Laura mulvey theory.

2. Who is Laura Mulvey?
Laura Mulvey is a British feminist
film theorist and film maker and
currently professor of film and
media studies at Birkbeck College,
University of London, Between 1974
And 1982 Mulvey co-Wrote and co
directed with her husband , Peter
Wollen , six theoretical style
films ,dealing in the discourse of
feminist theory, semiotics ,
psychoanalysis and leftist politics
which include Pemhesilea: Queen of
the Amazons (1974), Riddles of the
Sphinx(1977 - perhaps their most
Influential film), AMY! (1980),
crystal Gazing (1982), Frida Kahlo
and Tina Modotti (1982), and The
Bad Sister. In 1991, she returned to
filmmaking with Disgraced
Monuments, which she co-directed
with Mark Lewis.

3. The male gaze theory
She was famously known for her article “Visual and other Pleasures” that
helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic
framework, influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques
Lacan. Prior to Mulvey, film theorists such as Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian
Metz attempted to use psychoanalytic ideas in their theoretical accounts of
the cinema, but Mulvey's contribution was to inaugurate the intersection of
film theory, psychoanalysis, and feminism. Her article revealed classic
Hollywood film as an expression of the patriarchal ideology. Where the view
can be offered identification by one of the characters (e.g. male
character), through which to experience the scenes. The ‘gaze’ is
'constmcted’ by the film. Mulvey takes the stance that the gaze of a male
heterosexual is increasingly adopted by the mainstream cinema. This is when
film directors represent woman as sexual objects and therefore in some way
or another all films with women in are directed at men She believes that the
‘male gaze’ dominates the ‘female gaze’ in this way. Mulvey argues that
the relationship between theviewer and what is on screen is unbalanced by
this.

4. The person ‘gazed` at are objectified -treated as an
object whose sole value is to be enjoyed or
possessed by the voyeur (voyeuristic is the mode of
the male gaze - an obsessive observer of sordid or
sensational subjects). Objectified characters( such as
women) are devalued and their humanity is removed
and may encourage Women to see this is as the
hegemonic norm for the benefit of men. On the other
hand Fetishism is another mode of the male gaze
Which is an excessive attention or attachment to
something, According to Mulvey Hollywood female
characters of the 19505 and 60s were coded with
“to-be-looked-at-ness”.

5. The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people
presented.
Feminists have divided this concept into the following three dimensions:
 How men look at women
 How women look at themselves
 How women look at other women

6. How men look at women.
Men tend to look at the ‘curvy parts’ of the women. Like the idea that men
don’t tend to look women in the eyes, but at the other parts of their bodies.
(Camera in films sometimes focuses more on the women’s bodies)

7. How women look at themselves.
Some have argued that the female gaze is only whereby women act
as men in their objection of others. Women are made to look at
themselves in a negative way, picking fault with parts of their
appearance when they see how women look in the media; when they
have been airbrushed. It triggers a lack of self esteem and makes
women aspire to be like models in magazines or on TV Women
Became reflective.

8. How women look at other women.
Women can look it other in a sexual way. But
mainly they judge and compare themselves to
other girls. E.g. looking at what another girl is
wearing and then comparing it to your own
clothing.

9.  Men are often represented as active and women as passive.
 Camera lingering on the curves of the female body.
 Anything that happens to a woman is presented largely in the
man’s reactions to this event.
 The film degrades the woman to the extent of making her an
object or possession. Moreover female roles are sidelined and scarce lead
roles.
 Female viewers must experience the narrative secondarily by
identification with the male
 The gaze suggests that women are weak and defenseless.
Stereotypes attached to women are
Bimbo, easy, weak, housewife, mother, defenseless, intelligent yet
Willing to settle down.

10. Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.
 Women are presented as sexual spectacle (show) objects of pleasure for the
characters and audience.
 Laura Mulvey believed that in films audiences have to view characters from
the perspective of a heterosexual male. Stating that the way women are
viewed in cinema is ‘unequal’. The camera necessarily present women as
‘sexualised for the pleasure of men.
 Men fetishies women which she referred to as ‘fetishistic scopophilia’.
 Men have this gaze to avoid being ‘castrated’.

11. Hitchcock was known as controlling director,
particularly when it came to women. His female
characters reflected the same qualities over and
over again. They were:
 Blond
 Icy and remote
 They were imprisoned in costumes that subtly
combined fashion with fetishism
 They were mesmerized their men, who often
has psychological problems
 Sooner or later they were humiliated/ killed
Movie making and movie viewing have lung been
analyzed as socophilic practices (which literally
means ‘love of watching). The term socophilia
derives from Freud’s study of the psyche.
Socophilia and the gaze are key themes of
Hitchcock’s work-especially in Vertigo. The main
Characters are a detective (who watches others
without their knowledge ) and an actress of sorts
(Judy/Madeleine) whose role is to be watched by
Scotty

12. TV serial "Two and a Half Men" episode
Starring Megan FOX
Mid-shot/close-up shot of Prudence Shots
focus on her looks and figure
Clothing-revealing/figure hugging
Charlie and Alan-Men are literally
drooling over her
Staring at prudence .... cant keep their eyes
off her
Even Jake (young boy) is shown looking
at Prudence .... implies all men treat
women like objects

13. Criticism.
Critics of the article objected to the fact that Laura Mulvey’s argument
implied the impossibility of genuine 'feminine' enjoyment of the classical
Hollywood cinema, and to the fact that her argument did not seem to take
into account spectator ships that were not organized along the normative
lines of gender (for example, a metaphoric 'transvestism' might be possible
when viewing a film -- a male viewer might enjoy a 'feminine' point-of view
provided by a film, or vice versa; gay and lesbian spectatorships might also
be different).
Changes in society.
As women's roles change so does media representation. Still objectified
but also likely to be...
- Career driven
- Intelligent
- Confident
- Empowered
- Able (violent)
Remember changes may
be made cynically and in
order to make money rather than
change ideologies

14. A Terminators Feminist Timeline
- T1 - Sarah Connor is hysterical, screaming
in need of rescue
- T2 - Strong, empowered, able to hold her
own against Arnie
- T3 - We have female terminator TX (uses
femininity to advantage)
Terminator: Sarah Connor chronicles - save
the World.

15. MADE BY:
SUMBUL KHAN
AS-F