Laura Mulvey

Laura Mulvey states that in film and video women are typically the objects, rather than the possessors of gaze because the control of the camera comes from factors such as heterosexual men as the default target audience for most film and video genres. Mulvey believes that the female model is often put on display directly to the spectator (male audience), thus viewing herself as the male audience views her.

More than just being an object of a gaze, the woman in the advertisement becomes what’s being bought and sold: “The message though was always the same: buy the product, get the girl; or buy the product to get to be like the girl so you can get your man” in other words, “‘Buy’ the image, ‘get’ the woman”.

 In this way, the male gaze enables women to be a commodity that helps the products to get sold (the “sex sells” adage that comes up whenever we talk about modern marketing). Even advertising aimed at women is not exempt: it engages in the mirror effect described above, wherein women are encouraged to view themselves as the photographer views the model, therefore buying the product in order to become more like the model advertising it

A video that puts this theory on display is the video by Madonna called "Like a virgin". Throughout the video Madonna dances provocatively with a male gazing at her, with camera shots emphasising on her body parts, this video definitely supports Mulveys theory.