Roland Barthes argues that interpreting a work solely based on the author's identity prevents the reader from fully understanding the text. He believes readers should separate the work from its creator. Laura Mulvey asserts that films often objectify women because men control the camera and gaze. She describes how the male gaze puts the audience in the perspective of a heterosexual man focusing on a woman's body. Vanessa Winship discusses how women see themselves through the images defined by masculine culture, recognizing an ideal version despite anxiety.

3. Roland barthes
Death of the
author
• argues against methods reading that rely
on aspects of an author's identity to distil
meaning from their work.
• readers must liberate text from
interpretive tyranny by separating work
from its creator to understand it fully.

4. Roland barthes
Reinforcing
cultural myth
• modern cultural phenomena often have a
status and image built up around them,
such as red wine → social equaliser, drink
of the proletariat, drink of the French;
despite the fact it has negative effects
on health.

5. Laura Mulvey
• women are objectified in film because
heterosexual men are in control of the
camera. The male gaze occurs when the
camera puts the audience in the male
perspective and lingers on her body.
Women are passive to the active gaze
of men.
The Male
Gaze

6. Vanessa Winship
• women see themselves in texts in the
image which has been defined for them
by masculine culture. We are
prepared, for the reward of
gratification, to recognise the ideal
version of ourselves despite the anxiety
it causes us.
Gender
complicity