Laura Mulvey and the Female Gaze

Film & Media Studies
16 Nov 202117:19
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRThe video explores the concept of the 'female gaze' in film theory, examining whether it can be defined as the objectification of men by heterosexual female viewers, the representation of female desire, linked to female filmmakers, or some combination. It analyzes the theory of the 'male gaze' put forward by Laura Mulvey, who argued the 'female gaze' would not simply reverse patriarchal power dynamics. The video applies Mulvey's interpretive approach to the film Magic Mike XXL, finding that while it displays male bodies erotically, the film's perspective aligns more with heterosexual male characters.

Takeaways
  • 😀 The 'female gaze' concept originated from academic discourse on the 'male gaze', but lacks a definitive source text
  • 😮 The 'gaze' in academic theory refers to power structures enacting harmful subject-object relations
  • 🤔 Simply reversing the male/female roles in sexual objectification does not necessarily achieve an equal power dynamic
  • 🧐 Proper analysis requires examining factors like editing, identification, plot to determine gazes in films
  • 😲 Lindsey Ellis echoes Laura Mulvey's view that objectification uses the 'language' of male gaze regardless of gender
  • 👀 In Magic Mike XXL, the film structure has us identify with male chars, not female consumers of erotic spectacle
  • 🤨 So Magic Mike XXL may actually reinforce male gaze through forms of homoeroticism+
  • 🎥 A 'female gaze' would have to represent female desire from a female point of view
  • 👩‍🎨 Or be unique strategies used by female directors, cinematographers, writers
  • 🤷‍♂️ The 'female gaze' could combine sexual objectification, female POV, and female authorship
Q & A

  • What is the basic definition of the 'male gaze' that Laura Mulvey provides?

    -The male gaze has two basic features according to Mulvey: 1) The male protagonist with whom we identify in a film, and 2) The structure of looking that encourages identification with this male figure and encourages us to objectify women who are erotically displayed on screen.

  • If the male gaze structures the display and objectification of women, what might the equivalent for women be called?

    -The hypothetical equivalent concept applied to women viewers and the objectification of men on screen is referred to by the lecturer as the 'female gaze'.

  • What are some ways the 'female gaze' could be defined?

    -Some possibilities mentioned are: 1) Strategies for depicting men as sexual objects for heterosexual women viewers, 2) Strategies representing female desire from a female point of view, 3) Strategies unique to female filmmakers, 4) Any combination of the above.

  • How does Laura Mulvey use the term 'gaze' and how does it relate to philosophers like Sartre and Lacan?

    -For Mulvey, the gaze describes the patriarchal structure of film viewing positioning men as lookers/subjects and women as objects. This adapts philosophical ideas of gaze as the realization that one is visible to and objectified by others' gazes.

  • What distinction does Elizabeth Grosz make regarding vision, desire, and the gaze?

    -She argues that vision and looking are faculties not restricted to one gender, while the gaze represents structured relations of desire and power that position people as subjects or objects in an ideological system.

  • What critique does Lindsay Ellis offer of the 'female gaze' idea?

    -She suggests that even films depicting eroticized male bodies for female viewers simply invert the objectifying techniques of male directors, and so fall under the framework of the male gaze.

  • How might Laura Mulvey respond to evaluating a film like 'Magic Mike XXL'?

    -Rather than making assumptions, Mulvey would likely carefully analyze factors like narrative structure, editing, and viewer identification in the film to see if and how it might encourage objectification of males or not.

  • Who are we structurally asked to identify with when scenes of eroticized male dancing occur in 'Magic Mike XXL'?

    -Despite the presence of female viewers within the film ogling the dancers, the scenes are often framed so viewers identify instead with Mike and his male friends doing the looking.

  • What aspect of films was Laura Mulvey most interested in analyzing to determine manifestations of the male gaze?

    -She focused most closely on elements like plot structure, editing techniques, and patterns of viewer identification rather than just assumptions about content or intended audience.

  • Why can simply showing eroticized male bodies in a film not be automatically considered an instance of the 'female gaze'?

    -Because as an academic term developed to describe power relations, whether something qualifies as a 'gaze' depends on how techniques of narrative, style, and identification position the viewer in relations to what is shown on screen.

Outlines
00:00
😊 Defining the female gaze by comparison to the male gaze

This paragraph discusses how the concept of the 'female gaze' lacks a definitive source text like Laura Mulvey's essay that defines the 'male gaze'. It poses questions about what the female gaze could be defined as - whether it's the sexual objectification of men, representing female desire, or linked to female filmmakers. It introduces the 'reversal hypothesis' that the female gaze is the objectification of men by heterosexual women.

05:03
😮 Explaining why simply reversing the male gaze doesn't define the female gaze

This paragraph explains that the academic use of the term 'gaze' refers to power structures where certain groups oppress others by objectifying them with their gaze. It discusses Lacan and Sartre's theories of the gaze as the anxiety of being looked at. Mulvey adapted this to describe women's condition under patriarchy specifically. So just showing eroticized male bodies doesn't necessarily constitute a 'female gaze' without the power structures.

10:08
🤔 Applying Mulvey's interpretive approach to test claims about the 'female gaze'

This paragraph argues that the rhetoric of objectification alone doesn't define the male gaze - Mulvey looked closely at films' visual and narrative structures. The same kind of close analysis should be applied to films like Magic Mike XXL before making claims about the 'female gaze'. It briefly analyzes scenes in Magic Mike XXL, finding that we mostly identify with the male characters even when male bodies are eroticized.

15:11
👍 Affirming the need for precision in defining and identifying the female gaze

This closing paragraph affirms the need to precisely investigate factors like film structure and identification when evaluating claims about the female gaze, just as Mulvey did for the male gaze. More work is needed testing different hypotheses for what constitutes the female gaze using Mulvey's approach.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡male gaze
A concept coined by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey referring to the objectification of women in cinema from a heterosexual male perspective. It involves identifying with male protagonists and gazing at female characters displayed erotically on screen. The video analyzes how this concept relates to defining a 'female gaze'.
💡female gaze
A concept lacking a definitive source text or precise definition, referring broadly to visual and narrative strategies representing female desire or made by female creators. The video asks if it simply reverses the male gaze by sexually objectifying men, represents women's visual pleasure, or belongs uniquely to female filmmakers.
💡gaze
A theoretical term describing an anxious state of self-awareness that one is visible to and can be objectified by an oppressive look. The video traces the concept's roots from Sartre's and Lacan's philosophy to its adaptation by Mulvey to represent women's condition under patriarchy.
💡patriarchy
The system of male dominance that is the broader power structure behind the male gaze. Mulvey argues patriarchy prevents a genuine reversal of the male gaze simply by displaying eroticized male bodies on screen.
💡psychoanalysis
The psychological theories of Sigmund Freud that inform Mulvey's concept of the male gaze, particularly regarding sexual difference and spectatorship. Mulvey references psychoanalysis to argue men cannot bear sexual objectification like women can.
💡identification
The process by which films cue viewers to identify with certain characters, typically the male protagonist. The video analyzes how Magic Mike XXL structures identification between male characters rather than female spectators.
💡editing
The way shots are sequenced to construct meaning. The video advocates analyzing a film's editing to determine if its erotic depictions constitute a female gaze, as Mulvey did for the male gaze.
💡plot
The narrative causal logic ordering story events over time. Mulvey considered plot structure key in formulating the male gaze, so the video stresses analyzing plot to determine if Magic Mike XXL embodies a female gaze.
💡spectatorship
The concept of how films position audiences, related to identification and the gaze. Mulvey's theory of the male gaze involves presumed heterosexual male spectatorship, raising questions about female spectatorship.
💡visual pleasure
The enjoyment of erotic looking central to the gaze. Mulvey's essay is titled Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, analyzing visual pleasure in gendered terms the video aims to apply to films focused on female pleasure like Magic Mike XXL.
Highlights

The female gaze is a concept located in popular feminist discourse, adapted from academic terms like the male gaze

There is no major single source text that defines the female gaze like there is for the male gaze

The male gaze presumes men looking at/objectifying women; could the female gaze be women looking at/objectifying men?

The academic discourse of the gaze describes harmful power structures enacted through relations of looker/subject and looked at/object

Lacan and Sartre theorize the gaze as the anxious realization that you can be looked at by others

Mulvey adapted the gaze to describe the condition experienced by women under patriarchy

The term 'gaze' bears the weight of its philosophical history, it's not synonymous with just 'looking'

For an erotic look to be a 'gaze' it needs to reflect larger power structures

Applying Mulvey's close analysis, Magic Mike XXL is still driven by male characters and identification

Simplistic claims about Magic Mike XXL's status as female or male gaze don't hold up under scrutiny

Mulvey was interested in plot/editing structures and identification as criteria for the male gaze

Regardless of conclusions, the same criteria could be used to analyze the possibility of a female gaze

The reversal hypothesis retains the subject/object power dynamic inherent to the academic use of 'gaze'

Mulvey suggested the erotic display of men cannot fully reverse patriarchal power structures

Lindsay Ellis echoes that objectifying rhetoric could still be called male gaze regardless of who is objectified

Transcripts

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