Laura Mulvey: Male Gaze.

LAURA MULVEY&THE MALE GAZE:

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position. Mulvey wrote essays and books about females and their place within the Film Industry and what type of role that they play.

With these theorist she create the ''Male Gaze''. In the era of classical Hollywood cinema, viewers were encouraged to identify with the protagonist of the film, who were and still are overwhelmingly male. Meanwhile, Hollywood women characters of the 1950s and '60s were, according to Mulvey, coded with "to-be-looked-at-ness" while the camera positioning and the male viewer constituted the "bearer of the look." Mulvey suggests two distinct modes of the male gaze of this era: "voyeuristic" (i.e. seeing woman as image "to be looked at") and "fetishistic" (i.e. seeing woman as a substitute for "the lack," the underlying psychoanalytic fear of castration). The ''Male Gaze'' is women being portrayed in a certain way, to gain the Male attention. Alternatively, there is the ''Female Gaze'' which is where men are portrayed in a certain (and mostly stereotypical) way to grab the Female's attention (so shirtless, 6 pack men)

''The Male Gaze'' in Magazine-

This particular image fits the ''Male Gaze'' sexually. By including a sexy, famous celebrity, Males would feel more inclined in wanting to pick up the magazine and  read it. As red is the major colour in this cover, this could connote to it being a sexually alluring magazine. The clothing on Jennifer Anniston is less than usual and the cleavage is low cut. This obviously shows that they are trying to grab the Male's attention.











''The Male Gaze'' in a TV Drama-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv3v2wn175M
In this clip, the character is wearing a tight, fitted shirt (tied up in the middle, revealing her stomach) some bright coloured tights and a short skirt. Her hair is tied up in two ponytails to give her a childish side. This would be the ''Male Gaze'' as what this character is wearing is considered very slutty and appeals to the boys in the show aswell as the male audience. The music being played is also demeaning to coincide with the point that this character is trying to prove. The ''Male Gaze'' is used here to show the power that the female in this clip currently possesses by attracting all of this attention.