Page 158 - Cultural Studies A Practical Introduction

142 Visual Culture

identification with the camera ’ s gaze – particularly in regard to the politics
of gender – has been an area rich with theoretical speculation.

Many film critics, inspired by Laura Mulvey ’ s landmark 1970s essay
“ Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema, ” claim that the classical Hollywood
style of filmmaking puts the audience spectator in the masculine subject

position, and represents the female characters on screen as objects of desire.

They argue that in conventional films, the spatial and temporal distinctions
between the gazes of the male director, the camera, the male character, and
the spectator are collapsed so that they all seem to be the same thing, and

that this unified gaze is directed toward the female character. This makes
a heterosexual, masculine way of perceiving the world seem natural and
normal because we consistently share his point of view when we consume
visual media. The ideological effects of this process extend beyond the
theater experience and carry over into everyday life, so that we no longer

question the objectification of women or patriarchal dominance in general
because we are so accustomed to “ seeing things his way. ” The spectator,
male or female, derives pleasure from the experience of voyeuristically
viewing women through the eyes, and therefore the sensibilities, of a het-
erosexual man. Obviously, this not only affects the way men look at and
understand women, but also contributes to how women are encouraged
to view themselves, that is, as objects to be looked at and desired rather
than as active, empowered subjects. Consider how many times you ’ ve been
pulled along as a camera lovingly, or lecherously, peers at the eroticized
details of a woman ’ s body. From Rear Window to Animal House to Blue
Velvet to Basic Instinct , some of Hollywood ’ s most famous scenes involve
the voyeuristic spectatorial thrill of seeing exposed women without being
seen in return. Now think of the number of times you ’ ve witnessed full -
frontal male nudity onscreen, or saw an explicit representation of male
sexual arousal. The vast differential between the frequencies of these occur-
rences suggests a fundamental disparity in gender power not only in visual
culture, but also in society as a whole.
The camera is not merely a tool people use to record fragments of
reality. It is also a machine that produces ways of seeing which are inten-
tional, persuasive, and invested with power. In our visual culture, media
technology intervenes between our eyes and the physical environment to
an astonishing degree. Compare, for a moment, that which you know
about the world from unmediated bodily experience and that which you
know from images captured and reproduced by cameras and computers.
We all have an idea of what Earth looks like, but unless you ’ re one of the