The male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. The “male gaze” suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women, her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire.
The relevance of the male gaze in art history became apparent in the 1970s, for art history specifically, the idea of the male gaze is referencing the desire of men to create idealized images of women for their enjoyment. One of the first works that we can point to as an example of the male gaze is Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey, described the concept of the “male gaze” in her 1973 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” The cinematic concept of the male gaze is presented, explained, and developed in the essay.
Compared to men, women often appear in advertisements, magazine covers, and social media, and cameras often use close-up shots to highlight the actress’s body and sexy appearance. In fact, male gaze is still widely used in film production. One of the outstanding movies is the Transformers series, in which all female are sexualized in some way, which is unrelated to the storyline. For example, in the first movie, Megan Fox plays leading man ‘s lover and who can forget that memorable scene where Fox is in a tight, low-cut top bent over a car engine? In addition, in the 007 series of movies and the Wolf of Wall Street uses male gaze to shape and film female characters.
Male gaze has a negative impact on women. Male gaze objectifies women’s self, and these women are often prone to feeling anxious and ashamed about their bodies, making them more prone to depression and lack of confidence. This ignores women’s autonomy and individual value.
Reference list:
1.Sarah Rieken (6,Jan, 2022) The Male Gaze and Its Effects on Women
URL: https://www.thewomens.network/blog/the-male-gaze-and-its-effects-on-women
2.Sarah Vanbuskirk ( 14, Nov, 2022) What is the male gaze?
URL: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-male-gaze-5118422
Hi, your blog has helped me understand the concept of male gaze and how exactly women feel and are treated. I like how you added a modern example and spoke about the history i think its really important to understand that the male gaze is still something women characters face in modern days but however has reduced a lot. Having examples of films that promoted the male gaze would be helpful in understanding and connecting to the way women were treated. Other than that I think your blog was very helpful overall.