BACKGRROUND
On the 25th of July at the Shanghai cp26 Comic Show, a cosplayer wearing a JK (Japanese high school girl) uniform was publicly chastised by another girl for posing in an unflattering manner and discrediting the “JK scene”. After the incident fermented on Weibo, the two girls encountered a great deal of criticism and scepticism, with some saying that “the girl who chastised them was slut-shaming“, while others felt that the cosplayer was indeed actively creating an erotic atmosphere.
THEORY
Art critic John Berg once said that women’s behaviour and self-expression in public spaces is not really up to them – men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves…. Thus she turns herself into an object— and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.(Berger, 1972)
THINKING
“Should I wear a bra on a hot day, should I wear make-up when I go out? How to walk, sit and stand up when wearing a dress? How big should I open my neckline so that I don’t attract strange looks?”
The reason girls have to worry about these issues, in Berg’s view, is that “looking and being looked at is a power relationship,” and the gaze from men has always been in the upper echelons of power. It lurks in advertisements, popular culture, the lessons of parents and teachers, the rules of public space, and even our own expectations of ourselves, influencing the way we dress, behave, and talk all the time. The male gaze is not simply an aesthetic landscape, but has a sexual purpose, and sex is possessive and aggressive.
In the case of the JK uniforms, it seems to be an argument between two girls, but the male gaze is not absent – the girl who shouted at the cosplayers was the one who felt that the cosplayers were appealing to the male pornographic aesthetic, and that is why she said, “Don’t discredit JK uniforms! The girls who spoke out were the ones who felt that cosplayers were appealing to a male pornographic aesthetic.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, to eliminate the real male gaze and to achieve equal rights is not for women to follow the same path of revenge and degradation set by men in patriarchal society. Rather, women should take a new path of their own, ending the harm and opening up various possibilities.
Oceanic Inspiration
- Berger, J. (2008) Ways of seeing. Penguin UK.
- Wikipedia contributors. (2023, November 12). Slut-shaming. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. , Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slut-shaming&oldid=1184749031 ,(Accessed: December 5, 2023)
Hello, I really enjoyed reading your post, and I sincerely think your examples are really good to understand how difficult some situations can be for women.
However, I would have liked to see some examples of male gaze related to media, for instance with a movie where male gaze is detected and thus obtain more useful information on this topic. Could you recommend a movie from your country in which Male Gaze is detected?
Freedom of dress is something that women have always talked about, but many men do regard “freedom of dress” as a temptation to make them commit crimes. I remember that a star in South Korea was abused online because she did not wear a bra, and finally various reasons led her to commit suicide. When I read your article, I think about how to correctly view “freedom of dress” between men and women.
Indeed, the effect of the male gaze on women varies depending on the context and manner. Some women may feel noticed and welcome, while others may feel uneasy or violated. Over-focused or inappropriate gazing may lead to psychological discomfort and affect a woman’s confidence and comfort. Respecting others’ boundaries and avoiding overly intrusive gazes are important aspects of maintaining good interactions.