Laura mulvey

Laura mulvey- Male gaze

1. Background Laura Mulvey was born on the 15 th of August 1941. She studied history at Oxford University until the early 1970’s where she came to prominence as a film theorist. Much of her early critical work investigated the ‘male gaze’. Between 1974 and 1982 she co-wrote and co-directed, with her husband, six projects.

2. Laura’s theory Laura’s theory was the concept of gaze , this is a theory which deals with how an audience views the people presented. For female audience’s it can be thought in three ways: How men look at women How women look at themselves How women look at other women Laura used the term ‘male gaze’ in 1975. The theory was because she believed that the film audiences have to ‘view’ characters through the eyes of a male. She believes that because of how women have been shown through media women that have watched these have become passive through time.

3. Why the theory impacts us and references to Laura’s work What Laura’s theory works on impacts us because as more movies with the male gaze are watched ideologies are placed in the our minds. This means we start to adopt these ideas without realising what is happening. Laura's theory helps us to identify when this is happening and not be susceptible and believe what it shows is fact. Some pieces of her work include: Visual and Other Pleasures Death 24x a Second: Stillness ... Citizen Kane.

4. My opinion I believe that Laura's theory is correct because after watching multiple movies I have noticed a similarities between them all. In all of the movies that included women all of the women that are involved are always very attractive. I also have noticed that after reading into Laura’s theory that the ‘male gaze’ is very prominent in movies. For example in some movies the camera when introducing a female character will look over their more attractive features.