By Amalia Theocharidou,
As a person who loves TV shows and movies, the female gaze was something I only found out about a few years ago. As the world moves forward and women have finally started to get more well-deserved attention at the cinematic world, there’s this distinction between the male and female gaze that’s been getting more and more popular and obvious as well.
With movies that have been characterized as “tributes to the female gaze”, I think it’s important to distinguish the two terms, the two gazes. The male gaze arises from the concepts of high self-esteem and the dire need to accomplish a lot. It emphasizes the main ideas of patriarchy and objectification of women as an object or lust and desire, rather than a person. On the contrary, the female gaze focuses mostly on the emotional factor, the feelings, and the connection and not on appearance, race, sexuality etc. It finds its roots in intimacy and empathy, and not on the simple desires.
Talking without examples would be just empty. So, firstly, we can have a look at a prime example of the male gaze, which can easily be spotted in James Bond. Alluring and always in style, the famous agent is the only “active” one, the protagonist, the person who can make anything happen. Rather than other personalities, the women around him are pretty much filling the possible gaps and voids of the story, serving as a testimony of his backstory. James Bond always gets it all. The fame, the money, and the girl, becoming something that all men want. A male icon. All the feminine representations in the movie consist of young, beautiful women, carefully picked to serve the mere purpose of “eye-candy”, just another price for the so-called male winner. Men don’t showcase much emotion. They’re what we call ruthless, stoic, always in dire need to gain the respect, and admiration of others.
A female gaze movie is none other than Little Women. Since we compare how the opposite gender of each gaze is presented in each type of movies, in Little Women, each man has a personal growth story. Taking a look into “Laurie”, the most famous male character of the movie, we realize that there’s a lot more backbone to his being rather than serving as a male love interest. Throughout the movie, the audience observes Laurie’s personality growth from a careless womanizer boy, to a married and thoughtful man, who’s changed by love. Here, again, we spot the motion of “emotions and intimacy” rather than “lust”, when a guy filled with immature desires, completely changes when the opportunity of real love arrives. Men in the female gaze are much more than simple partners. They have their own thoughts and emotions, their own obstacles to surpass.
Female gaze, in my opinion, serves as a medicine within a world that disappoints more and more every day. While intimate relations fall apart due to the modern terms of living, the mere survival of feelings and a yearning for a connection more valuable than the one of the skin is giving some hope for a more essential relationship. The female gaze has recently started getting more recognition after the hits of very popular movies and series, such as Barbie, Carol, Fleabag etc.
References
- Understanding the Male Gaze and How It Objectifies Women. Very Well mind. Available here
- From the Waist Up: The Male Gaze vs the Female Gaze. Medium. Available here
- What is the Male Gaze? Definition and Examples in Film. studiobinder. Available here
