Laura Mulvey Research

Laura Mulvey - Research

Laura Mulvey is a film theorist and a well known feminist. She came up with the concept of the Male Gaze Theory.

The Male Gaze Theory:

'In this theory the camera is a man that looks at and objectifies women. The camera tends to pan from the legs up.'

The main features of Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory are:

• The representation of women in a sexual fantasy and from a heterosexuals 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

The following videos are examples of videos which appeal to heterosexual males as sexual objects. The artists are Rihanna and Nicki Minaj who are two very famous artists. These women are the 'role models' for young women these days and their overly sexual behaviour and provocative dancing in their music videos are setting a bad example for girls. However, in the eyes of men this is how female artists should behave. The following videos are controversial and age restricted for explicit content.

Nicki Minaj - 'Anaconda':

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDZX4ooRsWs)

Rihanna - 'Pour it Up':

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehcVomMexkY)

The example I have chosen to analyse considering Laura Mulvey's conclusion is 'Call On Me' - Eric Prydz. I chose this song as it fits with my genre of dance music and also because the video is famous for having explicit content and the video is age restricted online. The video definitely appeals to young male audience as the video shows many women wearing very revealing gym wear and dancing provocatively while a one man joins the gym class. I'm sure many men have wished they were him over the years. This song was released in 2004.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_fCqg92qks)

The music video for Call On Me does not link directly to the lyrics as some music videos do. The main aim of the video is to appeal to a male audience by portraying a male fantasy on screen. 

The video shows one man surrounded by several women wearing 'skimpy' gym clothes. The man is wearing black and white which is not attention grabbing whereas the women are dressed in bright colours so that the audience's eyes are drawn to them rather than the man. This signifies that the women are the main focus of the video. But this is obvious for many reasons.

Again it is obvious that the main focus of the video is on the women as the camera focuses on her and the man's reflection in the mirror is blurred. This allows the male target audience to fantasise about being in his shoes.

Here the man looks way too happy to be at the gym and I wonder why...

The man's white shirt blends in with the background which signifies to the audience that the man is almost a fly on the wall in this situation and it just there to observe. Backing the idea that women are there to be looked at.

The women make very suggestive and sexual faces throughout the video which builds on the male fantasy.

There are many mid-close ups and close ups focusing on pelvic thrusting which has sexual reference. This signifies to the audience that women are just sexual objects.

These shots from the video are examples of Laura Mulvey's idea that music videos include scopophilia - the pleasure involved in looking at other peoples bodies to satisfy the male fantasy.

And of course the man got the girl at the end while some other woman sticks around to do some splits. The fact that two women were left at the end also appeals to the male fantasy. This meets the needs of the male ego.