The Global Gaze: Analysing Laura Mulvey's 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)'

Laura Mulvey’s seminal essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ published in 1975 remains a cornerstone in feminist film theory, offering a critical framework to analyse cinema’s patriarchal structures through psychoanalytic theory. Laura Mulvey’s seminal work on the “male gaze” critically examines how classical Hollywood cinema perpetuates gendered power imbalances by positioning women as passive objects of visual pleasure, drawing from Freudian and Lacanian frameworks. Her argument extends beyond film studies, offering a critical lens for scholars of literature analysing gendered representations in literary and visual narratives. Despite its initial publication five decades ago, Mulvey’s critique remains relevant in contemporary discourse, informing analyses of gender dynamics in digital culture, literature, and media. As evolving storytelling forms continue to negotiate feminist and patriarchal tensions, her insights remain instrumental in deconstructing narrative structures that shape identity and agency. This study underscores Mulvey’s enduring influence, highlighting how her work continues to engage with and challenge the persistent ideological frameworks governing representation and spectatorship in modern cultural production.