispatchedona questetc.
Many, BUT NOTALL of these elementsare appliedtocontemporarymedia
products
The male gaze theory:
Womenisthe main
character inthe
advert Informationaboutthe
product
Showsthe productand
whatit means

4. The Vladimirpropptheory
the womancouldbe seenastwo ‘damselsindistressatthe mercyof the
man holdingthe chocolate thattheywant/need –as theywouldbe if they
neededrescuinginamore traditional story
it couldbe arguedthat the man inthe advertisthe male ‘hero’,ashe is
centralisedinthe advertlike he wouldbe the protagonistinastory