When we think about how women are represented in film, television, or advertising, one question stands out:
Who is doing the looking — and who is being looked at?
In 1975, Laura Mulvey, a British feminist film theorist, wrote a ground-breaking essay called
“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.”
In it, she introduced the concept of the male gaze — a way of understanding how cinema and media are structured around a masculine point of view.
Mulvey’s work has become a classic in feminist media theory and is still vital for A Level Sociology students studying representation, gender, identity, and power.
What Is the Male Gaze?
Mulvey argued that mainstream film and visual media are designed primarily for male audiences and organised through a patriarchal viewpoint.
She identified three ways the “gaze” operates:
| Type of Gaze | Who Looks | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| The camera’s gaze | The camera itself is positioned to reflect a masculine perspective | Women are filmed as passive, beautiful objects |
| The characters’ gaze | Male characters look at female characters within the story | Women are visually objectified |
| The audience’s gaze | The viewer is invited to share the male point of view | We see women through a heterosexual male lens |
Mulvey described this as “to-be-looked-at-ness” – women are positioned as things to be seen, while men are the ones who see.
Psychoanalysis and Pleasure
Mulvey’s theory draws on Freudian psychoanalysis to explain why audiences take pleasure in looking.
She said that cinema offers “scopophilic pleasure” (pleasure in looking) — but this pleasure is structured by gender:
- Men get pleasure from looking at women.
- Women are objectified and looked at — their role is to be looked at, not to act.
This means that film (and, by extension, much of visual media) reproduces patriarchal power relations — where women are valued for beauty and sexuality rather than intellect, agency, or individuality.
Mulvey’s Research and Examples
In her original 1975 essay, Mulvey analysed Hollywood cinema, especially films directed by men such as Alfred Hitchcock.
She argued that women were typically represented as passive love interests who existed mainly to support the male hero’s story.
Classic Example: Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” (1954)
- The male character (played by James Stewart) spies on women through his window.
- The camera adopts his gaze, positioning the audience to watch women being watched.
- The female character (Grace Kelly) is glamorous, silent, and framed as an object of desire.
Through such films, Mulvey argued, audiences are encouraged to identify with the male protagonist, not with female characters — reinforcing the idea that men act, women appear.
Contemporary Examples of the Male Gaze
Although Mulvey wrote about film in the 1970s, her concept applies to many modern media forms — from music videos to Instagram.
| Media Example | How the Male Gaze Appears | Type of Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Music videos (e.g., early 2000s R&B and pop) | Women shown in revealing outfits, dancing for male pleasure | Objectification and hypersexualisation |
| Superhero films (e.g., Transformers, Black Widow scenes in early Marvel films) | Female heroes often filmed through lingering shots of their bodies | Reinforces beauty = value |
| Advertising | Women’s bodies used to sell unrelated products (cars, perfume, food) | Normalises sexualisation |
| Social media | Influencers often feel pressure to perform femininity for visibility | Internalised male gaze |
Mulvey’s ideas also connect with feminist critiques of the beauty industry, showing how visual culture teaches women to see themselves through male eyes — always “on display.”
Feminist Responses and Critiques
While Mulvey’s theory was revolutionary, later feminists have critiqued and expanded it.
bell hooks (1992): The Oppositional Gaze
- hooks argued that not all audiences experience the gaze in the same way.
- Black women, for example, can reject or resist the gaze — creating an oppositional gaze that challenges racial and gendered stereotypes.
Postmodern and Intersectional Feminists
- Scholars like Angela McRobbie and Judith Butler suggest that women are not always passive objects — some use self-representation or humour to reclaim control.
- Contemporary pop stars like Beyoncé or Billie Eilish have been discussed as examples of female self-gaze or agency, blurring Mulvey’s boundaries.
Despite these critiques, Mulvey’s theory remains essential for understanding how power operates visually.
Links to OCR and AQA A Level Sociology Topics
| Exam Topic | How Mulvey’s Theory Applies |
|---|---|
| Representation | Media constructs gendered meanings — women as sexualised, passive objects |
| Culture and Identity | Media teaches gender norms and shapes self-perception |
| Power and Inequality | The gaze reflects patriarchal control over image and story |
| Theories of Media Ownership and Control | Male-dominated media industries reproduce male perspectives |
| Feminist Theory | Radical and Marxist feminists argue that the gaze serves capitalist and patriarchal interests |
Mulvey’s work helps students apply theory to visual culture — useful in both essay evaluation and media analysis questions.
Applying the Male Gaze to Social Media
In today’s digital age, many sociologists argue that the male gaze has gone online.
- Instagram and TikTok often encourage users — especially young women — to present themselves in ways that align with traditional beauty standards.
- This creates what feminist theorists call “self-objectification” — internalising the gaze and constantly evaluating one’s own appearance.
- Algorithms often reward content that fits the aesthetic of the male gaze, reinforcing these norms.
However, social media also gives rise to counter-gazes — spaces where women and marginalised groups represent themselves differently, challenging mainstream portrayals.
Discussion Questions
- What are the three types of gaze identified by Laura Mulvey?
- How does the “male gaze” reinforce patriarchal power?
- Can you find examples of the male gaze in contemporary films, adverts or social media?
- Do you agree with critics like bell hooks that audiences can resist the male gaze?
- How might the idea of a female gaze or self-gaze challenge Mulvey’s original theory?
- To what extent does Mulvey’s work remain relevant in the digital media era?
Key Reading
- Mulvey, L. (1975) “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Screen, 16(3): 6–18.
- hooks, b. (1992) Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press.
- McRobbie, A. (2008) The Aftermath of Feminism. London: Sage.
- Berger, J. (1972) Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin.
Summary
Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze revolutionised how we think about media and gender.
She showed that film and visual culture often reflect a male-centred way of seeing, turning women into objects of desire rather than full subjects with agency.
For AQA and OCR Sociology, her work illustrates how representation reproduces patriarchy, how ideology operates through culture, and how audiences can resist or reinterpret meaning.
Even in today’s world of selfies and streaming, Mulvey’s question still matters:
Whose gaze is shaping what we see — and whose stories are being told?
You can download a PPT on Mulvey’s work here:
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