The Female Male Gaze And Its Cultural Consumption

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Miscellaneous, grade: 2,0, Free University of Berlin (John F. Kennedy Institut für Nordamerikastudien), course: Framing Reality, language: English, abstract: The study of film has been going on for several decades. During this time, the focus has been, especially in the 1970s, on looking (the gaze) and the spectator in general. Here in this paper I would like to look at the female also a bit on male gaze in connection with the movies Network and Blow Up. This means I will also consider film theory of the 1970s and 1980s but I want to focus my insight on contemporary spectatorship. To do this, I will also give a short overview of historical findings and important authors and their theses and how their theses would work in this day and age. However, my intention is to argue that Laura Mulvey’s thesis that the male gaze focuses on female objects only is partly outdated and that she left the female as a passive spectator, which is not true, because nowadays females are more active than males in terms of identification with their favourite stars on the screen. That identification can take on different levels starting with admiration because of looks, talent or taking them as role models which will furthermore end in consumption; may it be fashion, cosmetics or hairstyles.

This volume provides an in-depth examination of the role of sexuality in consumers’ life course and in the marketing of products and services. Leading scholars in the field define the most up-to-date picture of theories of sexuality in marketing and consumer research, mapping the topic through diverse theoretical lenses, addressing queer and feminist research, and putting sexuality and consumption in context. The book brings together leading international marketing scholars to build on the growing interest in theories of sexuality, queer theory, and intersectionality, which are gaining more interest among institutions and researchers interested in equality and diversity. While this book builds on existing expertise in consumer culture scholarship, it is the first time a marketing book focuses on sexuality, adding value to the existing repertoire in gender and feminist literature. The chapters are organised into three key sections: Part 1 maps the marketing and consumer research field, discussing how sexuality can be studied through different lenses; Part 2 focuses on queer and feminist theorising, drawing on LGBTQIA+ theory, queer theory, and theories of intersectionality to analyse how overlapping social categories interact to influence consumer behaviour, identity, and experiences in the marketplace; and Part 3 explores the personal and social aspects of sexuality, offering a broad overview of issues of gender and sexuality, digitalisation, and the sexual body. This text will be of direct interest to scholars and researchers within the fields of marketing, consumer research, sociology, and media studies. The aim of this book is to help scholars and students to develop a broader understanding about the interplay between sexuality, society, and the market.

Examines the emergence of gay male and female heterosexual alliances within contemporary media.

In 1975 Laura Mulvey published her seminal essay on the male gaze, ushering in a new era in understanding the politics and theory of looking at the female body. Since then, feminist thinking has expanded upon and revised Mulvey's theory and much of the Western world has seen a resurgence in feminist activism as well as the rise of neoliberalism and shifts in digital culture and (self-)representation. For the first time, this book addresses what it means to look at the fashioned female body in this radical new landscape. In chapters exploring the fashioned body within contexts such as queerness, veiling, blackness, pregnancy, fatness, and criminality, Revisiting the Gaze addresses intersectional debates in feminism and re-evaluates the concept of the gaze in light of recent social and political changes. With an interdisciplinary approach, bridging fashion and fine art, this book opens the door to discussions about the male gaze and the fashioned body.

This book examines the role of popular culture in the construction of gendered identities in contemporary society. It draws on a wide range of popular cultural forms - including popular music, newspapers and television - to illustrate how femininity and masculinity are produced, represented and consumed. The authors blend primary and secondary research to offer the reader a balanced yet novel overview of the area. Students are introduced to key theories and concepts in the fields of gender studies and popular culture, which are made accessible and interesting through their application to topical examples such as DJs, binge drinking and computer games. The book is structured into three clear, user-friendly sections: 1. Production, gender and popular culture: An investigation of who produces popular culture, why gendered patterns occur, and how they impact on content. 2. Representation, gender and popular culture: An examination of how men and women are represented in contemporary popular culture, and how notions of (in)appropriate femininity and masculinity are constructed. 3. Consumption, gender and popular culture: An exploration of who consumes what in popular culture, how gendered consumption relates to space, and what the effects of consuming representations of gender are. Gender and Popular Culture will be essential reading for students and scholars of media and cultural studies at all levels.

Lury weaves unique arguments over the expansive nature of consumption, including explanations as to how poorer segments of society do in fact contribute to consumer culture and how a commodity moves beyond its function and assumes a cultural and symbolic meaning. Not only does the author explore the way an individual's position in social groups structured by class, gender, race, and age affects the nature of his or her participation in consumer culture, but also how this culture itself is instrumental in the defining of social and political groups and the forming of an individual's self-identity.

Much of the criticism on Stephenie Meyer's immensely popular 'Twilight' novels has underrated or even disparaged the books while belittling the questionable taste of an audience that many believe is being inculcated with anti-feminist values. Avoiding a repetition of such reductive critiques of the series's purported shortcomings with respect to literary merit and political correctness, this volume adopts a cultural studies framework to explore the range of scholarly concerns awakened by the 'Twilight novels and their filmic adaptations. Contributors examine 'Twilight's debts to its predecessors in young adult, vampire, and romance literature; the problems of cinematic adaptation; issues in fan and critical reception in the United States and Korea; and the relationship between the series and contemporary conceptualizations of feminism, particularly girl culture. Placing the series within a broad tradition of literary history, reception studies, and filmic adaptation, the collection offers scholars the opportunity to engage with the books' importance for studies of popular culture, gender, and young adult literature.