Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
The concept of the male gaze describes how media, art, culture, and every pair of eyes in general, often depict women from a perspective that is framed by male desires and expectations. In a patriarchal society, women are frequently objectified and seen primarily through the eyes of men, reducing their complexity and humanity to mere objects of sexual gratification or passive admiration.
Imagine watching a movie where female characters are often portrayed in ways that emphasize their physical attractiveness or conformity to traditional beauty standards. Their actions, thoughts and emotions are often secondary to how they look and whether they appeal to male viewers. This portrayal reinforces the idea that women exist primarily for the pleasure or judgment of men, perpetuating unequal power dynamics.
In everyday life, this manifests in subtle ways too, like women being scrutinized for their appearance or expected to adhere to specific roles and behaviors dictated by male-dominated norms. The male gaze not only influences how women are perceived but also shapes societal norms and expectations, limiting women’s autonomy and reinforcing gender inequalities.
Understanding the male gaze helps us recognize and challenge these ingrained biases, advocating for media representation and cultural narratives that portray women as multifaceted individuals with agency and diverse experiences beyond their physical appearance.
‘If you look at me like at a piece of meat, then that’s a problem’ – women in the center of the male gaze. Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis as a tool of critique- (CITED ARTICLE- Ewa Glapka)
The above cited statement from Ewa Glapka’s article comments on how the male gaze is invoked with reference to the patriarchal surveillance of women’s bodies. But what do we mean by the male gaze, to simplify the concept?
The term “male gaze” originates from 1960s, a migration from academia to art, media and revolution. In simplest terms, it refers to the amplification of events and day-to-day scenarios into objects of convenience and value to the patriarchal standard. It is mostly used to convey the sexualization of women in all advances of life, from the ideal woman to their biological role.
Looking from the lens of a varying beauty standard, the patriarchy (even when our modern communities claim to have evolved from such sexism) continues to hold women accountable for objects beyond their control. Today the beauty standard is so rigid that men themselves are stricken by their female counterparts’ judgement. From this takes birth a concept of ‘pretty privilege’, i.e more conventionally attractive individuals (especially women) are given better remarks, preferred opposite to unconventionally less-attractive people not just as partners, but in career roles and friendships.
Thus, leads to the hatred among women, the race to be better in looks. Women are led to believe from a young age that their physical appearance will help them and gun to lead in that aspect. It rides with jealousy and mistrust in female relationships, destructing the crux that feminism was built upon.
This male gaze is also formed from the ‘natural’ gender roles founded by patriarchy. The age-old story that a house is to be driven by a man, it is he ‘who wears the pants’ in the relationship, and the woman is second to him, only to answer and care for his every whim at home. “The male gaze is more relevant, and more dangerous, than ever”, by Kelly Oliver can also be cited on the resurfacing idea of a ‘submissive woman’ in post-lockdown society. Even today, women are asked to stay at home taking care of their children, single mothers laughed upon and career women mocked for straying from the ‘biological way of life’.
In a simple summary, we can conclude that the male gaze and the lens and customs of a patriarchy are detrimental to not only women, but to a man’s perception of his female companions and himself, and as they continue to spread, the rights and choices of the modern woman are always facing scrutiny.