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Studiobinder | Film Theory | 男性凝视

What is the Male Gaze? Definition and Examples in Film  什么是男性凝视？电影中的定义和例子（节选）

Whenever you hear someone talking about the male gaze, you may be asking yourself, “What is the male gaze?”

大意：每当听到有人谈论男性凝视时，您可能会问自己：“什么是男性凝视？”

THEORY

 Where did the male gaze come from? What is the male gaze? Filmmaker and theorist Laura Mulvey first coined the term “the male gaze” in her seminal 1973 paper Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Mulvey’s essay, published two years later in Screen magazine, was written for an academic audience so it can be a little difficult to understand. Let’s try to break down her main points, one by one.

大意：理论

 男人的目光从何而来？什么是男性凝视？电影制片人和理论家劳拉·穆尔维（Laura Mulvey）在她 1973 年的论文《视觉快感和叙事电影》中首次创造性使用了“男性凝视”一词。两年后，穆尔维的文章发表在Screen magazine上，由于文章是面向学术性读者所写的，可能有点难以理解。让我们试着一一分解她的主要观点。

【单词积累】 

1、first coined the term  第一次使用这个说法，首先使用这个术语

2、break down her main points  分析要点

THE MALE GAZE

“In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female.”

大意：男性凝视：在一个由两性失衡构成的世界中，观看的乐趣被分为主动/男性和被动/女性。

First of all, Mulvey was talking about how our society is structured by, and for the benefit of heterosexual men (i.e., “the Patriarchy”). Men are considered the “active” do-ers of the world, while women are expected to take a more “passive” role supporting the men and/or men’s goals.

大意：首先，穆尔维谈论的是我们的社会是如何由异性恋男性构建的，并且是为了异性恋男性的利益（即“父权制”）。男性被认为是世界上“积极”的行动者，而女性则被期望扮演更“被动”的角色来支持男性和/或男性的目标。

【单词积累】 

3、patriarchy/'peɪtrɪɑːkɪ/   n. 父权制

4、doer/'duːə/   n. 实干家；行为者

In the context of cinema, it’s mostly men who write the films we watch, mostly men who make those films, and it is men who are usually the target audience. Therefore, men are usually given the lead in the stories themselves while female characters are assigned functions that are limited to serving the goals of those male protagonists.

大意：在电影的背景下，我们看的电影大多是男人写的，这些电影大多是男人制作，而目标观众通常是男人。因此，在故事中，男性通常演主角，而女性角色则被分配到仅限于服务那些男性主角的功能。

【单词积累】 

5、be given the lead    领衔主演，起带头作用

6、protagonist/prə'tæg(ə)nɪst/  n.  a leading actor, character, or participant in a literary work or real event  (戏剧的)主角，(故事的)主人公；现实事件(尤指冲突和争端的)主要参与者，主要人物；领导者，倡导者，拥护者

Remember, Mulvey was writing an academic paper for an academic audience. So, when she talks about “pleasure in looking,” she’s referring to the notion (taken from psychology) that part of why we love movies is because we enjoy watching people without being seen ourselves. While we may or may not agree with that idea, it’s important to understand for getting into Mulvey’s next point. 

大意：请记住，穆尔维正在为学术型读者撰写学术论文。因此，当她谈到“观看的乐趣”时，她指的是这样一个（来自心理学的）概念：我们喜欢电影的部分原因是因为我们享受看到人们而不被人们看到的状态。虽然我们可能同意也可能不同意这个想法，但这对理解穆尔维的下一点很重要。 

THE MALE GAZE

“The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure… with [her] appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact.”

大意：男性凝视

“坚定的男性凝视将其幻想投射到女性形象上...... [她] 的外表被编码为强烈的视觉和色情影响。”

“The determining male gaze” is what happens when we put it all together. Men writing the films, men making the films, men being the protagonists, and men being the target audience all combine into a unified — heterosexual male — perspective of female characters. In other words, we all been conditioned to adopt the male gaze because that is the way we were “raised” by traditional cinema.  

大意：“决定性的男性凝视”是我们把它们放在一起时会发生的事情。男人写电影、男人拍电影、男人是主角、男人是目标观众，这些都组合成一个统一的异性恋男性视角的女性角色。换句话说，我们都习惯于采用男性凝视，因为这是传统电影“抚养”我们的方式。

THE MALE GAZE

“Traditionally, the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the [cinema] auditorium.”

大意：男性凝视

“传统上，所展示的女性在两个层面上发挥作用：作为银幕故事中角色的色情对象，以及作为[电影院]礼堂内观众的色情对象。”

Female characters must perform their story function while also adhering to the heterosexual male sexual fantasy — though not always in a literal way. Simply being beautiful (or “sexy”) is all that’s needed. 

大意：女性角色必须履行她们的故事功能，同时还要坚持异性恋男性的性幻想，尽管并不总是以字面的方式。只需要美丽（或“性感”）即可。

PRACTICE

Recognize the male gaze

We know that the male gaze objectifies female characters. But more importantly, the male gaze also reaffirms the power of the Patriarchy to use women as props in service of the heterosexual male narrative.

大意：实践

识别男性凝视

我们知道男性凝视将女性角色物化。但更重要的是，男性凝视也重申了父权制将女性用作异性恋男性叙事的道具。

【单词积累】 

7、objectify female characters   物化女性角色

8、reaffirm/riːə'fɜːm/   vt. 再断定; 再肯定; 再证实

e.g. The government reaffirmed its commitment to the peace process. 政府重申了对和平进程的支持。

9、prop/prɒp/   n. （常 ~s）[戏剧]道具

INNOVATE

Subvert the male gaze

We subvert something by taking away its power, especially in the context of a long-accepted social construct, like the Patriarchy. With this in mind, how can we subvert the male gaze in our filmmaking choices? One way is to draw attention to it; and a good way to do that is by swapping genders. Take a role a woman always plays and cast a man instead.

大意：创新

颠覆男性凝视

我们通过剥夺某些事物的话语权来颠覆某些事物，尤其是在长期被接受的社会结构（例如父权制）的背景下。考虑到这一点，我们如何才能在我们的电影选择中颠覆男性凝视？一种方法是引起人们的注意；一个很好的方法是交换性别。选择一个男人去扮演一个女人总是扮演的角色。

【单词积累】 

10、subvert/səb'vɜːt/   vt. to lower in character, dignity, or quality   推翻；颠覆；破坏

e.g. The foolish and the absurd can subvert the status quo and give a different picture of the world. 愚蠢和荒谬能颠覆现状，让世界展现全新的面貌。

CONCLUSION

So, let’s recap. The main thing to remember about Laura Mulvey’s male gaze is that it’s the perspective of the heterosexual male fantasy. In writing, the male is the strong, confident protagonist and the female characters are there to serve his story. Female characters can be overly sexualized objects of desire, or simply there to tend to his wounds and support him in reaching his goal. In filming, the male gaze is represented by the camera. It lingers over the female body in ways meant to titillate both the male protagonist and the audience. It frames the female body in sections and dehumanizes her.

大意：结论

所以，让我们回顾一下。关于劳拉·穆尔维的男性凝视，它是异性恋男性幻想的视角。在写作中，男性是坚强、自信的主角，而女性角色则是为他的故事服务。女性角色可能是过度性感的欲望对象，或者只是照顾他的伤口并支持他实现目标。 

在拍摄中，男性的凝视由摄像机来表现。它以某种方式徘徊在女性身体上，旨在刺激男性主角和观众。它将女性身体分成几部分，使她失去人性。

【单词积累】 

11、recap/'riːkæp/    vt.to make into a short statement of the main points (as of a report)   扼要重述

e.g. To recap briefly, the agreement was rejected 10 days ago.  简短概括就是，这项协议10天前被否决了。

12、titillate/'tɪtɪleɪt/  vt. to cause a pleasurable stimulation of the feelings   逗引；激发；使高兴；使感兴趣

男性凝视

P1：引出话题：男性凝视

理论（what+why）

P2：名词出处

P3：解释一：两性失衡，女性成为工具人

P4-P6：原因：社会结构“父权制”、男性为主，女性为辅

P7：解释二：女性成为男性幻想的投射

P8：原因：男性在电影行业占主导地位

P9：解释三：女性成为男主与观众的xing 幻想对象

P10：原因：女性只被赋予“花瓶”职能

实践（how）

P11：识别

P12：颠覆——假设男女角色对调

P13：结论