Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory....
Laura mulvey is a feminist and also a media theorist. Mulvey's theory is called the male gaze and the concept of the theory suggests that women are sexually objectified in media texts for the pleasure of men, helping to maintain the patriarchal society. The theory explains that by objectifying the female in the media text, the female viewer alienates themselves from their female identity and identifies with the male viewer and is encouraged to experience the male's viewing pleasures. This transition during the viewing of a media text is called cross gender referencing or audience positioning, where the audience have been shown something to make them feel a particular way in this instance the female audience are positioned to see things from a male's perspective.
Some key words that are regularly associated with Mulvey's male gaze theory:
Patriarchy: Male dominated society.
Misogyny: The hatred of women.
Phallic symbolism: An object that represents or symbolizes the male penis.
Objectification: Denying a person of human qualities and seeing them only as an object that has one sole purpose.
Identification: Feeling what the character in the narrative is feeling, emphathising with them and putting yourself in their shoes.
Audience positioning: Being shown a text that allows you to identify with the certain perspective, the text wants you to see it from.
Castration: The emasculation or removing of the male reproductive organs.
Voyeurism: Sexual pleasure out of watching someone's business without their consent.
Erotic pleasure: Sexual arousal through images, videos, sounds or sexual activities.
Laura mulvey is a feminist and also a media theorist. Mulvey's theory is called the male gaze and the concept of the theory suggests that women are sexually objectified in media texts for the pleasure of men, helping to maintain the patriarchal society. The theory explains that by objectifying the female in the media text, the female viewer alienates themselves from their female identity and identifies with the male viewer and is encouraged to experience the male's viewing pleasures. This transition during the viewing of a media text is called cross gender referencing or audience positioning, where the audience have been shown something to make them feel a particular way in this instance the female audience are positioned to see things from a male's perspective.
Some key words that are regularly associated with Mulvey's male gaze theory:
Patriarchy: Male dominated society.
Misogyny: The hatred of women.
Phallic symbolism: An object that represents or symbolizes the male penis.
Objectification: Denying a person of human qualities and seeing them only as an object that has one sole purpose.
Identification: Feeling what the character in the narrative is feeling, emphathising with them and putting yourself in their shoes.
Audience positioning: Being shown a text that allows you to identify with the certain perspective, the text wants you to see it from.
Castration: The emasculation or removing of the male reproductive organs.
Voyeurism: Sexual pleasure out of watching someone's business without their consent.
Erotic pleasure: Sexual arousal through images, videos, sounds or sexual activities.
Fetishizlation: The requirement of specific objects to endure sexual arousal.
Sadism: Pleasure from people experiencing pain.
Scophilia: The pleasure gained in looking.
I feel that Laura Mulvey's theory is very valid and although it was written in 1975, the theory is still relevant and if anything has been strengthed as time has gone on. I think that everywhere you look you see women as part of the male gaze and i disagree with those women that appear sexually objectified but claim they are the ones in control over the men and they know that men are fantisising about them but they feel that this is due to their power and control.
posted by ashmed6 at 6:30 AM
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