Representation of gender - Mulvey

The male gaze is the way in which the visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view, presenting women as objects of male pleasure. The phrase male gaze was coined by feminist film critic Laura Mulvey in 1975.

• How men look at women 
• How men look at themselves 
• How men look at other women

Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, And is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. For many years previous she worked at the British Film Institute before taking up her current position.

The concept of ‘Gaze’ is the way in which an audience views the way the people are presented. It can be in three ways;

The features of the Male Gaze, the way the camera lingers on the curves of the woman’s body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of the male’s reaction to these events. This means that the woman has to experience the narrative secondarily, by indication of the male. 

Often a female character has no real importance, but it’s the way in which she makes the male character feel or act which is the important part. This means that the female’s part only exists in relation to the male.

Mulvey states that female characters only have two purposes when in a narrative;

1. As an erotic object for the character within the narrative view
2. An erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view

The male gaze theory is about gender, the male stereotypes are;

Traditional masculine male man – who will often be shown as being muscly, strong, brave, heterosexual, working in manual jobs such as building, plumbing, national services, etc. they are usually tall, dominate over woman, and aggressive. Dwayne Johnson in the film San Andres is a good example of a ‘masculine male’ character. He has a big build and is a ‘hero’. He helps his family and the people around him in life threatening situations.

New man – often shown as being less masculine but still heterosexual, a very peaceful person who will look after the family, does some cooking and cleaning, etc. 

Gay man – often shown as being very feminine, weak, working in jobs such as fashion or hairdressing, etc. 

Woman also has stereotypes, those being; 

·    The traditional feminine woman – often shown as a girly girl, likes pink, wears dresses, does feminine jobs such as working in fashion, hairdressing, or stays at hoke with the children, needs a man to cope. This character is weak and often needs rescuing.

·     Sexy woman – very flirty character who is often in revelling clothing. This character is more powerful than traditional woman, she will use men to get what she wants, usually doesn’t have loyalty to other women.

·     Lesbian woman – often shown as dressing masculine clothing, doing masculine roles. Not all characters will fit into these stereotypes and there may be character which are mixtures.