Matthew Dalby

The Male Gaze

The media categories facial expressions into the following:

Women
 Chocolate Box: 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: 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 sells.
 Super-smiler: 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’.
Marjorie Ferguson (1980)
Men
 Carefree: nymph like, active, healthy, gay,
vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained
outward-flowing hair, more outward-going
than the above, often smiling or grinning.
 Practical: concentrating, engaged on the
business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-
directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair
often short or tied back.
 Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in
many respects - the eyes are less wide,
perhaps shaded, the expression is less
reserved but still self-sufficient and
confident; milder versions may include a
slight smile.
 Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated,
acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit
of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes
close to a sort of archness.
 Catalogue: a neutral look as of a dummy,
artificial, wax like; features may be in any
position, but most likely to be with eyes
open wide and a smile, but the look remains
vacant and empty; personality has been
removed. (Millum 1975, 97-8)
Trevor Millum (1975)

In the music video ‘Dynamite’ by Taio Cruz, women can be seen as objects in the video because of
the costumes, props and ‘looks’ that the women and Taio Cruz give to each other as well as the
actual lyrics that he sings.
Firstly, right at the beginning of the video (which is embedded below this document), the women
are wearing low cut tops and are using sanding machines in what looks like a work site. This gives
the overall feel of the mise en scene a sexual one because of the way that the women are standing
and the sweat that the first close up of a woman shows gives the sense of hard work and fetishism
about the whole situation.
The look that that women is giving is a suggestive and seductive one because although she is not
looking directly at the camera, she is looking into a fixed point in the distance (to where Taio Cruz
will come from moments later) and gives the sense that they are all waiting for him to arrive. It gives
that feeling that the women obey him as if they are just objects to him because when he arrives,
they all look and crowd around him and he even dismisses them with his hands as he walks away
(‘give me some space for both my hands’ are the lyrics that he uses).
There are also women leaning over the cars so that their backs are facing him, showing another
connotation to sexual endeavours and that when he shows up they know what he wants straight
away; relating to prostitution and that women have been seen to be owned by the male.