The male gaze happens when the camera puts us into the perspective of a heterosexual man, the woman is displayed as an erotic object for both the character within the frame as well as for the spectator. The man is the dominant power within the fantasy and the woman is passive to the active gaze of the man. The first advertisement plays on using the woman as a trophy, the woman is portrayed as the price you pay for the Lynx shower gel and you get the woman because she is an object. She's something you can buy. Even in Renaissance women were painted nude exclusively for the male viewer, their head was often turned away and gazing into a mirror but with their body facing the viewer to show they are aware of the male gaze - relating back to John Burgers statement.
"In the seventies, advertising and photography was controlled by men. Women in the real world were working for better prospects and opportunities, but the patriarchal media persisted in regurgitating all the old female stereotypes where the chasm between the real and the represented ("fact and fantasy") was wide and growing. The Gender Trap, a book by Carol Adams and Rae Laurikietis identified five dominant stereotypes: the carefree girl, the career woman, the hostess, the wife and the model (Myers 1986, 88). The constructed model stereotype was considered to be the most divergent of all from a real life woman; always perfectly dressed and made up, always in an exotic location and never seen in real domestic situations."
Unknown. (unknown). The Male Gaze. Available: http://www.firstpages.com/hauschild/photography/AIB/AIB/PG.htm. Last accessed 6th Apr 2012.
images- Mariana de Oliveira. mari_skywalker@hotmail.com. The male gaze - Advertising. 6th Apr 2012.
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