2. What is ‘The Male Gaze’?
‘The Gaze’ simply describes the way that an audience will perceive
those presented in a form of media. For feminist audiences, this can be
seen in one of 3 ways:
- How men see women
- How women see other women
- How women look at themselves
3. Traditionally
- Men play active roles in a narrative. Even in music videos, there is
often a man a the centre of the story.
- Women often play passive roles, seen as objects of pleasure for the
male antagonist in the narrative.
- Males far outnumber the amount of women
- Female roles are sidelined
- Lead roles for women are few and far between
4. Stereotyping
The general female stereotype in media such as film and music videos is:
- The bimbo (not very intelligent)
- Overpowering physical attributes that may act as a distraction to the
male
- The ‘housewife’
- The ‘mother’ figure
There are 2 distint models of the male gaze: voyeuristic and fetishistic.
Mulvey used her theory to argue that females in narratives are often
given one of two roles: the powerless female and the sexually attractive
female.
Often in the early production of film, females were only incorporated for
the enjoyment of a male audience.
Models of the Male Gaze
5.
6. How the Gaze relates to feminist theory
Laura Mulvey believed that when using her theory, audiences should
interpret a form of media and the characters involved through the eyes
of a heterosexual male.
Features of the ‘Gaze’
Mulvey said that there were key features to the Gaze theory. Firstly,
the camera would always linger on the female body, and events
which occur to women are often seen through the man’s reaction to
them.
The theory regulates women as common objects of possession and
affection. The female audience will experience the narrative
secondarily, by relating to the male character.
7. Music videos and the Male Gaze
Music videos often incorporate aspects of the Gaze in order to construct
a narrative. Mulvey said that whilst watching a music video, the
audience will primarily focus on a female character. So much so, if a
member of an audience is asked questions about the music video and
the mise-en-scene after watching it, they can often only answer
questions about the female.
Don Broco’s ‘Money
Power Fame’ music
video is an example of
where emphasis is put
on the female
character.
