Laura Mulvey's Feminist Theory

Laura Mulvey's Feminist theory is based around her idea of "The Male Gaze" - a patriarchy which is a form of society ruled by men through the figure of father (the patriarch) to whom all others are subordinate.


Through this she mentions the two ways audiences look at films:

• Voyeuristically
• Fetishistically

Voyeurism and Fetishism

Mulvey's theory states also, that the voyeurism involves turning the figure on screen into a "fetish" so that they become increasingly beautiful but more objectified. 

Fetishism leads to a cult of movie stars, who are celebrated for their looks in favour for their acting skills and they are considered as an object -Marilyn Monroe, of which, being a good example of this. Because of "The Male Gaze", women and men now seem to have expected roles within movies

The theory states that cinema audiences watch a film without being wanted by the characters on screen, and we usually watch them in a darkened cinema so the characters do not know that they're being watched. Therefore, we are almost like voyeurs watching the people on screen. This can lead to two effects:

• Objectivisim - Objectifying female characters in relation to "The Male Gaze".
• Narcissistic Identification - having an ideal image on screen, meaning that we want to be like the characters in the film.

The Typical Roles of Men and Women in Conventional Films

Most Hollywood films have a male protagonist, a.k.a. the lead role, in the narrative and target a male audience because of this. The male characters are often not very attractive yet have the main roles and are the most active in the film. On the other hand, actresses in films normally support the lead roles (the main female actress being the "Bond Girl" in James Bond films are a good example of this) and these actresses are almost always very attractive and glamorous.

Mock-up college magazine cover

Magazine Questionnaire

Please take a moment to answer my questionnaire to help me research information on magazines here.

Introduction to Coursework

I have been asked to create a front cover, contents, double page spread for a music magazine of a genre of my choice.  For my research for this coursework I must; analyse two music magazine front covers, two contents pages and 2 double page spreads, all of which in my chosen genre, so I can see similar aspects used for my target audience. Before creating this I first need to complete my preliminary task; to analse a college magazine and create a mock front cover of one, a mock-up of a contents page for it and then justify my choices. Also before creating my magazine pages, I must make mock-up versions of a front cover, contents and double page spread along with doing photoshop practices and mock shots.

I must create a mood board on my chosen genre for further research along with creating a production schedule. I must get venue release forms for where I take the photographs of the band and take risk assessments.