The Male Gaze

The male gaze theory is a theory coined by Laura Mulvey and the concept is about the way the audience views actors/ actresses on the screen.

Feminists often look at this theory in 3 ways:
How men observe women
How women see themselves
How Women observe other women

Laura Mulvey believes that in film the characters should be viewed from the opinion and view of a heterosexual female. Women are often lowered and viewed as objects and women must interpret this from the males perspective. A simple example of this for a male viewer is the following, "Watch the music video below and answer the questions below it:




Name three colours of outfits that Rihanna was wearing?

What was pointed at Rihanna when she is wearing a latex outfit eating popcorn?

What colour eyes does Rihanna have in the music video?

Name four words that appear within this music video?

Name two things Were on Rihanna's face at the end of the music video?


The reason that you may not of been able to answer all of the questions was because you were viewing the woman in the music video from the males perspective and therefore not being aware of the other mise-en-scene within the music video.
Many women claim that they enjoy being looked and gazed at as it makes them feel beautiful, this gaze can also be related to those of the same gender such as body image of clothing

Facial Expressions differ between genders for example women are typically categorised to have the facial expression of a chocolate box with their mouth wide open or an invitational expression that shows them as seductive. Men's facial expressions differ from women and they are categorised as being  more comic with their expressions and more carefree as in they don't care and are more open about their facial expression.

Jonathan Shroeder categorised "Gaze" as a psychological status or relationship of power which shows that the gazer is the more significant figure with status over that of which they gaze at.