The Male Gaze is defined as the perspective of a notionally typical heterosexual man considered as embodied in the audience or intended audience for films and other visual media, characterized by a tendency to objectify or sexualize women.
Yes, the male gaze is still relevant even today and is seen in many blockbuster movies in many languages. Most of the male-dominated films feature the male gaze in them.
The male gaze has three perspectives: one of the man behind the camera, one of the characters in the film or the film itself, and one of the audience. Women are objectified. It is as if they’re not actual people with feelings but objects of sexual desire. It is clear that some female characters in a male-dominated film are introduced just for male desire and contribute nothing to the plot. The male gaze is not just objectifying. The male gaze portrays women in media from male perspectives. For example, Rahul had no interest in Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai when she was a tomboy but a few years later, he realized that she was beautiful. Because people think that women have to look a certain way for men to be interested in them.
I’d like to talk about the female gaze. You might be wondering what it means, maybe it means that the genders are switched and men are objectified? No, the female gaze is the response to the male gaze. It sees women as people rather than objects of sexual desire. We have seen that characters are portrayed better in a female-dominated movie usually. Female Gaze has more to do with emotions rather than objectification. With female-dominated films, it provides more representation for women as actors, crew, directors, and cinematographers.
By having more women in the film industry, it proves to be an advantage. We can get much better stories.
By doing all this, we can improve films and prevent objectification by using the female gaze more and the male gaze a lot less.