In 1975, director and teacher Laura Mulvey made the concept of ‘the male gaze’ part of film theory.
No more nude scenes if there are men behind the camera.
This is the announcement from actress Keira Knightley, who is known from films such as ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘Love Actually’.
After giving birth to two children, she will no longer show her body to anyone. But that is not the only thing behind the decision:
It is partly vanity, but it is also due to ‘the male gaze’. I feel very uncomfortable when I have to try to portray that perspective today, she says in an interview in the Chanel Connect podcast.
But what is ‘the male gaze’ that the actress is talking about? And is it also found in Denmark?
TV 2 has dived into the phenomenon.
What does it mean?
In film theory, people talk about ‘the male gaze’ – the male gaze.
It was director and teacher Laura Mulvey who spread the concept in her now famous writing ‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema’ from 1975.
The main point behind the term is that many films and visual media over time have been carried by a masculine, heterosexual perspective in which women often appear sexualized.
Here, it is not the woman’s feelings, thoughts or own sexuality that are most important, but rather the man’s lustful gaze on her.
