"The Male Gaze"



(Laura Mulvery)

Laura Mulvery introduced the "male gaze" as a feature of gender power in film. Mulvey argues that in classic Hollywood films in particular women are merely represented to provide visual pleasure to men.  Her concept of to be looked at, exemplifies that women were merely shown on screen in classic Hollywood in order to provide men with visual pleasure and have an erotic impact. Mulvey argued that the typical key protagonist within a classic Hollywood film was male and the audience members where similarly typically expected to be men.