Luther Essay - Representation of Gender

Gender Gaze

The Male Gaze is the way in which men tend to look at women. specific characteristics of a woman tend to attract men. These features include - curves, breasts, legs etc. I is believed that men are obsessed with these features, therefore, women try hard to maintain an attractive look. The gaze is heavily used in the media industry, using what is seen to the majority of society as attractive women, to star and model, in movies, advertisements, shows and much more. They do this by using mise en scene to create a situation which is seen as 'Sexy'. The Male Gaze can be seen as dehumanizing by women because these media outlets tend to treat women as one-dimensional sex objects.

Example of the Male Gaze:

The Female Gaze is the way in which women tend to look at men. This is seen as the specific characteristics of a man which tends to be seen as attractive by women. These features include things such as being tall, strong, and brave. Visual characteristics such as having abs are also seen as attractive. Although, the Female Gaze is not as heavily used in the media industry as the Male Gaze, in recent years its presence has been clear. 

Example of the Female Gaze:

The Representation of Gender

Image 1

The first image is able to show how represent gender in a number of ways. Firstly, the men standing at the front are shown to be dominant in how they are in front of the woman behind. The woman in front is sitting. This could be a sign of being portrayed as inferior, as she doesn’t seem to be acting as a powerful or dominating figure should or would. The man wearing a suit is seen to have greater lighting than the other characters in the shot. This may suggest he is the leader of the group, again showing how men are stereotypically portrayed as dominating figures.  Another factor to show how gender is represented in this image is the character’s facial expressions. From the men we can perceive serious faces which could stereotypically demonstration that they are being much braver and acting severe to the situation they are reacting to. However, the women in this shot show more concern, shock and maybe even fear, which can agree with the female stereotype that women act in a much more emotional way than men, (who are portrayed as fearless individuals).

Image 2

This image is able to show a number of female stereotypes. The shot shows a women helping a female police officer after they seem to have been injured. The shot seems to focus on the fact the injured woman is a police officer. The fact that she is hurt could try to explain to the audience that she is trying to go in contradiction of the stereotype that men are the valiant and dominant gender. However, the image clearly shows her efforts are unsuccessful and therefore the stereotype is portrayed to be true and the job of a police officer is to be left to men. The woman on the left is show helping the injured police officer after her injury. This supports the stereotypical characteristic that women are caring towards others. The fact the woman has stopped and gone out of her way to help another is a stereotypical trait that is related to females.

Representation of Gender