Media Studies A-Level
Male gaze
What Male gaze means in Media Studies A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definition of Male gaze
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Male gaze in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: AQA
A concept that voyeurism connects to because the viewer is often invited to look at a figure, frequently a woman, framed as an object of observation rather than a subject with agency.
Topics that use Male gaze
- Feminist theories (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- Achieved equality as a claim
- Application of theory to media texts and industries
- Audience position
- Critical evaluation of media framing
- Individual choice versus structural inequality
- Normalisation of male authority
- Patriarchy
- Post-feminism
Using Male gaze in the exam
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