Male Gaze

The male gaze refers to the ways in which the audience views the people presented.

Features of The Male Gaze involves the camera lingering on the curves of the female body, anything that happens to a woman is presented largely to the mans reactions to the event, the women are made to be seen as an object or possession, the female viewers must experience the narrative secondarily by identification with the male. The gaze suggests that woman are weak and defenseless.

There are three parts to the male gaze;
Men looking at women- Men tend to look at the 'curvy parts' of women. Like the idea of men don't tend to look at women in the eyes, but at the other parts of their bodies. (Cameras tend to focus on women's bodies rather than their faces)
Women looking at themselves- Women are made to look at themselves in a negative way, picking faults with parts of their appearance when they see how women looking in the media; when they have been airbrushed. It triggers a lack of self esteem and women become more reflective.
Women looking at women- Women judge and compare themselves to other girls.

In the music videos I have analysed, the women are not dressed in very much. For example, in Katy Perry's music video to 'Hot n Cold' she starts off by wearing a full length wedding dress, the video then goes on to show Katy rip off the bottom of her wedding dress to reveal her wearing a leotard. In parts of the video we are only shown Katy's legs meaning that the director is only focusing on the legs instead of a full length body shot.