Study task one

Visual and Other pleasure

• Primary document 
• Collection of analytical essays
• Male gaze theory
• Objectification of women
• Traditional roles of women 
• Hetrosexual roles within films
• The male controls film fantasy 

Stars and Audiences

• Bias- own experiences
• Criticism of Laura Mulvey's work
• Explores ways in which males are objectified
• Analysis of Picnic and the sexualisation of males within it. 
• Star Profiles

Culture Theory and Popular Culture 

• Secondary summary
• In reference to two texts 
• Mass desire vs castration 
• Psychosocial theorists-freud
• Gaining pleasure from the sexulisation of women 
• Un-biased summary of original text 

Triangulation: A critical analysis surrounding the sexualisation of women 

Primary information is mostly gained from mulvey's work with dyer developing commentary upon her findings, this is then processed further as storey then comments upon the two texts, using both primary and secondary information.


All articles focus upon the ways in which gender may be expressed within film. Mulvey focuses upon feminist issues within the sexualisation of women through film, and argues how the male gaze positions women as objects in which males can sexualise. Storey then gives a brief overview of Mulvey's findings developing a secondary summary, primarily focusing upon the ways in which the media consume texts.Dyer then debates the validity of Mulvey's argument, asking why the reader is always a hetrosexual male within Mulvey's theory. He suggests that both women and males, hetrosexual or not, may be the consumer. He also suggests that males are also widely sexualised within films and contain their own gender roles.

The text in which highlights the primary most effectively is that of Mulvey's work, as she herself is discussing her own theory. Although both Storey and Dyer effectively reference Mulvey, with Dyer using her quotations to back his own valid points.

Dyer uses Mulvey's quotes in order to criticize her work by comparing it to the critical findings of other writers. An example of this being "Laura's use of freudian thinking leads her to conclude that the male gaze produces a voyeuristic pleasure. Studlar argues that the fetasisation of the female body has the potential of producing the alternative measure of  masochistic between male moviegoer and female star."  He then later goes on to formulate that this occurs due to an individual's relationship with their mother. A factor in which is not explored in Mulvey's work although theorist Freud has pre-determined this within his work, a contrary factor as Mulvey has previously looked greatly into his work.