By Georgia Rousta,
In Hollywood there is only one acceptable portrait of a woman: tall, skinny, long legs, tiny waist, big breasts, full lips, usually blonde or if she is a brunette an extraordinary beautiful one, a saint until told to be otherwise, obviously by a man. Between those lines the Hollywood woman does exist and it is evident that the creator of this image is no other but a man. There are rare occasions in the time of our existence when women were not controlled, one way or another, by the other sex. From the places they were allowed to go, to how they should act and how they are perceived by the world, women had little say in the outcome. Even though, and thankfully, nowadays we have control in most aspects of our lives and self-image, the male influence on how we hold ourselves withstands.
The “Hollywood woman” is only one example of the way that men depict and perceive attractive women, referring to the standards they have set on their own, and is part of a bigger phenomenon; the male gaze. This term was used for the first time in 1975 by Laura Mulvey, a feminist scholar and critic. Mulvey used the term “male gaze” to explain the projection of the male fantasy of how a woman should look like and act, of course to please male needs, on them. The sexualization of the female body, the popularity amongst men that the idea of a weak woman in need of a man to survive has gained, her being passive and pure for the hero, a man, to save her. In short, the male gaze is the visualization and emission of the perfect woman from a male perspective.
At this point, it is important to note that said fantasy is not every man’s fantasy, but the fantasy of the majority of them who also tend to agree with the patriarchal system and its standards and beliefs and live their lives based on exactly that. A system that wants women to be dependent on men and serve them appealing to their caring, loving nature and a system that wants men to show no emotion and take up the role of a strong unbreakable provider. To say the least, in this system both women and men seem to be held back, even though the latter of the two wants to live in a society in which patriarchy shows a prominent face, even in non-prominent ways.
The thing is that the domination of the male gaze, in one way or another (social media, film, advertisements, literature etc.), is only part of the problem. Having this narrative being projected to them visually and through their human interactions, women, inevitably, fall victim to their thinking that they need to fulfill that male fantasy. As a result, they become engrossed in being that perfect woman in real life and putting aside their own wants and needs and creating a false narrative that this is the standard amongst women, as well – and they may actually think that this is the way they want to be perceived, but, in reality, it is their internalized need for the male gaze fulfillment.
Reversing the situation and putting women in the place of the “observer” and men in the place of the “showcased object”, one may come to the conclusion that the “female gaze” is one that objectifies and sexualizes men’s bodies, exactly how the male gaze views women’s bodies. That is not the case, though. The female gaze is all about leaving the objectification of any kind behind and giving people the freedom to act and look however they desire and not following another’s fantasy and expectations. It encourages people to act as subjects and to be project themselves just how they are. It goes deeper than viewing a person as a sexual object and dives into the subjectivity of their minds.
The quarrel between the male and the female gaze is one between opposites. The first looks at women and sees only what a man wants to see, while the second makes the person feel seen for who they are. It is a quarrel of object vs subject, of fantasy vs reality, of patriarchal view vs a view that doesn’t view one’s sex.
“It’s one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen.” – Open Water, Caleb Azumah Nelson
References
-
What Is the Male Gaze? Criticisms of the Male Gaze in Media, masterclass.com. Available here
-
The Female Gaze Is Not about Women Objectifying Men, smashboard.org. Available here
-
What Is the Female Gaze, and Can It Reshape Pop Culture?, fashionmagazine.com. Available here
