The male gaze consists of three different types of gaze:
- that of the person behind the camera
- that of the characters within the representation or the film itself
- that of the audience
Mulvey's theory suggests that the male gaze denies women of an identity and dehumanises them; it gives them the status of objects to be desired by men because of their appearance. It also suggests that more often than not, women find themselves viewing a film from a secondary perspective (this being the perspective of a heterosexual man). Often a female character in a film has no real importance, but only exists in relation to a male character. Women in film are usually viewed as an erotic object for both the characters within the film and the audience who is watching the film, almost assuming that the audience is entirely made up of heterosexual males.
In the 1975 essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', Mulvey discusses the idea of 'scopophilia', which literally means 'pleasure through looking' or 'love of watching'.
Voyeurism is a synonym for scopophilia and derives from sexual gratification from observing others from a distance. Film-making and film-viewing have been seen as voyeuristic activities for a long time; the audience sits, typically in a dark room, and observes the activities of others who appear to be unaware of the fact that they are being watched.
Sigmund Freud, who came up with the idea of scopophilia, reinforces Mulvey's theory, suggesting that from babyhood, we have a natural tendency to fix our gaze upon objects. He argues that although we grow and become more able to control what we observe, it never completely diminishes.
Technically, there are elements in film that significantly enhance the male gaze. For example: fragmentation, slow-motion, close-ups and lighting. Often, films are edited in such a way that we get shots of the woman or 'sexual object' and the person viewing them, further highlighting the male gaze by showing us how other males react to them. In regards to mise-en-scene and visual elements, the female subject is often seen wearing some form of tight clothing or maybe even no clothing at all, with an analogy between machinery, vehicles, food or sexual objects - this creates a suggestion of ownership over women. It compares the female to an object, like a car, that can be owned.
Example of the male gaze in film
The male gaze is evident in the opening scene of the third instalment of the Transformers films. The film opens with a close up shot of Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely, who plays the female lead and also a Victoria Secret model (well-known for being thin, attractive etc), as she climbs the stairs. The camera follows her barely covered behind closely as she makes her way up the stairs, and then the camera cuts to various other parts of her body, panning down her bare legs and feet and then back up until the camera reaches her torso. The fact that the audience do not even see her face before they see these parts of her body implies that her identity isn't even particularly important,it dehumanises her; she is just a sexualised object to look at and admire.
Throughout the length of the film, there are countless shots that linger over her behind, her lips, her breasts and her legs. She is often viewed from below and is dressed in tight and revealing clothing (short skirts, tight dresses, high heels) which is clearly for voyeurism purposes and to gain scopophilia.
Not only is she intended to be viewed as a sexual object by the camera and audience, but also by the characters throughout the film. In one scene, one of the transformers (not even a human being) is scene looking up her skirt and rummaging through her underwear drawer. In another scene, John Malkowitz' character is seen going out of his way to look at her behind.
References:
- http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/transformers-3-sour-sexist-and-salivary/241305/
- http://www.karanovic.org/courses/mca008/archives/1487
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