Representation Theory

Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze 

Feminist film theory arose as an academic critical approach in the late 1960s as part of the second wave of feminism (first wave = suffragettes)

Laura Mulvey, born 1941, is a British feminist film theorist whose most notable essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema focuses on the representation of women in sexual and objective ways. Her work was initially on Hollywood films, however, this concept of women being presented and viewed as sexual objects is also evident in almost all media texts today.

The main ideas of Mulvey's work state that we are used to women being objectified and presented in a sexual way, made to appeal to heterosexual males, irregardless of the actual gender and sexuality of the individual members of the audience. Women are to be looked at and to look good, and their objectification is to provide men with a scopophilia aspect of voyeurism. She suggests that the narrative within films tends to justify the 'looking at' of women through the use of cinematography (e.g. close-ups) and editing (e.g. eyeline matches). The music video which I have attached below, 'Satisfaction' by Benny Benassi, is a good example of this as the whole video comprises of close-up shots of women dressed in little clothing, posing and dancing suggestively.
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Most media texts have female characters that are subject to the male gaze. In brief explanation, this also links in with the Bechdel Test, a test mainly used against films that asks whether there are more than two women, named and who discuss something other than a man with each other. According to user-edited databases and the media industry, only about half of all films meet this requirement. Although this might not necessarily work with the media text I have chosen for this brief (music videos) since there is generally no dialogue, the Bechdel Test further backs up the theory which Mulvey presents, showing gender inequality in media texts and that female characters are often presented as nothing more than either a love interest or an 'object' to gain.

However Mulvey's male gaze theory, first published in 1975 and revised in 1981, is quite outdated. The rise in feminism has called attention to gender inequality and in a lot of modern media texts, women characters are often equal to male characters or women who present themselves in a sexual way often do it as a form of empowerment. A good example of this is 'Your Body' by Christina Aguilera. Although she is sexualised in the video and the cinematography and editing both support Mulvey's theory, she is using it to her advantage and she continuously displays dominance over the men in the video. . .

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Richard Dyer - Star Theory

A star can be defined as a very famous and most likely talented person; a celebrity.

Richard Dyer's star theory suggests that stars are images of how society would like them to be, constructed by institutions, in order to make society want to consume them and therefore generate money. He states that "A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of media and mediums". They form a persona which generally isn't a true representation of themselves, however it appeals to a target audience and makes them 'buy into' that identity. Dyer's theory is typically broken down into four key components:

• Stars as constructions
• Ideology and culture
• Audience and industry/institution
• Character and personality

Stars as Constructions

Although the 'stars' themselves may be real people, their images and how they are presented is just a persona, constructed so that society will buy into them. Pop stars are generally more successful and have a greater freedom with this as they generate their own material whereas, it's often more difficult for a film star to formulate an 'image' as their success is dependant on others (film directors, screenwriters, etc.).

Ideology and Culture

The cultural values and beliefs a star promotes is important to their success as a positive attitude will receive well with a target audience, for example, being charitable. Dyer himself states that "Stars represent and embody certain ideologies" and influence this through hegemony (leadership and dominance). If their attitudes are positive, this makes them a more desirable celebrity which society are more willing to consume. 

Audience and Industry/Institution

Industries and institutions are heavy influences on stars, shaping them to what they know the target audience wants. In the case of pop stars, record companies will shape them in a way that they know will make the most money out of the target audience. The audience will consume this image and follow the artist and buy their albums. A quote from Richard Dyer that supports this states that "Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions". 

Character and Personality

Stars build up a character that gives the audience an idea of what people are supposed to be like, based upon the image which they have constructed for themselves (and often an image which is not necessarily true to their 'real' selves). As described in the component 'Audience and Industry/Institution', these constructs are what an audience want to consume and feel the need to conform to.

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Tessa Perkins - Stereotypes

A stereotype is a generalised judgement used to categorise groups of people. They are generally perceived to be quite negative and sometimes offensive towards people of that particular group. Often they are also unreliable and take advantage of those in minority groups.

However, Tessa Perkins (1979) states that stereotyping isn't always a simple process as many of the ways stereotypes are presumed to work aren't always true. She identifies that stereotypes are not always negative, not always false and not always about minority groups, and argues that if they were always simple they wouldn't be accepted culturally.