Laura Mulvey
+ Uses
Gratification
Laura Mulvey: Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey is a British feminist who fabricated the term ‘the male gaze’. Mulvey and other feminists believe that women are represented in 3 ways;
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How men look at women
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How women look at themselves
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How women look at women
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These views are produced and consumed by the media, they are all also seen through the eyes of a heterosexual man. Meaning that there is more attention draw to the female’s body and external image rather than focusing on the personality or character, but women are mainly objectified and sexualised. Often it is seen that the things that happen to women are seen via how they effect a man. Mulvey coined that there are two categories to ‘the male gaze’, voyeuristic and fetishistic.
Voyeuristic – the representation of the women on screen refer to the way women are looked at without knowledge, or through a controlling view from a man.
Fetishistic – representations that refer to when sexualisation empowers the women on screen, it become their decision to sexualise themselves and present themselves in a state as sexual empowerment.
Uses + Gratification
Uses and gratification theory is an approach to understanding why and how people activity seek out media to satisfy specific needs,
Gratification
Surveillance – the audience chooses to watch this media to receive useful information and gain knowledge.
Personal identity – this is all about relatability. The audience learns values and behaviours
Personal relationships – this is where the audience builds emotional relationships and have social interaction with either the artist, character or individual.
Diversion – this is where the audience uses the product as an escape from everyday life. This is more associated with tv programmes or films rather than music videos as the continuity of the series and characters allows diversion.