The Male Gaze and Social Media
It has always been the ambition of the media to appeal to the masses and invoke desire, whether through films or advertising. For a long time, and even still today, the masses that mattered were men. In feminist theory, the concept of the ‘Male Gaze’ explores the way viewers and consumers engage with visual media in a way that sexualises women in order to empower men. It is specifically targeted at heterosexual men and sees the objectification of women as a fulfillment of male desire. The term was coined in the 1970s by British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey. She used it to analyse the structure, characters, plotline and overall nature of films of the time. Mulvey’s theory challenged previously accepted ideas and social norms and questioned why audiences and viewers of films and other media were positioned to view women only from the perspective of a straight male. Over the last 40 years, the progression of female representation in films years has increased exponen...