The male gaze is a term we’re hearing more and more often, especially in discussions about cinema and pornography. Yet, it’s a concept that has been around for many years. Here’s how it works…
The Male Gaze definition
The male gaze is the manner in which it appropriates and represents the female body when the camera is rolling, as well as in all art forms (painting, literature, photography…). It’s hard to deny that visual works, especially cinema, are generally created from the perspective of a male observer, influencing the portrayal of female characters and how they are perceived.
The male gaze can be observed in various aspects: the staging, the script, the visual composition… These elements often aim to stimulate male pleasure rather than female. In concrete terms? We find an excessive sexualization of female characters, the reduction of their complexity to stereotypes, or their objectification as objects of desire. Sound familiar?
Some examples of Male Gaze in our society… :
Male Gaze, an old concept…
The concept of the Male Gaze has been around since 1975. It was coined by Laura Mulvey, a British director and feminist activist. As an avid fan of American black-and-white films (featuring stars like Marilyn Monroe and Humphrey Bogart), she realized that in these films, it was clearly the male gaze that dominated the portrayal of characters, dialogues, and so on.
Today, this concept extends beyond cinema to encompass all forms of visual media, including our social interactions, where the male perspective predominates in visual representation. It’s a concept that has also been highly significant in feminist studies and cultural criticism for analyzing gender dynamics and media representations.
In the world of pornography, the over-representation of the male gaze in mainstream pornography has prompted female directors to introduce the concept and offer porn feminist. In this new genre, male pleasure is no longer at the center of the narrative, and women are not reduced to sexual objects. Instead, their desires, pleasure, and fantasies are at the heart of the debate. Thanks to this reflection and questioning, there is now porn made by and for women!
Is the male gaze a danger?
In itself, the Male Gaze, in our opinion, is not inherently problematic. However, it becomes especially concerning when it dominates as the sole form of visual representation. The male gaze on women exists and likely always will, varying in intensity and impact depending on the individual, with its clichés and sexualization. Of course, there is a need to raise awareness among men regarding predatory behaviors they may exhibit on a daily basis (sometimes without realizing it) and to reflect on the notion of consent in our visual representations. But above all, it’s crucial that women’s perspectives are expressed and given equal prominence to those of men. For too long, the younger generation (both girls and boys) have been exposed primarily to the male gaze as their visual representation, inevitably influencing their upbringing and behavior, whether consciously or unconsciously, on a daily basis.
Is Female Gaze the answer?
As we’ve just explained, it’s crucial for women to assert control over the various forms of visual representation (Female Gaze) in our society, as none of them are neutral. We need more women involved in filmmaking, advertising, pornography, exhibiting their photography, writing books, and so on. Without succumbing to the opposite extreme (although we still have a long way to go!), one of the keys to fostering a more egalitarian society for future generations is simply to provide more choice and balance between the female and male gaze in our visual representations. It sounds like common sense, doesn’t it?