Representation

Define 'representation' -

Representation refers to the construction in any media (especially mass media) of aspects of 'reality' such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech and writing as well as in still or moving pictures. 

The Male Gaze: Laura Mulvey -

The Gaze is a feminist theory developed to highlight the power imbalance between men and women analysing the way men see and portray women, as well as the way women view both themselves and other women. Mulvey argues that in classic hollywood films in particular women are merely represented to provide visual pleasure to men , and the audience is constructed in a manner where they are all expected to be men. 
This male gaze is both voyeuristic and fetishistic. Her concept of "to-be-looked-at-ness", exemplifies that women were merley shown on screen in classic hollyowod in order to provide men with visual pleasure and have an erotic impact. Mulvey argued that the typical key protagonist within a classic hollywood film was male and the audience members where similarly typically expected to be men. This therefore, means the audience member gains narcissistic pleasure from identifying with the films protagonist,placing themselves "in the shoes" of the films hero.