Laura Mulvey Male Gaze

Learning Outcome: To explore the theory of The Male Gaze as set out by Laura Mulvey.

Key words:

Objectification

Key Figure: 
Laura Mulvey - is a feminist film theorist whose work on the sexual objectification of women through 'male gaze' can be used to analyse a range of media texts, films, ads, magazines etc.

When it comes to representation, you need to show that you have explored these areas:

• The role of selection, construction and anchorage in creating representations.
• How media texts use representations and the effect those representations have upon audiences.
• The points of view, messages, and values underlying those representations.
• You will be expected to have studied a range of examples of representations in media texts and you must be able to write about them using key media terminology.

Women:

The representation of women in the media has developed and adapted to reflect cultural and socialogical changes. As women's roles in society have undergone a transformation, this has been reflected in some areas of the media.

However, there are still some stereotypical representations of women where they are defined by how men see them and how society expects them to look and behave. 

Women still tend to be judged on their looks and appearance foremost.

Representations tend to concentrate also on their sexuality; emotions and narratives tend to be based around relationships.

The way in which the representation of women is constructed in texts like glamour magazines is unrealistic and instills unattainable aspiration in the audience.

In an examination response it is important that you explore the representation of gender at a sophisticated level and go beyond basic discussion of positive and negative, it is much more complex than that.

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The representation of Fearn Cotton as the cover image on Cosmopolitan (October 2011) magazine would appeal to both men and women.

In simple terms, women want to BE her and men want to BE WITH her.

The cover line related to her defines her very much in terms of a relationship and of emotions; 

'Being in Love'.

The image is constructed through visual codes, costume and mode of address. 

The image is ambiguous; her posture and body language are strong but she is also very sexualised.

She is defined in terms of her body image and her size.

By highlighting her 'firm thighs' the magazine presents this representation as that which every women should aspire to.

The other cover lines suggest the discourse of the magazine and represent women in terms of beauty, sex and consumerism.

The sell lines of 'miracle beauty buys' gives hope to those readers who do not look like the female construction of the magazine. The representation is obviously unrealistic and the construction includes image manipulation such as airbrushing to give a representation of perfection. Unattainable for most ordinary women.

When you are discussing areas of representation such as stereotyping, you must be sure to analyse the representation according to the context in which it appears and the purpose.

Task 1: Watch the clip below from Disney's 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' (1989) with consideration given to Mulvey's Male Gaze...Answer the question:
What kind of character have the film makers created?
Consider; the points of view, messages, and values underlying this representation.