Male gaze

The concept of Male gaze

The “male gaze” was first coined by Laura Mulvey in 1975 in’Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’. Throughout her work, Mulvey explored the phenomenon of the ‘male gaze’, a perspective that fragments the female body, dehumanises women, and makes all viewers accept a presumed heterosexual view of masculinity.

Essentially, it is the portrayal of the female as an object to be viewed, which in turn portrays the male as a subject to be viewed and performed.

Male gaze in Hollywood

When speaking to Hollywood, we will definitely think of Marilyn Monroe, and when we talk about Marilyn Monroe, the adjective that will definitely come to our mind is ‘sexy’. Why is that? Because Marilyn kept to appear in the film screen with a sexy image.

Most screenwriters in Hollywood are male. Their narratives usually revolve around a male protagonist who saves the world and saves the girl. Studio executives are also male and are responsible for approving these projects and hiring male producers to deliver the film. Directors and cinematographers decide how to set up each scene and where to point the camera. And, of course, they are men. Even in post-production, editors and sound-alike artists may be men. And Men do know what men audiences want to see in the film.

This are Marilyn Monroe’s normal film looks, a sexy ‘dumb blonde lady’

The film ‘River of no return’

In this scene, Monroe played a character who was subjected to the male gaze as if she were an ornament. Through her sensual clothing and the reclining position she adopts, she became the object of scrutiny for both the film audience and the predominantly male audience in the scene’s room.