What is the Gaze? Who is Laura Mulvey?

The Gaze is about the way an audience views the people presented. The different types of gaze are catogrized into who is looking and who controls the gaze, which is mainly a male. A gaze is more than just looking or glancing at someone, it is more the controller of the gaze creating a sense of power.

Laura Mulvey is a British film theorist, who thought of the term the 'male gaze', which means that typically in films, it is the male character who is watching the female. The male gaze is about Voyeuristic, which was a theory by Andrew Goodwin about the male enjoys watching the female and the women being an object.

Marjorie Ferguson used this idea in magazines. She wrote that women create a 'look' to attract the male and be looked at, therefore more men buy the magazine and more profit is made. Ferguson came up with four female looks;

1. Chocolate Box: This is a look in which the female shows a slight smile, showing hardly any teeth and the face is not shown full on. This gives out the mood that they female is warm and friendly, as her features are subtle and kind.
2. Invitational: This look is all about the eyes and the mouth. They are used to invite the male. The mood of this pose is to create a sense of mysterious which captures the male.
3. Super Smiler: The female shows their full face, with a large smile and their head back. This gives out the message that she wants the male to look at her.
4. Romantic or Sexual: This pose includes both a male and female, and the picture is often 'dream-like'.

In music videos, the male gaze does exist, as most videos by male artists and boybands who sing about girls, will often feature girls in their videos who they are attracted to. These four different looks are used throughout music videos.
 

Beyonce featuring Sean Paul - Baby Boy

 
 
In this video, Beyonce uses the combination of the Chocolate Box look and the Invitational look to attract Sean Paul. We never see her face full on for longer than three seconds, and she is always turning or moving around to keep the males attention. The camera uses a lot of close ups to focus on her eyes and lips, which are always parted in a slight smile but no teeth showing. We can see the male, Sean Paul, watching her as there are close up camera shots of his eyes watching.