The Male Gaze

Definitions:

• Chocolate box - 'noun - (informal) sentimentally pretty or appealing'

Marjorie Ferguson defined 'chocolate box' as - "half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality."

• Invitational - Marjorie Ferguson defined it as 'emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.'

• Super smiler - Marjorie Ferguson also defined this as 'full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.

• Romantic or sexual - 'a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.'

• Seductive - Trevor Millum said that this look is 'when the eyes are slightly wider eyes, perhaps shaded, the expression is a slight smile but still self-sufficient and confident.'

• Carefree - Trevor Millum also said that this look is 'nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.'

• Practical - Millum also said of the practical look 'concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.'

• Comic - Millum said of this 'deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.'

Analysis of Male Gaze in Film:

This is a scene from the film 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit', it introduces Roger's wife, Jessica Rabbit. Even though the majority of the characters in this film are cartoon, in this instance especially they have really exaggerated the features of certain characters so we get a general idea of who they are and what they are about. In Jessica Rabbit's case we can plainly see that the animators of the film have tried to create an 'ideal' woman possibly in the eyes of men, especially in this first scene with her in because of the fact that she is in quite a revealing dress and singing a slow and seductive song. At points in the scene it does focus on her and fixates upon points of her body, such as the exaggerated hips. However she also has a very sultry and seductive facial expression which is also an example of trying to attract the male gaze. The thing with this character though is that she is meant to be looked and gazed at because she is the 'sex object' of the film and pretty much the majority of the rest of the characters are either jealous or attracted to her. Even though she is a cartoon I think the effect of the male gaze is definitely still there and the animators creating the character would have intended to create and very invitational and almost 'chocolate box' kind of character.