Mulvey Male Gaze Theory

The Male Gaze Theory is constructed around Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema which is an essay written by Laura Mulvey. This is an essay which continuously spoke upon the term “Male Gaze” which soon went on to become a very well know and discussed theory. In film, the male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man; this often means that a woman will be objectified through the use of angles within the camera, showing off the curves of a women's body, putting the viewer in the eyes of a male. These curves and angles are often complimented with specific conventions of film such as slow motion, deliberate camera movements and cut aways.

What is the Male Gaze Theory?

• The woman is passive to the active gaze from the man. This adds an element of "patriarchal" order, and it is often seen in "illusionistic narrative film". Mulvey argues that, in mainstream cinema, the male gaze typically takes precedence over the female gaze, reflecting an underlying power asymmetry.

{website reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_gaze}

Who came up with the term Male Gaze?

Laura Mulvey

• Theory. The supporting factors that make up this theory had been around for quite a while; however, the actual phrase 'the male gaze', was coined by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay on cinematography titled 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema'.

{website reference: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-male-gaze-definition-theory.html}