OUGD501 - STUDY TASK - THE MALE GAZE

STUDY TASK - THE MALE GAZE

- Mulvey. L (1975) Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema:
- psychoanalysis as a feminist weapon
- radical scopophilia emerging from hollywood cinema 
(Scopophilia - sexual pleasure derived chiefly from watching others when they are naked or are engaged in sexual activity.)
-Narcissistic pleasure - cinema
- Active male, passive female
- Roles of men and women
- structures of the gaze and relation with castration threats

Discussion:
P1 - 
- How people react when seeing body in film
- Women are made to feel inferior to men as they don't have a Penis...this making men more dominant - leaders.
- Society have made men leader because women don't have a penis, meaning the womans role is to become maternal.
- Psychoanalysis, using it as a means to understand oppression
- Women gain power through the threat of castration.
P2 - 
- Males dominate hollywood, despite development which have allowed women to lead
- Alternative cinema make it possible to break away from the male dominance
- The male gaze is still relevant today however...
P3 - 
- Scopophilia in cinema - through the pleasure of seeing
- The darkness of cinema giving the impression of spying / watching someone
- Accessibility from a young age, pleasure of seeing develops young. - extremes can develop into paedophilia and peeping toms
- Scopophilia is the joy of watching
P4 - 
- Narcissistic pleasure, view yourself as the male protagonist - gain pleasure from that.
- Recognising the human form 
- Ego + Narcissistic pleasure 
- Everybody wants to better themselves - obsessed with the ideal version we can be
- Identifying the dominant male character 
P5 -
- Women are displayed in two forms = erotic and as an object
- The male role as spectator and female role on screen - males are seen in more 3D form whereas females are flat in screen.
- Male spectator feels as though they can relate to male protagonist characters by objectifying females within film
- Men aren't used to / can't handle being sexualised - sexual objectification
P6 - 
- In order to boost males ego's, they control female roles within cinema to reduce the threat of castration.
- Whilst women are an object of affection, they also present a threat to males.

Relation to Graphic Design 
The male gaze is used within media and advertising today.