Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze
The ‘Male Gaze’ was the theory of Laura
Mulvey, where she stated that everything on the TV was seen from the viewpoint
of a male heterosexuals’ eyes, that within films, music videos, magazines and
other forms of media, the gaze on women were from what heterosexual men see so
cleavage, exposed legs and other means that influence the notion of looking.
Laura Mulvey was a media theorist who studied at St Hilda’s college, Oxford,
now a professor of film and media studies, she believed men looked at women for
their visual pleasure as it appeases their mind. For feminists however, it can
be thought of in 3 different ways; How men look at women, how women look at other
women and how women look at themselves. This can be put into perspective from
any view. She also came across with the ideology that there was a distinction
in terms of an active male and a passive female, as if to say that males were
most sexually powerful, and often have the insensitive to make things happen
and support this ideology, whereas females are less active, often come under
control of the male gaze and are considered to only exist for visual pleasure.
Examples
Robin Thicke ft Pharrell and T.I. - Blurred Lines
This video depicts everything right with 'Mulveys' Male Gaze' theory, from the constant glance of the camera on the half-nude girls, to the clearly visible physical affection they display to the male characters. Mise-en-scene is used throughout the video to tell a story and make it easier to understand the situation, with the incredibly light pink background behind the performers used to suggest the sexual intensity and feeling in the moment. Light pink is often associated with lust and sexual appeasements, just as much as red, and is a clear indication that the attraction between the male and female characters is innocently sexual rather than a guilty feeling a red background would suggest. During the video however, '#Blurred Lines' in large red capitals is splattered across the screen to openly visualize the message of the song and lyrics. On the songs contents, Robin Thicke's manager Jordan Feldstein, said that "I knew it would get it banned, getting something banned actually helps to attract attention from the media"
Drake - Hotline Bling
That is another video that may help prove 'Mulveys Male Gaze' theory correct, it may not depict nude or half naked girls but the dancing involved inspires the notion of looking at a female in a sexually attractive manner. The constant use of female dancers throughout the video, with him being the only male character shows a sense of boasting that he has so many beautiful women in his sight, making him a bit of a pimp. The video begins in an office-type work room, including several workers who are all female, dressed in the same white top, blue jean outfit, as tying into the colour used, the bright pink can be used to suggest they are all innocent characters in what they may get up to, however their job and the way they speak is a contradictory statement as it shows they are not bothered, resulting in the audience to believe they are a classy reflection of 'call girls'.
Drake - Best I Ever Had
Once again the king of Canadian hip-hop/rap has another video that depicts 'Mulveys Male Gaze' as being common, even in the modern era of music. This song may seem like it is about Basketball as the video suggests, but it isn't. It has a broad yet unidentified aftertaste of being a concept based music video, yet the adding of the raunchy, and openly exposed female cheerleaders contradicts the inner content of the song. The song, 'Best I Ever Had', has a clear indication that the artist may be talking about his sexual encounter with his female counterpart, as the lyrics, 'you're the best i ever had' supports this statement due to the way language has evolved and how it is interpreted by the listener and audience. The persistent exposure of the female body parts, as well as cleavage, shows the audience that this is more than just a video featuring cheerleaders, with girls in wet clothing, short shorts, low cut tops and sweaty in the locker room.
Criticism
Criticism generated from this theory is that some percentage of women on this earth enjoy being looked at, and there is nothing wrong with that, it just contradicts the theory in the sense that the male gaze doesn't enforce this heterosexual viewpoint on a woman. Pageants, models, pornstars and many other positions in which a female allows the media and camera to look at them in such a manner, are what throw this theory into a different perspective and allow for the audience to question if this theory is still active.
Notably, with society and the media changing she has completely ignored the gaze on men. Her theory is gender bias as the gaze can also be directed towards men, due to the modern era and new age of commercialism, as there are films, music videos and adverts amongst many other forms of media used to promote the gaze on men. Most would have thought only women do stripping/striptease, but with the release of box office success 'Magic Mike XXL', and their constant use of promotion of the film which included all men topless in a performance-style posture, opinion has changed and Mulvey's Male Gaze has been questioned.
Another thing is, she hasn't really considered the perspective of a female view on another female, she just states her theory from a males perspective. This makes it very difficult for the audience to understand and shifts the blame on men that women are exposed and manipulated by the male gaze to appease to their vague demands. Because they're from a heterosexual perspective and not any other perspective, this makes it harder for a director to cast a female actor in a sexually enticing music video or film, with the potential risk of negative feedback and backlash. This can be avoided if however, everything was seen from a neutral perspective, rather than that of a heterosexual.
Conclusion
The genre we have chosen doesn't incite the need to bring in Mulvey's Male Gaze, therefore we will keep it at the back of our minds as a potential idea, it may be used to create a concept theme around the title of the song, because of this we can also manipulate the meaning of the lyrics and link it in with Mulveys Male Gaze. However based on the research i have undertaken on this theory, i have come to the conclusion that it may be better off to not use this theory within my music video as it is quite bias and will not have a positive impact on the feedback of the music video, the idea of using it will be there but generally, my group will choose not to.
Drake - Hotline Bling
That is another video that may help prove 'Mulveys Male Gaze' theory correct, it may not depict nude or half naked girls but the dancing involved inspires the notion of looking at a female in a sexually attractive manner. The constant use of female dancers throughout the video, with him being the only male character shows a sense of boasting that he has so many beautiful women in his sight, making him a bit of a pimp. The video begins in an office-type work room, including several workers who are all female, dressed in the same white top, blue jean outfit, as tying into the colour used, the bright pink can be used to suggest they are all innocent characters in what they may get up to, however their job and the way they speak is a contradictory statement as it shows they are not bothered, resulting in the audience to believe they are a classy reflection of 'call girls'.
Drake - Best I Ever Had
Once again the king of Canadian hip-hop/rap has another video that depicts 'Mulveys Male Gaze' as being common, even in the modern era of music. This song may seem like it is about Basketball as the video suggests, but it isn't. It has a broad yet unidentified aftertaste of being a concept based music video, yet the adding of the raunchy, and openly exposed female cheerleaders contradicts the inner content of the song. The song, 'Best I Ever Had', has a clear indication that the artist may be talking about his sexual encounter with his female counterpart, as the lyrics, 'you're the best i ever had' supports this statement due to the way language has evolved and how it is interpreted by the listener and audience. The persistent exposure of the female body parts, as well as cleavage, shows the audience that this is more than just a video featuring cheerleaders, with girls in wet clothing, short shorts, low cut tops and sweaty in the locker room.
Criticism
Criticism generated from this theory is that some percentage of women on this earth enjoy being looked at, and there is nothing wrong with that, it just contradicts the theory in the sense that the male gaze doesn't enforce this heterosexual viewpoint on a woman. Pageants, models, pornstars and many other positions in which a female allows the media and camera to look at them in such a manner, are what throw this theory into a different perspective and allow for the audience to question if this theory is still active.
Notably, with society and the media changing she has completely ignored the gaze on men. Her theory is gender bias as the gaze can also be directed towards men, due to the modern era and new age of commercialism, as there are films, music videos and adverts amongst many other forms of media used to promote the gaze on men. Most would have thought only women do stripping/striptease, but with the release of box office success 'Magic Mike XXL', and their constant use of promotion of the film which included all men topless in a performance-style posture, opinion has changed and Mulvey's Male Gaze has been questioned.
Another thing is, she hasn't really considered the perspective of a female view on another female, she just states her theory from a males perspective. This makes it very difficult for the audience to understand and shifts the blame on men that women are exposed and manipulated by the male gaze to appease to their vague demands. Because they're from a heterosexual perspective and not any other perspective, this makes it harder for a director to cast a female actor in a sexually enticing music video or film, with the potential risk of negative feedback and backlash. This can be avoided if however, everything was seen from a neutral perspective, rather than that of a heterosexual.
Conclusion
The genre we have chosen doesn't incite the need to bring in Mulvey's Male Gaze, therefore we will keep it at the back of our minds as a potential idea, it may be used to create a concept theme around the title of the song, because of this we can also manipulate the meaning of the lyrics and link it in with Mulveys Male Gaze. However based on the research i have undertaken on this theory, i have come to the conclusion that it may be better off to not use this theory within my music video as it is quite bias and will not have a positive impact on the feedback of the music video, the idea of using it will be there but generally, my group will choose not to.
