The Male Gaze: Feminist Critique on Gendered Media Images
The notion of ‘The Male Gaze’, which in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, essayist Laura Mulvey introduced to the academic world in 1975 has now become a staple in gender studies vocabulary. In its core, it bothers how women in the context of the visual arts and media are represented complying with the male gaze. It was at first defined in relationship to cinema, and expands to different types of media and interactions; it outlines the ways gender is constructed and experienced.
What is the Male Gaze?
The Male Gaze refers to a way of looking at women that objectifies them, positioning them as passive subjects of male pleasure. In this framework:
• Men are the active viewers or agents, controlling the narrative and driving the action.
• Women are the objects, framed to please the heterosexual male audience through their appearance, actions, or positioning.
This gaze manifests in three ways:
1. Behind the Camera: Male filmmakers and creators tend to build some stories based on their view of the world.
2. Within the Story: Male characters watch and engage women characters in a manner that focuses on women’s attractiveness.
3. Audience Perspective: The audience is supposed to use the same angle and identify with the male viewpoint, as well.
Impacts of the Male Gaze
1. Objectification:
• Such women are objectified; they are seen as vessels whose worth is measured by their looks and not by anything else.
• Male characters are often given primary roles while the female are seen as motivators or concubines to the male leading characters.
• They are ignored, their narratives, aspirations and the nuances of their lives.
2. Narrative Marginalization:
• Female characters are frequently relegated to secondary roles, serving as motivators or distractions for male protagonists.
• Their stories, ambitions, and complexities are often overlooked.
Challenges to the Male Gaze
Contemporary creators and theorists have sought to dismantle the Male Gaze by introducing alternative perspectives, such as:
• The Female Gaze: Gendering knowledge and epistemologies: centring women’s knowledges and subjectivities.
• Intersectional Approaches: Emphasizing the relationships of race, sexual orientation, and class with gender in media portrayal.
• Diverse Storytelling: To diversify representation and make the platform more inclusive, accommodate voice and work of excluded people.
The Male Gaze is a lens that not only captures but also forms and imposes social relations of power that we are able to recognize the negative role of media. Thus, any acknowledgement and analysis of it becomes the possibility for different and emancipatory representations of gender. Since media is a dynamic concept, the focus must be on whose voices are being heard and whose narratives are being valued.
References
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), 6-18.
Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books.
hooks, b. (1992). Black Looks: Race and Representation. South End Press.
Hi Weiyi, thank you for this interesting summary of the male gaze! I like that you added the impacts of and challenges to the male gaze; it adds depth to the discussion. The objectification and narrative marginalisation of female characters are very annoying to see as a viewer. It is also quite depressing to see women being reduced to nothing but a love interest and sex symbol. Even worse is knowing people take this to heart and actually believe that women are not worth anything more. I think movies reflect society in that way, which is why it is nice to see movies incorporating good female characters more often.
As a tip, I would add a featured image – it is more eye-catching, and people will immediately see what your article is about (and it is being graded). It could also be helpful to illustrate what you explained based on an example. Using an example could enhance your points and make them more applicable in real life. That way, the readers can visualise the theory better!