Laura Mulvey Theory - 'The Male Gaze'

Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema was a essay written by Mulvey and her term Male Gaze is know used as a well known theory,
Male gaze is when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male. The camera may focus on the assets of a female, e.g. her dressed in a swimsuit showing off her body, which then puts the audience in the eyes of a male. The view of the woman's body can be shown with specific conventions e.g. slow motion or even deliberate camera movement.
This theory suggest that the male gaze doesn't give the female human identity, thereby demoting the female to objects that are admired only for physical appearance. This can be backed up by women being used in music videos from a mans perspective and thereby being given the name 'Video Vixens'.


Often the female character has no importance to the male character, however she is just there to impact upon his feelings or his actions, thereby stating the female only exist in relation to the male.

The male gaze tends to lead to Hegemonic ideologies within the society, hegemonic meaning ruling or dominant in a political/social context. The theory also states that we live in a patriarchal society, which basically means that men dictate the rules. This part of the theory is backed up by our generation because some of the most powerful people of the modern era are male, e.g. the president of the united states or even the prime minister of the united kingdom.