Photography - Forgetting and Remembering

     This week’s reading, written by Laura Mulvey,  is about an obsession with the human form and pleasure in looking. According to one of Freud’s theories, scopophilia is a component of sexuality that drives independently of the erotogenic zones. In other words, by looking at something, the human form, it can invoke a sexual state.  I thought about this concept and I can see how men in particular are visual beings. They are visually stimulated by the female figure. When the human figure is exaggerated in certain key parts a spectator can have pleasure looking at the figure.  At the same token, I believe women enjoy being looked at and are turned on when they feel that they are sexy (I am only speaking for myself and personal experience). And so it can be this give and take relationship where the men are gazing and women are the passive sexual object. 
    One of the very first persons that I thought about when reading this article as a person that was highly objectified as a sexual figure was Marilyn Monroe. Her main job was to be looked at and to give those who were looking at her pleasure. Many of Monroe's photos were her in high hills, a bathing suit, naked, or in a corset. She became famous for it and was rumored to even have a relationship with the President. 

Marilyn Monroe circa 1950

    Mulvey states that the mainstream film industry has historically focused on the human form. The film industry wants to give its viewers pleasure and so the female character's main job is to be looked at so that the viewer and characters have pleasure. There are two different aspects of pleasure looking. One, the pleasure in using another person as an object of sexual stimulation. And the second developed through narcissism and the ego. Where one enjoys being looked at. Additionally, the spectator may dive into their own ego by looking at a character that is of his like and become fascinated with it. 

    Mulvey goes on to state how the male movie stars are these glamorous characters that are more complete and perfect and portray a power that is in control of the narrative and what happens. So there are two roles, one of the females where she is the one being looked at or gazed at and one of male where he is powerful and controls the narrative. The idea is to have other spectators admire this male character’s role in the movie and so that they identify with the character. 

    The psychoanalytical summary in terms of the female figures is that she lacks a penis and so it implies a threat to castration or unpleasure. Thus the woman’s role is to be gazed at for the enjoyment of men and activate this voyeuristic or fetish-like mechanics where it prevents this threat. 

    All and all, the psychoanalytic summary of this essay is something that I do not necessarily agree with, but I can see how Mulvey may have come to this conclusion. I believe that women and men have historically played these roles, where the woman is the passive figure that is being gazed at by the active male. It reflects how men and women interact in society. So when a filmmaker produces these stories they make it so that it is relatable to the general public. In current times, men and women have put on different roles. Women have proven that they can be the breadwinner of the family and be independent.  In some homes, men are the homemakers and the childcare providers. And so what you see on the big screen reflects modern roles where women are not always the beautiful passive figure but instead play the ER doctor that saves lives. 

Frank, Priscilla. “A Visual History of Marilyn Monroe as a Pin-up Icon.” HuffPost. HuffPost, February 16, 2016. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-visual-history-of-marilyn-monroe-pin-up-icon_n_56ba8d67e4b0c3c5504f5ee4. 

Mulvey, Laura. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. 1975. https://lms.hypothes.is/lti_launches