Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist and cultural critic who is best known for her essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema," published in 1975. In this essay, Mulvey discusses the ways in which traditional Hollywood cinema constructs the gaze of the spectator and the role of women as objects of that gaze.
Mulvey begins by discussing the concept of the "male gaze," which refers to the way in which Hollywood films are typically shot and edited in a way that presents women as objects of desire for a male audience. This includes close-ups of women's faces and bodies, as well as camera angles and shot compositions that emphasize the female form. Mulvey argues that this male gaze is a product of the patriarchal society in which these films are made, and that it serves to reinforce traditional gender roles and reinforce the dominance of men over women.
Mulvey also discusses the way in which Hollywood films use the female form as a narrative device, using women as props to advance the plot or as symbols to represent certain themes or ideas. This objectification of women not only reinforces the male gaze, but also reinforces the idea that women are inferior to men and exist only to serve their needs.
In order to challenge this male gaze and objectification of women, Mulvey suggests the use of a feminist counter-cinema that presents women as active subjects rather than passive objects. This could involve techniques such as shooting from the perspective of a female character or using non-traditional narrative structures that challenge traditional gender roles.
Mulvey's essay has had a significant impact on feminist film theory and has influenced the way in which films are analyzed and understood. It has also sparked important conversations about the representation of women in media and the role of the spectator in shaping our understanding of gender roles and power dynamics.
Laura Mulvey And Feminism In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
It was an ideological position that patriarchy sanctioned as the normal way of looking at women. Women are always given male fantasy roles such as cheerleaders, flight attendants, hotel maid in short skirts, librarians, school teachers, sorority girls partying, police women with whips, school girls in uniforms, etc. She here suggests that the male gaze is embedded in the cinematic language that has developed over time and hence, it cannot simply be re-constructed without serious reappraisal of the thought structures that originally informed it. The camera acts as the eye of the male observer, who looks the female character up and down. These codes or methods include various actions, poses, or positions female models are forced to perform. With regards to the concept of gender cinema can offer a space where ambiguities of identities are played out; understanding the play of the categories of femininity and masculinity is very important in evaluating our own understandings of gender and how we react to different representations of it Tasker 2002.
(DOC) An assignment on Laura Mulvey essays
Here, women from around the country gathered in Atlantic City to express their unrest due to the pageant and the meaning within it. The introduction of the Femme Fatale , for example, is a cause for pause in the narrative action, prompting the audience to take their time looking at her, just as the male protagonist does. This margin demonstrates that men dominate and gender is continually misrepresented in cinema. The Male Gaze in Classical Hollywood: An Example from Rear Window Hitchcock, 1954. She begins by describing the concept of scopophilia, which means to gain pleasure from looking. In the article, the author is studying whether people determine certain actions or certain behaviors as sexual harassment.
What is Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory?
Gender Inequality Of Women In American Football 1714 Words 7 Pages American football demonstrates a hegemonic masculinity and the media tends to emphasis that idea. Within our society we have progressed a whole lot from the times of patriarchy. The common form of media that promotes these social views is film, and it promotes a patriarchal society. Bobo also talks about how the film develops female power in different ways. Films can act as guides to how people, particularly women, should act and look. It technically enables viewer to see both genders, male and female as powerful object. Feminism In The Male Gaze 1891 Words 8 Pages Bodenner, 2016.
Laura mulveys article visual pleasure and narrative cinema
Mulvey works with the premise that film is a reflection of the dynamics at work in everyday life. They take a vacation to escape for a few days and after an attempted rape and murder they end up fugitives on the run for their lives. They are depicted in very revealing positions, thin, wearing makeup and typically Caucasian. Men are unable to place themselves in the female perspective to fully understand the secondary effects of being sexually harassed — where women are constantly being belittled by their male counterpart. The two female characters that the movie consternates on are Sandra Bullock and Heather Bums. Although each film takes a different perspective, both address issues women face in society as represented and visualized through media.
Laura Mulvey essay
This demonstrates how women could be better than men in some ways and women played around with them like toys. This misleading and warped view of men advocates that men are stronger, and aggressive, and any man that has feminist qualities is shamed. The images in the Dreamworld are shockingly similar to the images in reality. Visually, the structure and implication of females on the front of magazine covers and in print advertisements, differs greatly from that of their male A Feminist Perspective Of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window 1460 Words 6 Pages Laura Mulvey is a feminist film theorist from Britain who is known for her essay on visual pleasures in narrative cinema. We are so used to seeing degrading images every day and degrading images of women that we simply overlook these things, which becomes normal in our lives. As in all Hitchcock thrillers music plays a vital role.
Laura Mulvey and The Male and Female Gaze
Thus, people grow and learn by watching and doing as they see, and the common way to learn these constructions is through media. Hitchcock exposes this predisposition in Vertigo and Professor Mulvey in her analysis challenges the film industry to shift its orientation. Gender itself is a very complex concept to understand and portray onscreen, the concept of gender performativity was introduced by Judith butler in her book Gender Trouble: Gender Performance and Performativity. This protest was broadcast live, gaining the most views of the year. Narcissist visual pleasures are tacked with the mirror stage and ego formation concept. She goes even further to say, this pleasure is often gained from identifying with characters on screen. There are several perspectives in which this problem can be discussed and they are based on stereotypes, appearances, and the type of sports showed in media.
