Mini-essay: Mulvey and Asian women

As evident from BBC reviews, ‘Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee’ was able to appeal to audiences regardless of gender, age and especially ethnicity. Therefore, the representations of men and women in the text are synonymous with other TV dramas and films, whereby women are often subjects of the ‘male gaze’ as stated by Laura Mulvey’s theory.

Despite ‘Life isn’t all ha ha hee hee’ having a primary audience of females (typically speaking it revolves around emotional issues), the audience positioning at times is clearly from a male perspective. Not only do we sexually objectify Meera Syal with her new stylish hair-do and revealing clothes as a viewer, but on-screen males identify with her by whistling her at in the street. Furthermore, they show no anxiety as Meera holds an umbrella; an overt phallic object to substitute for her castration which at first is threatening for a male audience.

By Asian women being shown as subjects of the male gaze, it successfully attempts to show this ethnic group as being equally integrated into western society as any other. They experience objectification and are therefore no different from other women. In this perspective, the ‘male gaze’ can be seen as positive psychoanalysis by painting an accurate representation of British Asians.