The Male Gaze The concept of the gaze refers to the analysis of visual culture that deals with the ways in which an audience view something. It is a lens to which one views pop culture. John Berger (1972) conducted work regarding the unconscious gaze, however, the theory of ‘the male gaze’ was coined by Laura Mulvey in her essay published in 1975 on “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. This theory was created as a way of interpreting how audiences view women through the eyes of a heterosexual man. Within the theory three gazes consist. “There are three different looks associated with cinema: that of the camera as it records, the pro-filmic events, that of the audience as it watches the final product, and that of the characters at each other …show more content…
Simultaneously, the look of the audience is denied an intrinsic force: as soon as fethistic representation of the female image threatens to break the spell of illusion, and the erotic image in the screen appears directly (without mediation) to the spectator, the fact of fetishization, concealing as it does castration feat, freezes the look, fixates the spectator and prevents him from achieving any distance from the image in front of him” (Mulvey: 68). The theory of ‘the male gaze’ was initially introduced as film theory, however it has crossed boundaries and been applied to many other forms of media. It is appropriate to delve into the world of sport and show how the male gaze is used in sport. A whole new challenge is presented to female athletes to be accepted in a male dominated society. In regards to sport and how female athletes are represented by the media, there is often a lack of diversity to the way in which women are screened. Visually, the structure and implication of females on the front of magazine covers and in print advertisements, differs greatly from that of their male
Research in “The Serena Show: Mapping Tensions Between Masculinized and Feminized Media Portrayals of Serena Williams and the Black Female Sporting Body” highlights the media's failure to represent black female athletes in positive and inspirational ways. Despite the Under Armour commercial featuring both male and female athletes, there is not a single black woman represented. This exclusion perpetuates harmful stereotypes that hinder black female athletes like Serena Williams. Although the commercial does not outwardly represent black female athletes negatively, the fact that it does not include them at all only assists in disregarding the achievements of these
The film Danzon (1991) by Maria Novaro, is a film about a young woman named Julia who is a telephone operator who, in order to escape her boredome, travels to a dance club where she meets her dance partner, Carmelo. She dances with him until one night, he does not show up. Upset, Julia leaves her daughter and embarks on a journey to find whereabouts of Carmelo. Throughout the journey, she meets different people such as a feminine man and a front desk clerk. At the end of the film it is stated that Carmelo is dead However, Julia ends up finding Carmelo in the same club she met him at.
In the article “I won. I’m sorry.” , Mariah Burton Nelson shows viewers how tough to be female athletes in our society since many people still believe that sports are for men but women. They claim that femininity is about beauty, weakness, and uncompetiveness. Therefore, to be accepted as a real winner in sports games, besides wining the games, female athletes also have to win the audience approval in which female athletes has to present both strength and elegance.
The articles show the gender inequalities between men and women and how media depiction continually emphasize gender stereotypes. I believe the media depicts women in sport negatively due to the gender stereotyping emphasized through the media which can be seen by the inferior depiction of female hockey players in the 2010
The article refers to the fact that society prefers men’s sports over women’s sports due to the fact that they are more fast-paced, dramatic and these elements relate to high TV ratings. It also states that men make up the majority of the viewing audience and prefer watching men’s sporting events (Title IX A Losing Game For
In this essay, I will discuss how the film is about film itself. The notions of gaze will also be analysed, through a discussion of voyeurism and Jeff and Lisa’s relationship. This brilliant film about watching the neighbours simultaneously represents a self-reflexive film about the cinema and filmmaking. “[…] Jeff embodies the activity and passivity of both the film maker and the spectator; the director creates and waits, while the viewer
There is an salary disparity between men and women n sports, which is an complicated issue that reflects larger cultural biases and inequalities. Despite major advancements in recent years, female athletes still make much less money then their male counterparts and still face an number of obstacles in terms of representation, media attention, and accessibility to opportunities and resources. In order to solve these problems, it is crucial that we keep bringing attention to the gender pay gap in sports and work to build more inclusive and fair settings that encourage female athletes at all levels. It also entails prompting equitable access to resources and opportunities for girls and women to participate in sports, as well as boosting visibility and representation of women in sports media. We can contribute to building a more welcoming and empowered world for the upcoming generation of female athletes by standing up for gender equity in sports and promoting equal pay and opportunities for all athletes.
Nike is one of the most iconic and influential companies in the world, and its advertisements can be found anywhere in the world and across every medium. In one of its most recent ad campaigns, this athletic juggernaut tackles the issue of equality, a struggle that has existed throughout the history of sports, just as it has existed throughout the history of this country. The Nike advertisement “Equality” is a black-and-white video featuring superstar athletes from various sports that incorporates several elements and techniques illustrating the use of logos, ethos, and pathos to create a powerful and moving message. In this ad, Nike demonstrates that there is no need for a so-called diverse world of sports because once people are playing a
It is evident that equality and equity between genders, males and females, has had its struggles. This struggle to promote fairness has been expressed through various mouvements such as from the suffragettes emerging in the late 20th and early 21st century, and the recent He for She movement to bring both genders to work together as one. Despite these efforts, in the hockey world, male domination inhibits female athletic success to reach such high level. This is displayed through history, funds and media. Earlier times imposed that women work less on their athleticism.
From magazines to advertisements, women are constantly being exposed to beauty ideals - many of which are unattainable. This results in women falling victim to the manipulations and lures of the marketing industry. Since its establishment in 1886, Cosmopolitan has been a popular source for women to turn to for advice on relationships, sexual activity and popular culture. During its inception, the magazine was published as a women's fashion magazine initially depicting articles on families, home decorating, and the progress of science and technology. However, while Cosmopolitan is still viewed as a magazine targeted towards women, the methods in which the magazine attracts women have dramatically evolved.
In Laura Mulvey’s article, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” she writes about the relationship between voyeurism, cinema, and gender. She begins by describing the concept of scopophilia, which means to gain pleasure from looking. She writes that scopophilia is inherently active/masculine, and that pleasure is derived from looking at other people as mere objects. On the other hand, the passive/feminine is derived from the experience of being looked at (pg.188). Mulvey sees this binary relationship between viewer and object being viewed as a part of our culture, and the greatest example of this is found in cinema.
Laura Mulvey’s article Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema was published in 1975, has set out the concept of visual pleasure and explains it under a system looks in cinema. Her theory points out that men looked at women, men are the subjects of women, and to look at the object position; (women) accept their role of being looked at and creating visual pleasures for men as well as in the social reality. Her approaching is to use the same “political weapon” (“psychoanalytic theory”) that “the unconscious of patriarchal society has structured film form” (the way men used to oppress women) (Mulvey 483), with the hope to leave “the past behind without rejecting it” (Mulvey 485). To analyze that the main bias of cinema lies in the obsessive psychological
The construction of a self-conscious female gaze is the prime objective of feminist theatres everywhere. British feminist theatre practice as elsewhere is an attempt made by women to claim their rightful space in the creative realm of theatre that was deliberately denied to them by patriarchy. The public gaze on women was always the male gaze, one that always wished to see women as objects. It was an ideological position that patriarchy sanctioned as the normal way of looking at women. Women were always the secondary sexual objects for the gratification of male sexual fantasies.
When the media did show the female athletes they always showed the negative plays in the clips of commercials making the girls look bad and weak. “Womens sports continues to be covered in ways that convey the message to audiences that women's sports
This theory is derived from the term “gaze” which was popularized by the work and publications of Jacques Lacan. Manlove (2008) explains that the gaze isolates the subject form themselves, making it seem like an object rather than a human being. This was then taken up by Mulvey, who elaborated on “the gaze” and came up with the