MALE/FEMALE GAZE - LAURA MULVEY

• Laura Mulvey believes that women are objectified in the media in order to captivate the attention of men.
• They are deliberately represented with fit athletic bodies and large breasts to catch the attention of potential male viewers and readers.
• This male gaze is often used in aftershave adverts that showcase women are mere commodities - only valuable for their body - and that they are mere extensions of men. The adverts imply that with the scent the men will then be able to attract the women easier. This is utilised in Tom Ford adverts, dolce and gabbana and chanel male aftershave adverts.
• Feminist intellect - Laura Mulvey: critiques traditional representations of women in cinema, from which work emerged the concept and the term of the male gaze.
• The female characters in films were portrayed as passive objects of desire, while the camera was positioned from the perspective of the male character (male gaze).
• She also suggested that the use of close-ups on women's faces or bodies served to objectify them further, reducing them to nothing more than sexualized images.