The Male GazeLaura Mulvey’s ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative

Cinema’ theory

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

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

StereotypingThe 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

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.

Music videos and the Male GazeMusic 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.