a presentation on the theory of the male gaze and how it applied to media

1. The Male Gaze AS media Tim Andrews and Ross Lockton

2. What is the male gaze? Described bluntly, the male gaze is a feministic view on voyeurism. But there’s more to this term than a classic battle of the sexes, because what this term is actually referring to is the psychological event when anyone either man or woman observes another in a desiring way. It describes how the gazer of the other feels in power and becomes superior to the other which in this case is being reduced to an object to be stared at. This is used consistently in adverts as a playful way to attract the public to a product but the technique is so versatile that the product could be anything as long as the target market sees an attractive opposite. This forces the target market into a gaze and ultimately makes the product more appealing until it is bought. The term was brought about by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey who coined the term in her article: Visual pleasure and narrative cinema, in this she argued that film and cinema conditions encourage objectification and that largely this took part on the male side. For the rest of the PowerPoint presentation I will give an example of the male gaze at work and analyse it to show its effectiveness.

3. Example image:

4. Forms and direction of the gaze This example shows the obvious form of the gaze which is to stare at the semi concealed sexual areas of a woman, however the use of the hat and blanket means the ‘gazer’ is drawn to the objects and slowly scopes out the area of the woman that is showing. Other forms shown in this example are staring at the ‘objects’ face which in this case will appeal greatly to the male audience because Keira Knightly is such a well known actor and is rarely seen in any provocative ways. In addition the way she stares at the camera shows her openness and how relaxed she is which again appeals greatly to the male audience. Several other forms could be encouraged in this example for instance: the use of the hands in the picture-if the hands of a woman are placed on any sexual areas the male audience is drawn to this area.

5. Mulvey’s theory applied in the example In the case of the example I have used, Mulvey’s theory stands and is proven quite well because of the obviousness of the picture. As she stated the actresses used are simply there to be stared at as objects and are therefore used by the adverts as well as the male audience However Mulvey’s theory falls short when the male gaze theory is applied to women, a technique which is coming into use more and more over the years. The same principle can be applied to a advert with a famous actor or male icon which will force women into the same gaze working on the same principles and causes them to buy the product advertised. Unusually the adverts directed at men sometimes advertise feminine products in an attempt to make these products appeal more manly so the male audience don’t feel so out of place when buying the product for their counter part, again the same principal applies with the woman audience.

6. Facial expression In this example we can see that the actress Keira Knightly is staring directly at the camera and therefore directly at the person viewing it, this gives a more personal feeling and convinces the viewer that the actress is actually staring at them giving them a brief connection. This is in most cases highly attractive to the male audience. Also her slightly opened eyes show her as relaxed, seductive and almost open to her viewer, the eye contact is a way of allowing the viewer to stare making them feel less guilty. In addition her pouted lips give the impression of being bigger and is the second thing looked at after her eyes, this is because usually after the male audience is attracted to what they are seeing they begin to imagine themselves with the object and in this case kissing her.

7. Mise en scene Firstly the most effective part of the advert is the lighting and in this case the areas it is used: by keeping most of the light on the actress Keira Knightly stands out from her background, because she is also bare in the picture her natural skin complexion reflects the light making her seem brighter. Also the light creates shadows around her face making it seem smaller and more defined. Props used in the picture are simple yet playful because of the shape of them, the hat is of course not big enough to cover her completely and relates back to men’s clothing But the addition of the silk cloth adds a feminine tone and is actually effective in hiding the body, this keeps a good balance because without the cloth the picture would feel completely male orientated.