Laura Mulvey's theory - representation

Laura Mulvey's theory is known as the 'male gaze theory', this theory is based on how women are represented in the media industry in films, music videos  and advertisements.The male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man. A scene may focus on the curves of a woman's body, putting you the viewer in the eyes of a male However it is only the Male Gaze theory if these curves are highlighted with specific conventions such as slow motion, deliberate camera movements and cut aways .The theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance this ‘masculines’ the audience.The theory suggests woman can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a mans perspective

Often a female character has no real importance herself, it is how she makes the male feel or act that is the importance.The female only exist in relation to the male Laura Mulvey's theory is broken down into 3 categories;

• How Men look at Women 
• How Women look at other Women
• How Women look at themselves

How Men look at Women 



Many people say that the media has an influence on us, as the mass audience. However the media only shows  us what we want to see whether it be for sports programmes or for loved up, romantic movie scenes. Laura Mulvey says that by looking at music video's, we see women through the male perspective or supposedly how women should be seen by men. Mulvey states that from seeing women from the male perspective that women are viewed as objects and their purpose is to gratify the male audience. Mulvey says that because women are objectified in music videos and such like, men see women in this light in reality as well. We can see that Laura Mulvey's theory is implied in music video's such as Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' video and the Scouting for girls  music video for 'She's so lovely'. The lyrics to both of these songs suggest the woman as being there for sex and  it references women as being an objectified prize for satisfying the male gender. Rihanna's 'Rude Boy' video demonstrate Mulvey's explanation on how men view women as sex objects, if you look at the cinematography used in the music video. We see close up's of certain parts of Rihanna's body parts, such as her breasts, her lips and her hips. From the camera angles used in the music video's, you could imply that the perception of Rihanna is from the male gaze/ male view.  From the media given the insight to men that it is okay for them to see women as objects for their satisfaction, men then see it as okay to use it on women on everyday life/reality.

How Women look at other Women 

Like men, women watch these women on music videos and understand that they are viewed as an object. This leads women to make judgments on each other based on how other women dress, what they wear, body shape and the way they act. The dominant representation of women in the media gives women in reality a comparison for them to create an ideal identity of themselves. The media represents women as slim bodied women with curves and long luscious silky hair with flawless skin that has been airbrushed in photos. In some of these photo's we see of celebrities or models, we could say that the women pose half naked or wearing provocative clothing because they want to be desired by the male target audience. This gives us as the audience they idea that all women want to be looked at and desired like all women in the music or film industry. Women in this day and age can now look at the way women in the media represent themselves and include some of the ways that the women look in the media to the way women look in reality. Therefore women change their identity to match the identities that celebrities only want us to see.

Rihanna Selfie                                                                              Woman taking a selfie; trying to look                                                                                                          like Rihanna            

How Women look at themselves 

Charlize Theron                                                                    Self-conscious woman

From the representation of women, we see that the media symbolise woman as not only objects but these beautiful/ 'fit' creatures that are there to be desired by men. The women used in media texts such as music video's are shown as 'fit, toned and tanned and ready' as the quote from Katy Perry's song California girls. From the media using women that look like this they create a stereotype of expectation of what women should be/ act and look like, this itself can raise self confidence issues in women in the audience. For example women look at actresses or models such as Megan Fox, Jennifer Laurence, Charlize Theron or Kiera  Knightley. Mulvey  states that from the use of these women that woman in reality begin to see themselves in a negative light because they do not fill the expectation/stereotypes of women in the media texts that we consume as an audience. However the representations of women that the media give us of these women aren't always the real deal. For example in many pictures of models and celebrities, they are photoshoped and edited so that the model/person in the image looks  more appealing and flawless to their target audience. The identity presented to the audience isn't the true personality of the celebrity therefore the audience is being a presented with a fake identity of their favourite celebrity. Therefore this implies that celebrities give the audience a fake impersonation of themselves and with their photos and images edited means that they aren't any different to every day people. Never the less, this still creates a negative on women because they feel as though they can't fulfil the stereotypes or expectations of women in music videos or in films where the women are seen as 'beautiful'. Over all the conclusion given is that woman strive to be perfect, if they are celebrities or not even though the 'perfect image' they strive for doesn't exist.



How does this theory imply to my chosen music video?

My music video doesn't follow the conventions  of  Laura Mulvey's theory. The music video consists of a couple going through the difficulty of money issues such as struggling to find money to pay for rent and such like. The guy in the music video then decides to join the army and be on the front line in order to be able to provide for both of them financially, the video has jump cuts from the guy fighting in the war to the girl waiting for him to return home. In away you could imply that the girl belongs to the guy therefore she waits for him, like an object waiting to be used again. The girl used in the video is very beautiful therefore there is the connotation of beautiful girls being used in media texts. However listening to the lyrics of the song 'Wake me up when September ends' by Greenday actually dennotate the death of the Bille Joe Armstrong's (the main singer) Dad.

The actress from 'Wake me up when September ends'