THE MALE GAZE THEORY

By Ellie Lester

Nine points of Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze Theory’■ The representation of women as a sexual fantasy and from a heterosexual

male point of view.■ Scopophilia- the pleasure involved in looking at other peoples bodies.■ Objectification of female characters.■ Patriarchal society.■ Active male and passive female. ■ Men – controlling subjects.■ Women as an image. ■ Men do the looking and the women are there to be looked at. ■ Needs of the male ego.

Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze Theory’ applied to ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin ThickeThe first shots of the music video are of the artist laying next to a woman with his arms around her and his name printed across the screen. This suggests that he’s an impressive and confident person, the camera movement and editing along their legs and then there is a cut to their upper bodies showing they’re next to each other. The ‘needs of the male ego’ could be applied in this shot as the showing off the artists name across the screen. This suggests he has a large ego, the shot could also imply that he needs women to fulfil the need of his ego and make him look good.

These two shots could use the theory that women are there to be looked at. It shows the male artist looking at the women in an inappropriate way and it also shows that the women aren’t phased. This supports the theory as the women have no problem being stared at, they act like they understand they are there to be looked at. This could also refer to the point about ‘scopophilia’ as the men are getting pleasure from looking at the women.Men as controlling subjects can be seen in the video, in the picture above the women are stood still around the male character who shouts ‘hey girl come here.’ This indicates an controlling approach taken by the man which links with the male gaze theory. Also, throughout the video the women are dancing and following the men around implying that the men are in control.

Throughout most of the video women are represented as a sexual fantasy. This is one example as the close up of the woman showing her looking into the camera seductively conforms with the fantasy theory.

This video also complies with theory of society being a patriarchal society as the male artists are the dominant figures in the video, while the women walk and dance around them. This image can be seen to support this as the male artist looks like he is trying to dominate the female by using the lyrics ‘tried to domesticate you’.

These images show the theory of objectification of females. It does this by showing the female as a source of entertainment and satisfaction for the male characters as the women stand there and dance while the male characters just look at them. This complies with the theory, as it appears that the men do not care about how the women feel and just use them for their entertainment. Also, these images support the theory of women as an image as the mise-en-scene shows the women in little clothing, simply there to perform for the men. This fulfils the theory as it goes with the stereotype and the scopophilia theory of women are there to be looked at which is why they are dancing and performing for the men. Also, the woman knelt on all fours supports the idea that women are objectified.

These images shows that the music video goes against the theory of active male and passive female. This is due to the male being shown as the passive character in these wide shots and the females being the active characters. The females are the active characters as they are dancing for the men and walking provocatively for the male characters, whereas the men are just stood watching them.