Male Gaze Theory

 The male gaze is the idea of presenting women from a masculine viewpoint therefore objectifying them as merely objects of male pleasure. The theory consists of 3 different perspectives, these are; the person behind the camera, the characters within the film and the audience. 

A key idea of feminist film theory, the concept of the male gaze was introduced by scholar and filmmaker Laura Mulvey. in her now famous 1975 essay, Visual pleasure and Narrative cinema. Visual media that respond to masculine voyeurism tends to sexualise women for a male viewer. As Mulvey wrote, women are characterised by their “to-be-looked-at-ness” in cinema. Woman is “spectacle”, and man is “the bearer of the look”.

The lingering of the camera is one of the hallmarks of the male gaze. The camera generally moves slowly and concentrates on the female body's contours and appealing features. Slow motion filming and long views emphasizing the female figure as a whole with minimal clothing are other tactics associated with the masculine gaze.

The masculine gaze has two distinct modes: fetishistic and voyeuristic. The belief that women are an image or something to be gazed at is known as voyeuristic male gaze. Fetishistic male gaze is the belief that women lack masculine genitalia as a response to male 'castration anxiety.'

The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson is an example of a music video that incorporates the male gaze theory. It comprises a number of pictures that expose the female figure in its whole and in a seductive manner. It also shows the men's voyeurism in the film, as they are seen staring at the lady being pursued, and it is portrayed from the men's perspective. In addition there are very few shots in which the woman is not present.