MALE GAZE: VISUAL PLEASURE and NARRATIVE CINEMA

"The gaze is male whenever it directs itself at, and takes pleasure in, women, where women function as erotic objects” – Laura Mulvey

                    Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She's the first feminist theorist to analyze the objectification of women in film using a pscho-analytic approach. And she's the theorist who made the essay entitled Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. 

  

                    According to dictionary gaze means to fix the eyes in a steady intent look often with eagerness or studious attention. It's a concept which deals how the viewers look the people presented And Male Gaze means is to describe when the audience is put into the perspective of a man to the women. Male see the women as a sex object they not look it in the eyes but they look it literally to the curves of the body.

                    Male gaze shows that how the men look at women. Men aren't look direct in the eyes instead they look at the curves of the body, butt and to the boobs. They used to look at the sexual desire not into character. Some of the film has a male gaze theory. In the movie Transformers there was a scene that the guy was having a sexual temptation to the body of Megan Fox because she had a sexy body and perfect curves. Another is, the camera focuses to the hips of Megan while she fixed the machine of the car because it has a problem.    

                     And this theory was not only used in the film but also in the advertisement. Most of the advertisement the male gaze theory was prevalent. They used women as sex object. Women in the advertisement is revealed there hot and sexy body because it can attract the eyes of the consumer especially the men.

                    These is the another example of male gaze because it shown that the women is like a remote control whenever the guy touch there something happen to the women and its related to what the man touched.

                     Up to this moment the Male Gaze was prevailing in the industry in film and advertising. And you can see it everywhere.

Transformers - Megan Fox

 WOMAN'S BODY POWER IN PHILIPPINE 

 SEX MELODRAMAS 

          "Woman's Body Power in Philippine Sex Melodramas", written by Jamal Ashley Abbas is an article that talks about women used as a sex object.  In the article said that the women are the main subject in the sex melodrama and Abbas said that the Sex Melodrama was used to be called as a sub-genre. Obviously the article only shown how women used as a sex object and there has no choice but to show their flesh in to the public. The only weapon of a women is the power of their sexy body. 

               

           In Filipino films there has so many Sex Melodrama  since 70's and 80's and there was so many rising sexy star in 70's. Some of these are Vivian Velez in Apat ang mister ko, Rosanna Ortiz in Madonna, Rio Locsin in Salawahan, Lorna Tolentino in Katawang Alabok, Carmen Ronda in Bata pa si Sabel, Chandra Romero in Kapag Tumabang ang Asin and many more. 

        

          And up to this moment there still sub-genre like Ligo na Ü Lapit na me Starring Edgar Allan Guzman and Mercedes Cabral. In this film there showing their whole body while doing sex and the scenes was almost sex scenes than to conversation. Another is. the movie of John Lloyd Cruz and Angel Locsin which is the Unofficially Yours. The story is like Friends with Benefits. 

       

        

           I sudden every time I watched movies, women always used as a sex object. The society must realize that the women has much power than to men they can do something than to be a sex object for a film.