The male gaze can be described as a power relationship between a heterosexual male and a female. In film, the male gaze develops when the audience is put in place of the heterosexual male behind the lens and displays the female as a sexual object for both the characters in the film, as well as the audience watching the film. The female then becomes passive to the active gaze of the male. In today's movies, the male gaze is depicted much more blatantly than times during the old Hollywood era. Films today, especially action and horror, push us to look at these women as attractive and sexually appealing; clearly with the male audience in mind. Three views exist on how film can portray women's sexuality and objectify them. In Laura Mulvey's essay, she discusses how we as a society must eliminate the modern film process and how this will be the only way we can finally free women from being sexually objectified. .
Due to heterosexual males behind the camera, we as an audience witness through the male gaze. Films during the Old Hollywood era were much more subtle in how women were pranced around compared to todays films in which women are objectified purely in a sexual fashion. Even when women are in an authoritarian role they are still objectified through the use of beauty, lack of clothing and body language amongst many more. The explanation of how the male gaze dominates is quite obvious as one watches practically any film. This is not apparent specifically in films alone, this is apparent in art, film, music, videos, and especially in advertising. The reason behind why this has been happening since the early days of film is because there has always been a sovereignty of males in production and artistic jobs. .
Women in passive roles solicits a sense of sympathy from the audience, which in return the audience reciprocates by wanting to comfort and protect, thus making her a victim or a damsel in distress.
