A mans gaze Laura Mulvey Theory

A Mans Gaze Laura Mulvey Theory

Laura Mulvey's theory is that in photos and videos, certain directors and photographers take photos of women and what men want to see of women. This has proved to be a boost in many tv shows like Countdown. Once a tedious show, with Carol Vorderman presenting letters and numbers to contestants to a young, beautiful woman that is respectfully dressed; yet there is still no changes to viewer ratings. However when the producers decided to make her skirt shorter by about 5 inches and show a bit of chest and the ratings go higher than they have been in a long while. 

This is shown in the picture of the male model, although it is to advertise male clothing it is there to please the women. They have used a mid shot to show all of the details on him, his tattoo on his abdomen, his chain around his neck, and the drops of water on his arms. The frame shows his whole of his torso, shoulders, head and also the top part of his legs. This is to appeal to the women looking at this magazine. They havent cut it down to just his torso as they are trying to sell underwear and therefore must be able to see his underwear in the shot. If they had cut it so that it was just his torso and top part of his legs, it would not have the same appeal as his eyes draw you into the picture and almost traps you into the picture. This is a clever shot as it makes you feel as if he is looking directly at you but looking down at the same time (showing protectiveness) and that this picture is for you and you alone. This goes against Paul Messaris theory of not looking into the camera which is used in the photos of the women. This image shows us what we want in a guy, serious, strong and protective. His facial expression is plain, yet serious which pulls you in even more. The mise-en-scene shows the model, the brand across the middle of the picture and on the underwear, a pole across the top of the picture which he holds onto, and the chain around his neck. The bar across the picture, which he holds onto, shows of the muscles in his arm and draws you along the lines of the muscles and down to his chest where it then shows off his muscles there.

Women can become enpowered in this picture as it makes us feel as if we have the right to choose what we do. It makes us feel like we are on a level and one above all at the same time, it is a hidden power and message in what we feel. This type of image can be negative as it makes people see what they want to see. A women will look at the man and see strong, protective and serious. Whilst a man would look at a women model and feel powerful and protective. It is all about how we as a person view the model and what we feel which determines the success of the image, but the idea of using models to advertise to the opposite sex is a good idea, as long as it doesnt put the models into a bad place in how we percieve them.