Relevance of Mulvey’s Gaze Theory

The essay analyzes the relevance of Mulvey’s Gaze Theory in the portrayal of women in entertainment media and societal perspective. It discusses the male gaze and its impact on the image of women, the control of women by societal forces, and the distinction between the conception of female sexuality in the Western World and of that in the Islamic world. The subject is Gender Studies.

Running head: RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
Relevance of Mulvey’s Gaze Theory
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
Having applied psychoanalysis with utmost skillfulness, Laura Mulvey has attempted to
provide an explanation of the dynamisms that has conditioned the ‘Male Gaze’ to be the way it
is. In her essay, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Mulvey has explained gaze as the act of
deriving pleasure out of looking something in a particular way which is deeply rooted in male
ego with a predatory undertone to it (Hein, 2006). The aim herein is to analyse the conception of
gaze as presented by Mulvey. The flow of discussion in this essay shall be focussing on the
relevance of the male gaze and the image of women emanating from it, in the past, and in present
times as well.
Mulvey’s work reflects Freudian conception of sexuality explained in terms of
voyeurism. She utilizes that logic and attempts to provide a comprehension of the objectification
of the corporeal existence of women in the entertainment media. The image of a woman that
finds an expression in popular media is but a product of the fantasies and imaginations of man,
woven to suit his desirability, and his ego. Mulvey opines that to a man, the feeling of sexual
stimulation on seeing a woman in a sensuous way, is a source of immense self-gratification and
self-aggrandisement (Mulvey, 2017). Each time a man experiences that, his conviction of his
own superiority over a woman, who is nothing more than an entity lacking the male element gets
reinstated. This is the basic premise on which the portrayal of female characters in the films
happen, as per her theorization. Resultantly, the man assumes the role of the entity bearing the
look, and the woman, the object to be gazed at for the sake of evoking sexuality (Mulvey &
Backman 2016).
The imageries of eroticism to which a woman is associated with has been arrived at by
depriving them of the agency and liberty of self-determination. This overt sexualiazation of
women in filmography is two-fold, she is made to reconcile herself to the fact that she is on one

2RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
hand supposed to be a temptress to the male counterparts of the film she is acting, and on the
other hand a magnet to attract the fancifulness of her audience (Finkel & Hirsch 2015). The ideal
image of a beautiful woman has been shaped by patriarchy in such a way that she seeks
validation in being a sex symbol readily and has accepted the fact with resignation. The yardstick
for measuring the degree of attractiveness of a woman has been fixated at the amount of skin she
exposes, both of which are as determined by patriarchal control mechanism directly proportional
to each other. Hence, adjudging a woman’s beauty and attractiveness is contingent on the
intensity with it awakens sexual feelings in a man’s body (Amthor, 2015).
Mulvey opines on this aspect that such a construct has been necessitated to maintain the
dominance of men over women. Reduction of the intricacies of feminity to sexualizing
capabilities is a subtle, refined, layered and surreptitious method of perpetrating the superiority
of a man over womanhood in general, under the pretext of making them feel empowered and
having attained the epitome of liberation. The inherent domineering spirit is thus very skillfully
enshrouded, and the status quo of the social perception that women are men minus their
masculinity remains intact (Oliver, 2017).
In this regard, with particular reference to the relationship between masculinity and
feminity being dependent upon the inferiority of the latter vis-à-vis the former, two quotations of
former President of the United States of America must be mentioned. His views on the worth of
men is quite relevant on this issue as conveyed by the speeches. In one of his speeches he had
expressed very blatantly, and rather patronizingly at the same time, that for men who did not put
up a bearded look, he had just one word, and that was women (George, 2015). This has a direct
connection with Mulvey’s conception of a woman being equivalent to a castrated man, devoid of
the phallus. Both the views validate the popularly held logic that a woman is what a man would

3RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
be devoid of some masculine attributes. Another quote by President Lincoln, which the feminists
would in today’s context regard as something thoroughly sexist is, that a man should be judged
by the prowess of his beard and by the beautiful woman within the fold of his arm, not on the
basis of the amount of ego or benevolence he nurtures in his heart (Vandermassen, 2015). This
reinforces the version of masculinity which essentializes the role of man with an authoritative
underpinning over a woman. Now the question is to deliberate upon the validity of Mulvey’s
Gaze Theory.
Woman’s sexuality has been since time immemorial a subject matter of obsession among
the men folks, which they have maneouvered over the due course of time in various ways.
Sometimes by controlling their sexuality by imposition of codes of morality, while on the other
hand by bestowing the women with the liberty to expose themselves within a framework that
would not overpower the male sexuality and the male dominance in society.
Talking of the portrayal of women characters in the films centered upon James Bond
from the bygone era, the cutting edge to the establishment of the machismo and alpha male
personality of the prime protagonist would not have been possible without applying Lincoln’s
logic of a man’s worth being contingent upon the beautiful woman in his company. The
sensation that the liaisons of James Bond with the innumerable women at different locations is as
important a factor in contributing to the fame of the film series as the caliber with which he
nabbed the miscreants from a cloud of mystery (Collins, 2017).
In today’s generation, the same amount of objectification is intact in the popular culture.
The example of the rap songs can be cited. The lyrics in very crude and sometimes in rather
uncouth terms express admiration for a woman’s beauty with particular emphasis on how she
walks, how she dances and how much she shakes her body to impress the lad. From the

4RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
perspective of sonority, the compositions essentially reeks of the boisterousness becoming of a
man (Mayne, 2016). Things have changed in the way the objectification of women is
perpetrated, but there has been no change in the principle per se, and from this it can de deduced
that Mulvey’s Gaze Theory relevance pertains to both the past generations and to the present
generations in equal proportions, and this might as well shall continue in future times as well.
In the previous section, the discussion had solely focused on the connection between the
portrayal of women in the entertainment media and the male gaze corresponding to it. In this
section the relevance of Mulvey’s Gaze theory shall be analyzed from the societal perspective,
with due emphasis on how the male gaze has the potential to control each and every action of
women in their daily lives. In this regard, elaborating upon Fatima Mernissi’s distinction
between the conception of female sexuality in the Western World and of that in the Islamic
world is quite pertinent (Duncan, 2015).
According to her understanding, the Western world considers a woman who exposes
herself to the male gaze is the epitome of an empowered woman. Underneath is an image of
French actress, Brigitte Bardot, making her appearance for the first time at the Cannes Film
Festival, in the year 1953. When the controversy over banning the hijab, niqab, burqa and the
burkini in France had occupied the political centre stage, her image was cited as an argument to
support the decision by the Sarkozy Government. Besides upholding the deep rooted principle of
French Secularism, a legacy of the French Revolution, she was also cited as an epitome of a Free
Woman in a Free Society which discourages subjugation of women (Carr, 2018).

5RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
Figure 1: Brigitte Bardot at Cannes ("Redirect Notice", 2018)
On the other hand, in the Islamic world, the female sexuality is considered to have
immense potential to doom the morality of a man. Mernissi writes that in Islam, women are
enclothed in loose-fitted garments to hide every aspect of their beauty from the male gaze.
Contrary to the Western conception, a woman is subjected to control on the basis of the belief
that if her aura is left unbridled, it can bring forth chaos to mankind. The image depicts an afghan
woman cladded in a blue hued burqa, while she has stepped beyond the realm of her household,
as enforced by the dictats of the Taliban Regime according to their perverted version of militant
Islam (Carr, 2018).

6RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
Figure 2: Afghan Woman in Burqa ("Redirect Notice", 2018)
Thus it becomes very clear that the control, or the lack of control that women are
subjected to by the societal forces emanates from the premise that a woman’s body is sexual,
irrespective of the fact that she is a human being first and should exercise the right to determine
what she is. Consequently, in the process of deciding for the women as per the requirements of
the men folk, somehow what a woman has to say for herself goes ignored, and that is something
which has been happening throughout the generations with no hope of any change.

7RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
References
Amthor, J. (2015). The Male Gaze versus Female Self-Determination in Ekphrastic Poetry.
Carr, A. J. (2018). Viewing Pleasure and Being a Showgirl: How Do I Look?. Routledge.
Collins, L. (2017). Mulvey, patriarchy and gender: expression and disruption in visual art. New
Review of Film and Television Studies, 15(4), 415-420.
Duncan, J. (2015). Beyond the veil: Graphic representation of Islamic women. In The Compass
(Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 4).
Finkel, M., & Hirsch, M. (2015). Thelma & Louise: Reclaiming Mulvey’s Male Gaze. Feminist
Theory.
George, M. W. (2015). Television’s Male Gaze. The Middle Ages on Television: Critical Essays,
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Hein, C. (2006). Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.
Mayne, J. (2016). Feminisms: Diversity, Difference and Multiplicity in Contemporary Film
Cultures, edited by Laura Mulvey and Anna Backman Rogers Political Animals: The
New Feminist Cinema by Sophie Mayer.
Mulvey, L. (2017). From a faculty seminar with Laura Mulvey: reflections on visual pleasure:
Vanderbilt University, November 10, 2016, Compiled and Edited by Lara Casey. New
Review of Film and Television Studies, 15(4), 385-387.
Mulvey, L., & Backman Rogers, A. (2016). Feminsms: Diversity, Difference and Multiplicity in
Contemporary Film Cultures. Amsterdam University Press.

8RELEVANCE OF MULVEY’S GAZE THEORY
Oliver, K. (2017). The male gaze is more relevant, and more dangerous, than ever. New Review
of Film and Television Studies, 15(4), 451-455.
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