The Male Gaze is a term from Gaze theory that describes the tendency of works to assume a (straight) male viewpoint even when they do not have a specific narrative Point of view, and in particular the tendency of works to present female characters as subjects of implicitly male visual appreciation.
The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented.
Laura Mulvey coined the term male gaze in 1975. She believes that in film audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.
One of the most obvious results of Male Gaze is the way a (usually male) director/cameraman’s interest in women informs his shots, leading to a focus on breasts, legs, asses and other jiggly bits even when the film isn’t necessarily supposed to be a T&A-fest. For example, a sex scene between a man and a woman may show more of her body than it does of his, or focus more on her reactions than his . Alternatively, it could appear in shows that aren’t overtly sexual – for example, scenes of bikini-clad female characters talking that emphasize their bodies rather than showing just their heads.
The woman is usually displayed on two different levels:
– as an erotic object for both the characters within the film
– the spectator who is watching the film
The man emerges as the dominant power within the created film fantasy. The woman is passive to the active gaze from the man. This adds an element of ‘patriarchal’ order and it is often seen in “illusionistic narrative film”.
Mulvey argues that, in mainstream cinema, the male gaze typically takes precedence over the female gaze, reflecting an underlying power asymmetry.
Mulvey’ also states that the female gaze is the same as the male gaze because women look at themselves through the eyes of men. A feminist may see the male gaze as either a manifestation of unequal power between gazer and gazed, or as a conscious or subconscious attempt to develop that inequality. From this perspective, a woman who welcomes an objectifying gaze may be simply seeking to benefit men, welcoming such objectification may be viewed as akin to exhibitionism.
The Male Gaze typically focuses on:
– Emphasising curves of the female body
– Referring to women as objects rather than people
– The display of women is how men think they should be perceived
– Female viewers, view the content through the eyes of
a man
even for ads and commecial for men and women we can clearly see the Male Gaze
A subtle psychological effect of this is that, in visual media, audiences are primed to sympathise with, or at least respect, characters if the first prominent shot of them concentrates on their face. If it shows another body part the audience is more likely to see the character as a threat, or an object of desire. It isn’t difficult to override this later, but the audience will usually experience it at least subconsciously as a twist.
Source: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MaleGaze
http://katiehamilton25.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-male-gaze-theory.html
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Male_gaze
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=male+gaze&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=J077UqjdH-eciAevjYBY&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=624#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=NNjOfaYRJrx7CM%253A%3B0ihRAtrLeJMgcM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Floismclaughlin.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F09%252Fthe-male-gaze.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Floismclaughlin.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F09%252F17%252Fexample-of-the-male-gaze%252F%3B2505%3B3543
https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=male+gaze&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=J077UqjdH-eciAevjYBY&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=624#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=-O_MNW1U6d-xUM%253A%3B39Sz819XvaCP0M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F3.bp.blogspot.com%252F_beuhg0sgwzA%252FS6su14auyDI%252FAAAAAAAAACE%252FvoW2YI-ExxY%252Fs1600%252Fmegan-fox-transformers.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Frealizziie.blogspot.com%252F2010%252F03%252Ffemale-gaze-vs-male-gaze-has-there-been.html%3B600%3B399
http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2F1101e2group4.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F09%2Fbeer-campaigns-and-male-gaze-final.html&h=0&w=0&sz=1&tbnid=TkJrQ7ZU8AliXM&tbnh=120&tbnw=160&zoom=1&docid=zxBuQhEb1TRkfM&ei=7lL7Uq_9Fq6eiAegyYCwAQ&ved=0CAUQsCUoAQ
ConFashion 
