Laura Mulvey(An introduction to film studies, third edition)

Laura Mulveys article "Visual pleasure and narrative cinema" emphasises the importance of the patriarchal view point in the cinema; that the pleasure gained from looking(scopophilia) is a male pleasure and

quote:

"The look in cinema is controlled by the male and directed at the female, this is often referred to as 'the male gaze'"

Scopophilia can be directed in two area's: first, voyeurism, that is scopopphilic pleasure linked to sexual attraction, and, second scopophilic pleasure which is linked to narcissistic identification. Mulvey argues that this identification is always with the male is is the pivot of the film, its hero, while the female is often seen as a threat.

Patriarchy and phallocentrism are intrinsically linked; the phallus is a symbol of power, of having(note that guns are used in films: guns=phallus=power). The women has no phallus, she is castrated which related back to Freudian theory that the woman is lacking and therefore inferior because she has no phallus.