Laura Mulvey is a film theorist. She is well known for her feminist views and her views on the representation of women in the media, especially the way they tend to cater to the male gaze.
She is quoted in 1992 as saying: "In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly." This means that men are much more dominant while women are passive. Men view women as a source of their own pleasure, and that is all they are good for - they are seen as objects. Women are often seen as sexual objects. They tend to be dressed in almost nothing, and they are tall and curvy, while maintaining flat stomachs.
An artist that a lot of people say that challenges this is Adele. This is because she is often dressed in long dresses, just on stage. I also think that a lot of female artists, such as Beyonce and Marina and the Diamonds do it to express their own sexuality instead of doing it purely for the male gaze. However, I can also see the argument that it is still apart of catering to the male gaze.
Robin Thicke released his infamous video 'Blurred Lines' which features him, T.I and Pharrell Williams chasing three girls and using them as decorations. In the unrated video, the girls are topless throughout, while in the video for TV they are still half naked, covered in a skin toned plastic. They are also pulled by their hair and are forced to dance around demeaning quotes blown up into balloons.
- Jess
No comments:
Post a Comment