Women as a Sexual Objects - Essay Example

Introduction Mulvey, Laura (1992:750) has stated “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on the female figure which is styled accordingly”. Mulvey refers here to classic Hollywood cinema. Mulvey (1992 : 750) observes women’s roles as sex objects satisfying men’s requirements: “Women displayed as sexual objects is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle…she holds the look, plays to and signifies male desire.”The aim of the essay is to find out the relevance of the argument put forth by Mulvey. Men and women has been seen as working side by side in various roles and that has been extended in various spheres like the law,police,medicine and many other fields and women has been seen as having played the role of independent protagonists and have also played the roles of equal roles with men.( Barthes, Roland ,2006) One of the most influential theorists of the function of male gaze in the contempory film has been film critic Laura Mulvey.There has been classic article that has been titled “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema”. Mulvey, Laura (1992) argument in "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" has been sharing on the idea that the woman would be presented as the object of the male gaze and would be considered passive and that has been in the frames of the narrative. Mulvey, Laura (1992) has stated that film would be showing that male would be looking at the gaze on women in a position from the camera and the viewers would be giving importance to male gaze and objectifies the women on the screen. Mulvey, Laura (1992) has argued there are three different looks that has been associated with the cinema; the first would be the camera that would be normally controlled by men and that can be the director and the cameraman who would be deciding the angles and views of the object and the second one would be that of characters would be looking at each other on the screen and there would be the viewers who would be influenced by the way camera has been positioned. Mulvey, Laura (1992) has argued that the woman is the passive receiver of the gaze and the man is the active spectator of the woman, the one objectifying the woman. Scopophilia would mean the pleasure of being looked at or looking at another person. The woman is taken as an object, subjected to a controlling and curious gaze of the man. Women have fought for the right to vote, equal rights in the job market, and for a share of responsibilities in the domestic sphere. This notion has also been acknowledged in cultural production, like the film production. Both gaze and agency should be normally understood by psychoanalytic structure. There has to be discussion of single working woman, independent women and strong women whom could be considered as threat to male dominance by someone. This essay would be covering lot of films and that would be including the action films also. The action films have been generally considered as a male dominant area. The representation of female in action oriented films has changed over the years. The year 1970 saw females fighting for equality in films and Mulvey(1992) had argued that it was the only way female could be represented in the male dominated Hollywood system.Mulvey (1992) had been arguing that Hollywood cinema has been using female as objects for pleasure for women and these type of vision has been called male gaze. This theory could not be limited to Hollywood alone but can be applied for all over the world. The action films has seen more dominance from the male segment while female has been playing a more passive role.Mulvey(1992) had been arguing that women has been set into different character one that has to be sexually active one and the other stereotype would be the powerless female that would be portrayed as house wife.Mulvey (1992)had considered that modern films has been presenting images of females for the gratification of male viewers and that would mean that men would enjoy looking at females in a sexual manner and Hollywood has been using females as erotic subjects and the narrative has been positioned to meet the need of heterosexual males a look at the female. These could be seen in sex scenes where the camera would be positioned at female erotic areas like breasts and that would be kept for long time to satisfy the male viewers and they could consider the scene as iconic. The scenes as Mulvey describes has been to satisfy the male dominant film segment. There has been argument that it is vision of the director that would be seeing on the screen and that would mean that it would be male gaze. There were films like “Kill Bill 2” that had been providing exciting role for women. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) The challenge that has been made has been on the argument of feminism and it has been argued that adventure shows has been having only less female representation. There has been female in action roles that have been seen as in action TV like the “Famous four” that has seen three males in the lead role and one female in the role. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) There has been films like the high noon that has been released in the year 1952 and Angry men that had been released in the year 1957 that had shown that female characters had some importance than the male roles and “Kill Bill 2” has been showing a different representation . ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) This film has been a different representation of female and Uma Thurman has been represented with such great power and that has been shown as having more power than the males and she has been showing dominance over the unequipped women and Uma has been negatively represented throughout the film and that her original intent as per the film has been to kill Ben and she had been showing male characteristics of being violent. The film has been satisfying the role of Mulvey theory that the job of seeking revenge has been shown in different image than the normal type of emotional type.Uma has been seen as the powerful and dominant role and the male viewers has been given the pleasure of looking after Umas heroics and the killing rampage has been done on tight outfits and that has given her a attractive look and male viewers has been shown as an female object that they could still lay their eyes on. The male audience would be feeling the happiness that the female has been shown as a powerful character and that too with the samurai sword. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” that has been released in the year 2005 has fit the role well and the film has been shown as having one male protagonist and one female protagonist and they have been shown as having the same occupation and the occupation has been that of secret agents. It has been seen that independent women has adopted the role of male characteristics and that had led to greater gender equality in the film. This has been shown that male characters and female characters has been shown together in Hollywood film and roles of women has been seen as having an important role in the “Kill Bill 2” and that has been shown as fully women and that has been directed by males. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) That has been shown as Umas character that has been seen as gaining revenge on the villains and they have been portrayed as who had been attempting to kill the protagonist and the costume could be understood as being shown in skin tight orange costume that had elevated the female figure and had shown the breasts in more profound manner. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) The representation of the women in the film has been based on the understanding of the director view and that would be in the ideology of the narrative of the film and this could be attributed to the Mulveys view that the advantage of the feminity of the female body has been taken care of. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) The representation of the female has been in comedy and sex roles and this has been seen in films like Austin powers in which Powers has been simply seeing women as objects for the desire and pleasure that has been based from the 1960s .The Austin power movies has been seen as saying a statement in which the character would be saying that you are an object baby and this has been said as one of the examples in which movies of the contempory time that could be said as women has been still as sexiest and there has been successful in promotion and this has been supporting the Mulvey theory. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) “Kill Bill 2” has been released in the year 2004 and that has been challenging the Mulvey theory in long time.The narrative of the film that has been described has been shown to an extent conforming to the stereotypes and this could be used as still conforming to the typical family ideologies and this could be argued by the lose of the family and the female lead character has been left to seek her revenge with the help of no one. The low angle shots of the female lead that has been showing the female lead as having greater power and that has made the audience to look at the female lead in awe. The female lead has been shown as rarely smiling and that has been breaking the barriers in which the female has been forced to look attractive and look well by smiling always. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) The role of the women has been changing in the society and that has been shown of the portrayal of women in media also. Women has been seen as sex objects in media but the same media has been portraying women as career women and that has been independent role. There has been change in the roles of women as changing from the role of dizzy blondes or mothers have been getting replaced in the new role. There has been a situation like men have been looking for intelligent women and confident women and that have been the latest sexy and attractive front. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) That could be attributed to the film of “Kill Bill 2” where the female lead has been shown as the ass kicking female and that has been shown as independent and powerful. That does not mean that the female lead has been dressed to appeal to gaze through the costume.Sterotypes that has been existing in films has been used in more calculated manner in these eras. That has been visible in films like “Charlie’s Angels” that has been released in the year 2000 and that has been shown as ass kicking female empowerment. Their strength has been used to save a kidnapped man and that could be said as complete role change from the past and that has been change from the damsel in distress and they had been portrayed as weak. ( Barthes, Roland ,2006) The changes of women representation could be seen as in the film of terminator trilogy. The terminator one has seen the Sarah the main female lead has been shown as typical female as a screaming and in need of rescue. “Terminator 2” has been showing her as strong and powerful independent female and she has been able to hold her links and women has been more independent. The two female characters has been in “Terminator 3” has been Kate and TX and they have been portrayed as a lethal sexy killing machine and her sexuality has been used as a machine like enlarging breasts to attract males and that has helped her to escape from the police. The robots that has been portrayed by the famous legend Arnold Schwarzenegger and the female robot has been showing the same character in the form of equality having the same characterstics.That has been shown in the James Bond films and that has been portrayed as independent and the “Casino royale” in the year 2006 has been challenging the mood of earlier Bond films and that has been earlier in the Bonds love interest and sex object. The female role that has been played in the film “tomorrow never dies” that has been released in the year 2004 has seen that Halle Barry has seen that it has been a professional occupation and she has been a male characterstics.The typical representations has been shown as female sleeping with Bond after talking with couple of hours. There has been a film that has been titled is the” Blue Steel” and the narrative of “Blue Steel” has been showing the character of Megan Turner and her life and she has been joining the police force and in the film she has been facing disrespect from everyone and she has been facing unfriendliness from co-workers and hate from her family just because the women has been following a career in which the men has been employed. The audience has been forced to understand that character has been experiencing hard work within her and she has been building the confidence as she has been prone to sexism. The lead role that has been in the Megan Turner’s police force investigating a serial killer has been seen as showing two sides and the story line would be showing that though females has been donning greater role in modern times, still they had been part of male world. The villain has been seen to get the male gaze as he has been turned to be the lover of Turners lover and killer. The costume of the female police officer has been that it has not been changed to represent the female characteristics more and that could be challenged by relating to “Kill Bill 2” and that means the female lead has been showing the female characteristics more. The Male Gaze and Feminist theory In the essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Laura Mulvey had introduced the concept of The Male Gaze as a feature of power asymmetry. The male gaze would be saying that the characters on screen would be forced from the perspective of heterosexual women. There have been scenes when the camera would be swinging on the curves of women and women have been presented as how men would be reacting to these events. The women would be treated as objects and “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” would be stating that sexism would exist not only in the content of a text, but also in how the text is presented, and in its implications about its expected audience. It could be given or attributed to the advertisement. 1. There is a distinction between an event and an amalgamation of abstract causes (things, directions, responses). 2. Experience is unnecessary for participating in the culture; sociocontextuality pertains more to the vantage of lawfulness over its transpersonal regards. Fatal Attraction Phillip Brian Harper,(1994), has said that the plot in the “fatal attraction” starts with showing a happy family together, the Gallagher’s’. Phillip Brian Harper,(1994), has said that Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a happily married attorney in New York, with an "adorable" daughter of five. Phillip Brian Harper,(1994), has said that his wife Beth (Anne Archer) and daughter Ellen (Ellen Hamilton Latten) leaves for the country over a weekend and that is when the passion with Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) begins. Alex Forrest is an editor at a publishing company, successful but unmarried. They meet briefly, for the first time at a party which Dan is attending, accompanied by his wife. They meet again during the weekend at a business meeting, and become sexually involved. For Dan, it is a spur of the moment thing, a one night stand more or less, supposed to lead to nothing further. For Alex however, the affair takes another turn. It is much more serious for her, she says she loves him, and after Dan repeatedly tries to end the affair she cuts her wrists to make him stay, and a few weeks later also tells him that she is pregnant with his child. However, as Dan still refuses to continue their relationship, Alex becomes more and more desperate and turns into a neurotic and hysteric person who is prepared to try, or to do, everything to get what she wants. She pours acid over his car; she follows him home and manages to get into his apartment by pretending she is a prospective purchaser for their apartment. She continuously calls and one day when the family returns home they find Ellen's pet rabbit boiling in a pan on the stove. Alex kidnaps Ellen one day from school, and due to the distress and anxiety Beth crashes her car while searching for her daughter. In spite of reporting Alex to the police, the threat is still there, and when the family returns to their house again Alex shows up this time, determined to kill Beth. The movie ends with Beth saving her family (and herself) by shooting Alex. One shot, in the chest. Phillip Brian Harper,(1994), has said that “Fatal attraction” has been a motion picture that has been directed by Adrian Lyne and shown in 1987. Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds 2005 War of the Worlds is set in modern-day New Jersey; the action focuses on blundering dad Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) who's just picked up his children Robbie (Justin Chatwin) and Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for the weekend. After a violent lighting storm, the street outside explodes as a 400 ft warlord emerges from the ground signaling the start of the systematic massacre of humankind. With thousands of the invaders attacking around the world, Ray and his children must escape the city as it burns around them.The movie is shown from Ray Ferrier's (Tom Cruise) perspective and does not show scenes of what was happening around the world. Dakota Fanning as the terrified daughter plays it well and really hooks everyone in with her performance and the real thing is that it satisfies Mulvey, Laura theory as the female child does not have anything to do in substance. Conclusion Though there have been certain bolder changes to the role of male gaze, the majority of films has been showing the females as sexually oriented and has been the central theme of male gaze and there has been few movies where by which both male and female would be equal without getting into high sexual orientation that would be needed by the viewers. There has to be more entry of females into the art of cinematographer, screen writing and director venture for the film to get into female areas. Works Cited Barthes, Roland. The Third Meaning:Research Notes on Several Eisenstein stills. London: Oxford, 2006. Harper, Phillip brian. Post Modern . Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1994. Laura, Mulvey. Visual Pleasure and Narrative cinema. New York: Oxford University press, 1992. Reference Mulvey, Laura. (1992) [1975] “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, in Gerald Mast, MarshallCohen and Leo Braudy, Film Theory and Criticism. Introductory Readings. Fourth Edition, pp.746-757. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Barthes, Roland (2006) ‘The Third Meaning: Research Notes on Several Eisenstein Stills’ in The Responsibility of Forms: Critical Essays on Music, Art, and Representation. Trans. Richard Howard. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 41-62. (Harper) Phillip Brian Harper,(1994),"Post modern",Framing the margins: the social logic of postmodern culture,3-30. Read More

Mulvey (1992) had considered that modern films have been presenting images of females for the gratification of male viewers and that would mean that men would enjoy sexually looking at females and Hollywood has been using females as erotic subjects and the narrative has been positioned to meet the need of heterosexual males a look at the female. These could be seen in sex scenes where the camera would be positioned at female erotic areas like breasts and that would be kept for a long time to satisfy the male viewers and they could consider the scene as iconic.

The scenes as Mulvey describes have been to satisfy the male-dominant film segment. There has been an argument that it is the vision of the director that would be seeing on the screen and that would mean that it would be the male gaze.There were films like “Kill Bill 2” that had been providing an exciting role for women. ( Barthes, Roland,2006) The challenge that has been made has been on the argument of feminism and it has been argued that adventure shows have been having only less female representation.

There have been female in action roles that have been seen as inaction TVs like the “Famous Four” that have seen three males in the lead role and one female in the role. ( Barthes, Roland,2006) There have been films like the high noon that has been released in the year 1952 and Angry men that had been released in the year 1957 that had shown that female characters had more importance than male roles and “Kill Bill 2” has been showing a different representation. ( Barthes, Roland,2006)This film has been a different representation of female and Uma Thurman has been represented with such great power and that has been shown as having more power than the males and she has been showing dominance over the unequipped women and Uma has been negatively represented throughout the film and that her original intent as per the film has been to kill Ben and she had been showing male characteristics of being violent.

The film has been satisfying the role of Mulvey's theory that the job of seeking revenge has been shown in a different image than the normal type of emotional type. Uma has been seen as the powerful and dominant role and the male viewers have been given the pleasure of looking after Umas heroics and the killing rampage has been done on tight outfits and that has given her an attractive look and male viewers has been shown as a female object that they could still lay their eyes on. The male audience would be feeling the happiness that the female has been shown as a powerful character and that too with the samurai sword.

( Barthes, Roland,2006)“Mr. and Mrs. Smith” that has been released in the year 2005 has fit the role well and the film has been shown as having one male protagonist and one female protagonist and they have been shown as having the same occupation and the occupation has been that of secret agents. It has been seen that independent women have adopted the role of male characteristics and that had led to greater gender equality in the film. This has been shown that male characters and female characters have been shown together in Hollywood film and roles of women have been seen as having an important role in the “Kill Bill 2” and that has been shown as full women and that has been directed by males.

( Barthes, Roland,2006)That has been shown as Umas character that has been seen as gaining revenge on the villains and they have been portrayed as who had been attempting to kill the protagonist and the costume could be understood as being shown in a skin-tight orange costume that had elevated the female figure and had shown the breasts more profoundly. ( Barthes, Roland,2006)The representation of the women in the film has been based on the understanding of the director view and that would be in the ideology of the narrative of the film and this could be attributed to Mulvey's view that the advantage of the feminity of the female body has been taken care of.

( Barthes, Roland,2006)

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