The male gaze is how women are portrayed in the media from the eyes of a man and these women are represented as objects of male desire. The male gaze is often used as medium close-up shots of women from over a man’s shoulder. For example, the male gaze is used alot in perfume advertising usually the women are wearing very little clothes and are portrayed as objects of desire.

The female gaze can make women appear more feminist. The female gaze is about using the presence of a female perspective on screen to emphasize the story’s emotions and characters. The female gaze is about making the audience feel what women see and experience. An example of this is when Daniel Craig rises out of the sea in the same way that a female was depicted in the first James Bond movie Dr No.

Hypermasculinity is the exaggerated behaviour of men in film which is usually sterotypical. Examples of masculinity include being emotionally tough, good physical strength and assertiveness or sense of leadership.​ It is different from toxic masculinity because these can be used as traits of a protagonist. This is used alot in Marvel movies with Captain America, who is shown to have high levels of all behaviours linked to hypermasculinity.

Toxic masculinity is when boys try and avoid being feminine and weak by being tough all the time. some examples of this behaviour include: aggression, intimidation, violence, and emotional detachment. They may use common phrases like “man up” or “boys don’t cry”. An extreme example of this is in the movie Joker, this was the first film in history exclusively fixated on toxic masculinity in every disturbing scene. Its hard to say whether “Joker” actually diagnoses this abused loner or celebrates his corrupt behavior. But this movie emphasises toxic masculinity in all its forms.