This is my presentation on Laura Mulvey.

1. Laura MulveyMale
Gaze Theory
Jordan Welsford

2. Biography
• British feminist and film theorist
• Born August 15th 1941
• Currently Professor at Birbeck, University of London
• Gained three degrees throughout her university career including
Doctor of Letters, Doctor of Law and a Doctor of Literature.

3. The Theory
The main concept of the theory is about how people are represented
and viewed by the audience. This can be split into three different sub
concepts:
• How men look at women
• How women look at other people
• How women look at themselves
The theory mainly focused on the first point of how men look at
women, however, the theory expanded due t research made by
Mulvey which created two other sub concept theories.

4. Use in existing media products
The male gaze theory is used in a large number of music videos today. A lot of
rap/ hip hop videos will use attractive women due to their main fan gender is
men. The attractive women are ‘gazed’ at by the men which draws an audience
in and makes them more intrigued into the video. A good example of this is
Candy Shop by 50 cent. The video is set up as a brothel and the women are
presented in a way which is extremely sensual. This is a sexual attraction which
heterosexual men would have towards women.

5. Camera Shots incorporating
the theory
Some of the most common camera shots which would reinforce
the use of this theory would include close ups of a woman's face
or focusing on the curves of the female body. The bust and the
backside of women would also be a common focal point to
‘gaze’ the male viewers.
Some music videos that exist today include dance routines
which include a number of women dancing. This is applying the
theory because the movement of the female body within the
video would attract the male audience. This particular feature is
common in Hip Hop videos. A good example of this would be
‘Single Ladies’ by Beyoncé.

6. Little Mix
Little mix use a lot of dance routines throughout their videos. This can relate to
the male gaze theory where by the female body is using voyeuristic movements
to attract a male audience. The use of mise en scene such as low cut tops and
whips support the use of the theory.

7. Little Mix- Salute
However, this particular music video is set up slightly different than a typical music
video. Some of the shots used within the video sense that the woman dominants the
man. A good example of this would be this particular shot below.
One of the members of Little Mix is performing a dance routine with two men either side of
her shown through a wide shot. She is positioned in the centre of the two men and slightly in
front. This is suggesting that the woman is in charge of the men. This is also reinforced by the
use of the whips which the woman is holding at one end and the men at the other. The video
could be trying to change the way men are stereotypically dominant over the women.

8. Research
In Mulveys research, she decided that the male gaze was more
than focusing on how men look at women. Because the media
products are presented from a perspective of a man through the
male gaze, the women are sometimes taken to this. If taken,
they act as the male and ‘gaze’ at the women in the video. This
is giving a sense that the women are objects. This would
particularly affect bisexual women who would gaze at the
women in the video just as a heterosexual man would.
Objectifying women is also reinforced by the use of the male
being dominant and controlling the woman in a large number of
existing media products including films, TV programmes and
music videos. This is also known as a Patriarchal Society.

9. BassHunter- All I ever wanted
This is a screenshot from the music video ‘All I ever
wanted’ by basshunter. As you can see, the man is
looking down on the woman shown through a two
shot from a side angle. This is giving a sense that
the man is on control and it almost objectifies the
woman. This makes the audience think that women
are objects, and this is why the man is
stereotypically in control of the female society.