Are Female Images in TV Docu-porn Represented for a Male Gaze - Essay Example

Screen Bodies: Are Female Images in TV Docu-porn Represented for a Male Gaze? I. “Male Gaze”—Laura Mulvey (500) The complex interaction of “looks” is a specific topic in film and cinema studies. From a perspective of psychoanalysis, Mulvey’s article “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” provides insightful dimensions particular for the studies of viewing object and subject. The “active/male, passive/female” and the “power of gaze” concepts substantially explained the pre-conceived human images that are sexually (gender-wise) split between the powerful viewing subject and repressive object to be looked at, and thus the following unbalanced “pleasure” the narrative cinema offers to spectators. The crucial point of active “male gaze” in shaping the content and structure of representation also suggests her concern about the power of “gaze”. As Mulvey claims ‘in a world ordered by sexual imbalances pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly’, she argues that visuality is structured in this gendered way, the castration complex has implication for images of women in this patriarchal visuality. She says that ‘the representation of the female form...in the last resort...speaks castration and nothing else.’ Thus Mulvey suggests that women cannot be represented in the movies on their own terms, but only in patriarchal terms. Mulvey’s essay also draws on two psychoanalytic concepts: Scopophilia and narcissistic to elucidate different pleasurable structures of looking within the cinematic situation. The “Scopophilic” attribute is defined as the pleasure arising from looking at an erotic object. The sexual satisfaction then comes from watching, in a controlling sense and an objectified other. In contrast, the “narcissistic” (ego libido) is explained as the further developing of “Scopophilic”, the process of spectators to seek the likeness of their self-image with the characters they were seeing on-screen ,thus to identify and recognize the “ego” existence. Mulvey suggests that both of the two aspects in looking pleasure have privileged a “male gaze”. The image of woman was represented for the active gaze of man. The male spectators enjoy the pleasure of watching female images on-screen and attain the satisfaction of self-recognition, whereas female images represented served as either the erotic object for characters within the screen story or the erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium ( Mulvey 1989:19) Mulvey’s argument on visual pleasure was basically based on the background of cinema and film studies, however, some basic principles on studying spectatorship and the way of human body being represented might still make sense when we turn to another context. Therefore, based on comparative case studies on two TV programs, the following part is going to analyze if the female images in TV Docu-porn are represented for a male gaze. II. Case studies of TV docu-porns Family Business and Hardcore 1. Double standards on Male and Female body representations(600) With the widespread advancement of digital technology, as Arthurs assume we have entered into a third era in television—‘an era of abundance’ which has broadly expanded the “diversity” of the content on-screen and thus the “choices” of the audience confront. ‘Narrowcast audiences are no longer “objects” of mass marketing, but “subject” of choice’ (Hartley 2002:63) It suggests that the taste/need of the audience is influencing the content and structure of the program’s production. Catering to the needs of the contemporary audience, the Docu-porn is one form of the sexually explicit content abundantly seen on TV screen. The TV spectators are actively seeking the content to cater to their taste but not the passive “objects” waiting to be given any screen images. However, it should be recognized that not all the spectators are equally processing the diverse “choices” and the ability to influence the content and structure of body image representations on screen is also gendered. We can find much evidence on the sexually explicit scenes on Family Business and the Hardcore that “double standards” were exerted on the representation of male and female bodies, especially of their sex parts. To better satisfy the taste of male spectators, the explicit women characters within the story were excessively exposed, however, much less camera focuses were put on the sex parts of men actors or even when there is a need to do so the sexually explicit part of men were either blurred with technical solutions or were captured in long shots. Take one scene on Family Business for example, after finishing a sex story shot in Adam’s home, both the man and woman performers were standing beside the table to take some drinks and their bodies were right within the centre of the camera scope. Then we can find that the sex part of the man was blurred using filters whereas the nude girl beside him was explicitly exposed and even tightly focused by the camera starting from her face, breast and then to the under part of her body. The following shot is also a typical example. Adam hands a towel to the male actor who was taking a shower in the bathroom. As the camera, following Adam’s step, approached to his body, we did not see a nude body standing in front of the screen but a couchant position with his sex part naturally avoiding direct exposure. In contrast, when the same scene is enacted by a woman actor, no matter whether they were changing clothes or having a shower, most of time, their bodies nude or sexually exposed were naturally involved in the camera without the same intentional adjusting of shooting angle that has been applied to the male actors. The male characters represented in Hardcore have some subtle differences with those in Family Business. The life of English girl Felicity in America mainly constitutes the core part of the story and thus she was predominantly focused in the whole series. Her male partners in the porn video were scarcely involved in the documentary. However, The moment those male characters entered into the shooting scope, we can find out a frequently used method of setting the camera viewfinder in a position behind them or just be in a particular angle that could avoid a direct shooting on their sex parts. In addition, the similar blurring solutions were also adopted to cover up the sex parts of men characters. (Hardcore) The evidence from those scenes on the two programs could be explained by Mulvey’s argument that the patriarchic society privileges a “male gaze”. The “double standards” of representing male and female bodies suggest that the female images were displayed to satisfy the visual pleasure of “male”. 2. Women as objectified image/Men as bearer of the look (1500) The “voyeuristic-scopophilic” look, as argued by Mulvey, functions as a crucial part of visual pleasure and is associated with three different elements: the camera, the audience and the characters within the screen illusion (Mulvey p. 25.) The camera is mainly used to record pre-filmic events and the characters represented on screen stories, however, are pre-arranged for a ‘male gaze’ and satisfy the visual pleasure of male spectators. Female images are represented as the “object” of combined gaze: that of the male protagonist in direct scopophilic contact with them on screen and that of the spectators fascinated with the sense of gaining control and possession off screen. From the cases in Family Business and the Hardcore, female body being set as “object of the look” could be reflected in the following three aspects: A. Male characters on-screen are judging/testing women actors’ body Such a scene could frequently be found on Family Business. Adam as the producer and distributor of adult movies recruits female performers in his stories who are often represented as happy with “real” sex. They choose this industry being a highly paid occupation, apply for this job and are called for interview as natural as what have been proceeded in other fields expect that the female images are always set as the “object” being judged and selected by male characters on screen. A typical example can be found in one episode. Adam interviews the female applicants one by one. He asks them several normal questions about the relative experiences in this industry and inevitably the following step is let them explicitly show how perfect their bodies are. Then we can see that all the girls took off their clothes, stood in front of Adam and other male staff, gave a dance with the rhythm of a man’s whistle and simultaneously were taken photos by a photographer in the movie-making team. In this process, men characters on screen are presented in the position to judge/test a woman’s body and they are endowed with the on-screen power of control, the privilege of watching, and making a decision. In Hardcore, English girl Felicity, a single mother and the mainly focused female character in the documentary, with agent John starts her work in America. The same thing could also be found in many scenes here. Felicity follows all the schedules arranged by John. As she was brought to meet some so-called famous porn film producers (all of them are men), the first and primary step the docu-porn represents is showing her body. After a close viewing of the sexual part of her body, producers she met either give complementary comments or personally touch her ass/breast (like the old guy in final shoot). All of these scenes have proved that Felicity is presented as the looking “object” ready to be judged by male authorities and a passive “target” of the “subjective camera” B. Male characters on-screen are looking at and focussing camera towards female performers (450) Technological developments, especially the miniaturization of digital camera, have changed the process of production and made possible intimate portrayals of the previously hidden aspects of everyday life (Dovery 2000; Arthurs).The ways of camera, the new editing technologies being used, to some extent, could also tell us who is looking at the “object” within the screen stories and leading our eyes to follow; who is being looked at as the shooting “object” on screen and being to be focused on by spectators off-screen. In Family Business, there is one episode: seven girls were sitting on the sofa, facing Adam, ready to perform in his sex story, of which the theme is female self-reassurance. On screen, Adam holds the camera and moves it closely approaching to their explicitly exposed body parts, and finally to their self-enjoyable faces. It should be noted that, nearly all the partners in Adam’s shooting team including the DV recorder, the person responsible for taking photos and post-editing are all men characters. On the screen they are presented as the ‘subject’ to look at female bodies and enjoys the powerful role of making use of camera and other technical vehicles to determine how female characters should move/ show their bodies. Therefore, a direct impact was exerted on the eyes of spectators who are off screen. We are unconsciously driven to follow their looking angles, to be put in a pre-arranged situation better stratified for the gaze of male. The same scenes could be also found on Hardcore. For instance, in the first shoot of Felicity’s career life in America, her image on screen was nude, standing in front of a man who was leading how she should move the body and taking pictures on her. We can also feel that our eyes were directed by the camera movements from deep close-ups on her face, breast to the legs. Just as Mulvey observes, the ‘subjective camera’ deeply focusing on particular “object” was actually liberally used from a angle of male protagonist who are trying to draw spectators deeply into his position and share his gaze. Even the camera movements could be detected, a watching desire determined by the action of the male protagonist on screen. The camera held by male characters on screen is controlled to flow movements compatible with the human eyes. The first two elements associated with looks, camera and audience, as mentioned by Mulvey, are obsessively subordinated to the needs of characters within the screen illusion--male ego C. Male spectators off-screen are enjoying the way female image were represented on-screen (self-recognition /ego libido ) 600 words According to Mulvey (1975: 12) “the spectator identifies with the main male protagonist. . . [whose]. . .characteristics are not those of the erotic object of his gaze, but those of the more perfect, more complete, more powerful ideal ego conceived in the original moment of recognition in front of the mirror”. The male characters, presented with hyper masculine ideals, the controlling sexuality and with the power in patriarchal society, therefore, allow the male spectator to incorporate those ideal attributes into their own identity. As part of the voyeuristic gaze, male spectators may experience narcissistic identification with the images of male bodies being depicted on screen. The evidences could be found through the story-telling structures as well as the sexually exposed male bodies on Family Business and Hardcore. Story-telling structures: Based in Los Angeles, the series focused on the pornography industry and the life of Adam Glasser, a 40-something reality porn star and video director who uses the stage name "Seymore Butts". Also featured on the series were his son, Brady along with his mother, Lila Glasser, and his 60-something cousin, Stevie Glasser, both of whom help Adam run the eponymous "family business" of the series, which in this case is a successful porn video production and distribution house in the San Fernando Valley, known for the "Seymore Butts" line of videos. Many episodes focus on Adam, a single father, raising his young son, Brady; as well as keeping his professional life separate from his private life. Many episodes feature how Adam deals with the problems he encountered in his adult movie-making business and how he was trying to attain others’ respect on what he do for a living. Other episodes focus on his difficulties in establishing relationships (finding Miss Right) outside the porn industry. Adams mother, Lila adds to the mix by setting her son up on blind dates or with a speed dating service. He has been set as the main role to promote the whole story’s development. For example, one episode particularly follows his preparation for a 20-year classmates re-union. He experienced uncomfortable faces after people know what he does, however, finally the plot was set with more pleasant response—he does not suffer from a embarrassed rejection instead gets appreciation for his porn videos; one lady request him to send the whole series of his video. All this convey a implication that he was attaining others’ respect on his career as well as his self-image. Such kind of story-telling structure is set for the male looking pleasure of narcissistic identifications. Adam is portrayed as the “mirror image” on screen, whose powerful controlling abilities to resolve business difficulties and to receive respect from others and thus the following self-recognition properly match the desire of male spectators to identify their ‘self-images’ with the ‘screen surrogate’ (Mulvey) The male spectators misrecognize and identify the sense of self-recognition as Adam was represented to be accepted and respected by surrounding peoples within the screen stories. Sexual male bodies on screen: ‘Curiosity and the wish to look intermingle with a fascination with likeness and recognition: the human face, the human body, the relationship between the human form and its surroundings’ (Mulvey p17). The images of male characters on screen are always depicted with hyper masculine, more perfect figures than male spectators experienced in their own bodies. Through displaying those ideal characters, male spectators would be set in a situation to temporarily forget who they are and where they were and conceive the ideal images as the reflected body of the self. They recognize or misrecognize a sense of ideal ego as well as the self-awareness. Take many scenes of Family Business; women characters were always depicted as waiting for and enjoying the sex actions controlled by those ideal male bodies. They are sexually subordinated to the powerful masculine bodies, which is intentionally to draw the viewing pleasure of male spectators to identify the power of their own bodies on women in real lives with that of those more perfect ideal bodies on female characters within screen illusion plot. It is just the ‘ego ideal of the identification process’ that facilitate male spectators to pleasure their real bodies with ‘investigating the woman, demystifying her mystery’ and controlling her sexual experiences. 3. “Representation” and “Reality” of what women performers have experienced on the movie-making process. (750) From all above the visual representations TV docu-porn dedicated to transmit from screen images to off-screen spectators, we could infer that it is catered to and pre-designed for men’s pleasure. Additionally, the underlying details disregarded or ignored in those TV docu-porn programs could also be detected a narrative structures more favored by a ‘male gaze’. Such as not enough and clear answering those question: why could the pornography industry draw ‘performers’ huge interests to enter into? What personal reasons push/motivate women choose it? Where are the consumers/consumption of their video products? And also does the pleasure women actor represented on-screen equate with the reality they experienced. Albeit on these aspects, Hardcore might have exhibited some subtle differences from Family Business. Family Business Many episodes on Family Business feature that all the women actors within Adam’s business apply with enthusiasm to enter into it, enjoy those ‘sex work’ and are totally satisfied with the remunerative occupation. A typical example in the first season is that: a young woman Myna (Adam’s assistant) requests to go in front of the camera and create the porn actress persona Mari Possa. Adam tries to convince her not enter into porn industry and even asks what her justifications are. Myna’s replies ‘I like the whole being free and not caring what other people think’ and ‘bring pleasure to people’s lives….what’s wrong with that?’ The direct effect of those scenes is to convey some information or the understanding from the eyes of men and for the visual pleasure of men audience: The pornography industry keeps on flourishing because women actively choose to enter into it and enjoy the material benefits as well as the sexual happiness from their work. However, not so much emphasis is put on whose demand is driving the pornography industry, which is just depicted as a naturally pre-existing/unquestionable field and also does not tell explicitly the life of porn consumers. For example, in the second season, Adam with the girls dreaming to be porn-stars went to attend the ‘Adult Video Rewards’. Most of the scenes are focused on body shows by women, however, when the camera turns to the porn consumers, although we could see these porn fans occasionally involved within the screen scope are men, actually nothing more than it has ever been shown on this program. It is also the evidence that the eyes of men are reluctant to focus on whose desires are really motivating women’s performance in porn industry. Hardcore Compared to the narrative structure in Family Business, the documentary Hardcore tells us some thing apparently different: The life of a woman working in porn industry does not simply mean favorable earnings and enjoying happiness, but somewhat pathetic, helpless and occasionally with painful sexual experiences. The main clue in this program follows a 25 years old single mother Felicity, who travels from England to Los Angeles, the centre of porn industry, with her agent Richard to make a career as a porn-star. The relationship between them is depicted rather different from that of Adam with those girl performers in Family Business. The agent, Richard, behaves as little more than a pimp, taking her around like a prized possession, constantly pressuring her to do things she had said she categorically did not want to do; and getting very angry with her when she continued to refuse. It became clear that if he persuaded her to do the more hardcore, disturbing stuff, he would get more money. It was obvious that he didn’t care for her sanity or her physical welfare, constantly pushing and nagging her to go further, introducing her to more and more hardcore film makers. In contrast to the harmonious and mutual caring atmosphere exhibited between Adam and his business partners, Felicity does not have free choices but much tends to be pushed or forced to do what she has strongly rejected. On this aspect, Hardcore practiced an effort to unfold on screen--the pathetic experiences women in porn industry are facing, which are so different from the enjoyable sexual pleasure they perform or have to act on porn video scenes. I have just checked the grammar, the sentences are too long, but it is all right for now. Writer. Read More