AS Media, Theory, Representation of and issue, Male gaze, MS1, gender stereotyping

2. Look vs Gaze
What is the difference between
these two words?

3. Key theorists beliefs
Jonathan Schroeder (1998), “to gaze
implies more than to look at – it signifies a
psychological relationship of power, in
which the gazer is superior to the object of
the gaze.”

4. The Male GazeThe Male Gaze
Laura MulveyLaura Mulvey
““Visual Pleasure andVisual Pleasure and
Narrative CinemaNarrative Cinema””

5. So what is
The Male Gaze?
The concept of gaze
is one that deals
with how an
audience views the
people presented.
The concept has
been divided into
the following three
dimensions:
•How men look at
women
•How women look
at themselves
•How women look
at other women

6. Forms of the gaze
 The spectators gaze: this
is whereby the director is
viewing the text.
The Intra-diegetic gaze:
when the character gazes at
an object or another
character in the text.
The Extra-diegetic gaze:
where the fourth wall is
broken (the character looks
into the camera, looking
right at the viewer.

7. Laura Mulvey:
In 1975, Mulvey wrote a
very influential essay
‘Visual pleasure and
Narrative Cinema’ which
stating that women are
used for visual pleasure-
women are made to
seem like sexual objects
through voyeurism.
She argued that women
took the passive part of a
film and that all men
played an active part, in
her eye the women were
objects

8. Features of the Male GazeFeatures of the Male Gaze
The camera lingers on the
curves of the female body,
and events which occur to
women are presented largely
in the context of a man's
reaction to these events.
Relegates women to the
status of objects. The female
viewer must experience the
narrative secondarily, by
identification with the male.

9. Watch

10. Quick questionsQuick questions
What colour shirt was Zayn wearing?
What flower did you notice?
What colour necklace did Gigi wear?
What colour necklace did she wear?
How many different females were there?

11. Use of the Male Gaze inUse of the Male Gaze in
everyday lifeeveryday life
Some theorists also have noted the
sexualizing of the female body even in
situations where female sexiness has
nothing to do with the product being
advertised.
Can you think of any examples of this?

15. Goffman’s Feminine Touch (1976)
• Goffman argues that females are
frequently posing while “using their
fingers and hands to trace the
outlines of an object, or to cradle it
or to caress its surface.
• This light touch can also involve
self-touching, where women are
softly touching or caressing
themselves; the tips of the fingers
slightly gracing the face, neck,
shoulder, and so on.
• It can be argued that the pose is
frequently sexualized.

16. Criticism of Mulvey and Gaze theoryCriticism of Mulvey and Gaze theory
Some women enjoy being ‘looked’ at e.g. beauty
pageants.
The gaze can also be directed toward members
of the same gender for several reasons, not all
of which are sexual, such as in comparison of
body image or in clothing.
Are there any ‘flaws’ in these arguments?

17. Categorising facial expressionsCategorising facial expressions
Women:
• Chocolate box
• Invitational
• Super-smiler
• Romantic or sexual
Marjorie Ferguson
(1980)
MenMen::
•CarefreeCarefree
•PracticalPractical
•SeductiveSeductive
•ComicComic
•CatalogueCatalogue
Trevor Millum (1975)Trevor Millum (1975)

18. • Chocolate box
• Invitational
• Super-smiler
• Romantic or sexual

19. MenMen::
•CarefreeCarefree
•PracticalPractical
•SeductiveSeductive
•ComicComic
•CatalogueCatalogue

20. In the portrayal of men and women,
advertising often uses the following
codes and conventions:
•Male Superiority, Domination &
Body Language
•Dismemberment of females
•The Male Voice-Over Authority
Sexual objectification in Advertising
Goffmans Theory (1972)

23. Hoe does the following ad show
Goffman’s theory?
• Consider the mise-en-scene and camera
work.

25. Your task – Research Due:
Next Monday
• Research opposition to Laura Mulvey’s theory.
• Remember her theory is from 1975 (41 years ago)
so there has been plenty of time for new theories
to be created.
• Link any theories you find to media texts