Transcript Laura Mulvey – The Male Gaze (1975 article)

Laura Mulvey - the Male
Gaze
Brand case study - Axe / Lynx
Laura Mulvey – The Male Gaze (1975 article)

Uses Freud’s idea of scopophilia - the pleasure involved
in looking at other people’s bodies as (particularly, erotic)
objects.

Cinema is voyeuristic (i.e. you look without being seen)
and fetishistic (i.e. encouraging erotic pleasure in objects
rather than people)

Conventional narrative films in the ‘classical’ Hollywood
tradition not only typically focus on a male protagonist in
the narrative but also assume a male spectator

The same can be said for traditional adverts which are
directed at a male target audience
Laura Mulvey - male gaze
Traditional
films present men as active, controlling
subjects and treat women as passive objects of
desire for men in both the story and in the audience
Women’s
role in the narrative becomes passive –
they are the prize or reward for the male character
and their actions are interpreted through the male
character’s point of view
If
this is true for films, how much more is it true of
advertising, which is always targeted at a specific
gender?
Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze
women become objectified – the camera will
often linger over their bodies, frequently in close-up shots
that do not show the face or the whole of the body,
positioning the audience (including female audience
members) as male spectators, sharing the POV of the
male characters.
 Therefore
 By
emphasising women as objects, films (and
advertising) therefore encourage what Mulvey calls
fetishistic scopophilia
Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze
•
•
You are about to see a series of print adverts for
products from the same brand (Lynx, also known
as Axe in many countries around the world)
For each one, make notes on how the framing,
mise-en-scene, layout, and taglines help to create
the male gaze perspective (women as passive, as
objects to be desired, as prizes for the active male
protagonist/consumer)
1)
Australia,
2005
2)
London,
2011
3)
London,
2004
4)
South Africa,
2003
5)
London,
2011
Laura Mulvey - male gaze
•
Overall, what ideology is created through
these adverts?
Think about what these adverts suggest
about women, about men, and about
what the ideal relationship between the
sexes should be.
•
How do these adverts use these
representations to sell their products?
Dove Real Beauty
Campaign
• Began 2004
• Inspired by finding that 2% of women
around the world would describe
themselves as beautiful
• Deliberately aims to challenge
stereotypes about beauty
Dove Real Beauty
Campaign
Evolution
Choose Beautiful
Task: watch these 2 films, and make notes on
how they are attempting to challenge
stereotypes about beauty, women’s selfimage etc. Do they succeed?
PERSPECTIVES ON ADVERTISING
Feminist Perspectives
• Laura Mulvey – advertising uses and embodies the
male gaze, fetishising women’s bodies in order to
make profit
• Jean Kilbourne – advertising creates a cultural
climate that validates false body images for
women and legitimises sexual violence
Libertarian perspective
• Advertising is simply a way of informing
consumers about products
• Consumers are free to ignore adverts
• Adverts don’t affect the way we think or behave
unless we choose to let them
• John Wright’s response to Jean Kilbourne
Tasks for Friday
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
th
18
and Monday 21st
Watch Jean Kilbourne video for a feminist perspective on advertising
Make notes on her main arguments about how advertising harms women.
How do you think she would respond to the two campaigns we have been
looking at?
Read the libertarian response by John Wright and make notes on his view
of advertising and the effects it has on its audience. How would he respond
to the two campaigns?
Read the notes on Audience theories and think about which theories seem
to fit best with each of these two perspectives.
Read the interview with Jean Kilbourne and the article about “femvertising”
(both in Pickup).
Write a paragraph explaining your own views on how advertising uses
gender stereotypes and represents women’s bodies. You should refer to
both the Lynx and the Dove campaigns, discuss feminist perspectives and
libertarian perspectives, and refer to Audience theories to explain how you
have come to your own opinions.