Get Inspired, Be Empowered Forums Sexism & Patriarchy Is the male gaze still relevant?

10 replies, 10 voices Last updated by Sanjana Siripurapu 8 months, 4 weeks ago
  • Woospire
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    Anika
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    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.

    Yash Tiwari
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    The male gaze is a concept in feminist theory that was coined by film theorist Laura Mulvey. The term describes a way of looking at the world through a masculine lens, which involves seeing women and their bodies as both objects for sexual desire and passive spectators of the world. The “male gaze” refers to a way of representing the world through a heterosexual male point of view. It is also known as the “masculine gaze.” It is distinct from a feminist film theory perspective or the idea of the male gaze in general, which is important for understanding gender representation.

    The male gaze is so overused that it’s becoming cliché. Although most movies still center around masculine desires, the audience has become more sophisticated. Genres like martial arts film began as a manifestation of misogyny and an attempt to sexualize even minor female characters. But modern martial arts films have evolved— there is now a female protagonist who fights just as well as her male counterparts. Old Hong Kong movies offended western sensibilities because women were portrayed solely for male desire. The male gaze is still relevant today in that its influence can be found in many facets of society. In the media such as television shows and commercials, there are different examples of how women are portrayed.

    Male Gaze has influenced the way how films and books have been written for years. The male gaze makes women look like objects to be consumed. Now, that trend is reversing with television shows like Game of Thrones, Orange Is the New Black, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder because there are a lot of women writing these shows. So they do not speak from male perspectives, instead, they communicate a female perspective about life. The male gaze is the lingering look that appears in movies and on billboards today. It is the camera angle taking you from the head down to a woman’s body, looking at her breasts, stomach, etc. We see the male gaze when women are portrayed as sexualized objects. The male gaze is inevitably drawn to female bodies and women are often the subjects of their sexual fantasies. Worse, they are a sexual commodity sold to men and other women.

    When we talk about the male gaze in film, we are talking about the placement of the camera when a shot is being filmed. The male gaze shows women as sexual objects for male pleasure. This doesn’t mean we have to do away with the male gaze, though. A male gaze is a powerful tool at the disposal of filmmakers. It can be used to start conversations and highlight issues. We just need to try and use it less often and with more care.

    nehachitroda
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    IS THE MALE GAZE STILL RELEVANT?
    The gaze is a concept or idea in the way in which the camera views females. The male gaze theory was first essayed in ‘Visual pleasure and narrative cinema’ in 1973 and published in 1975. Male gaze refers to depicting women as sexual objects and the pleasure of the male viewers.
    Yes, it is still relevant and will continue because the cinema has made it very common to make a view of this and is accepted by both male and female, some female accept that they are sexual objects because they think it is needed or it should be like this so women will be viewed and given exposure. According to Mulvey, women are viewed in two ways as passive voyeurism – sadism and fetishization, and men as active.
    But due to this woman are depicted as some kind of objects and not as equal to male because the one who is viewing may think that women are just sexual objects or kind of less than men. By showing these, it can be said that still patriarchalism is seen because women are looked upon by men and so they are considered inferior to men. And cinema has made this view about men’s and women’s because what they show and how they show is what people see and consider and so if there are changes in gazing, this will divert the view then the concept will be less relevant.

    simran arora
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    The male gaze is still prevalent in our society, irrespective of the cultural dynamics. In a layman’s language, witnessing the male gaze is not a comforting experience because it relates to sexual objectification. In the entertainment industry, the male gaze is a common phenomenon. Each series or movie would lead a man to perform leadership or empowering personalities for objectifying women.

    The male gaze raises objections to a woman’s lifestyle, including deteriorating her mental health. After viewing such atrocities, everyone in the community has to face the impacts. One can say that this male gaze idealized in the entertainment industry is the beginning of the rape culture. The body of a woman becomes the embodiment of sexual desire through this male gaze outlook. Also, a woman begins to question her self-esteem. It seems that a woman cannot have her stand in society; instead, she has to put herself as a man’s desire to complete her dreams.

    Choose any movie, and you will see how a heterosexual male begins his new chapter of life will end with a woman who he romanticizes. It objectifies women to adhere to certain rules and regulations in society, though not all women can be confined to one regulation.

    The male gaze is a virus in our society that turns out to be a misogynist and a sexist perspective. However, bringing a change under this spectrum would take years.

    Semantee Chattopadhyay
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    The male gaze is how the visual arts and literature depict the world and women from a masculine point of view. It presents women as objects of the male pleasure. The phrase male gaze was coined by feminist film critic Laura Mulvey in 1975. The male gaze consists of three perspectives that of the person behind the camera than of the characters within the representation or film itself and that of the spectator. Mulvey posits that gender power symmetry is a controlling process in cinema and constructed for the pleasure of the male viewers which is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideologies and discourses. The concept has subsequently been prominent in feminist film theory, in media studies as well as communications and cultural studies. It also suggests that the male gaze denies full a human identity relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance and male sexual desires and fantasies. In visual pleasure and narrative cinema, different types of spectatorship may occur while viewing a film. They can involve unconsciously or in some cases consciously engaging in the typical ascribed societal roles of men and women. It is under the construction of patriarchy that women and films are tied to desire and that female characters hold in appearance quoted for strong visual and erotic impact. The female actor is never meant to represent a character that directly affects the outcome of a plot or keep the storyline going but is inserted into the film as a way of supporting the male role and bearing the burden of sexual objectification. In other words, the woman is passive to the active days from the man. Mulvey also states that the female gaze is the same as the male gaze. This means that women look at themselves through the eyes of men. The male gaze may be seen by a feminist as a manifestation of unequal power between gazer and gazed or as a conscious or unconscious attempt to develop that inequality. From this perspective a woman who welcomes an object to find these may be simply confirming two norms established to benefit men.

    Manpreet Singh
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    The study indicated that female protagonist characters in popular films are more likely to be objective, promoting detrimental stereotypes for women and girls. These depictions are linked to the paucity of women as managers and producers, and the researchers suggested that women are working in other behind-the-camera roles. In a recent study, the women in leadership positions have been shown more likely to represent themselves as sexual objects or to be nudely shown, compared to their men’s counterparts. Our most successful movies convey the impression that leadership is mostly a province for men.” “The female leaders are male-eyed and not really ‘in command.'”
    The study indicated that the women shown in these films were almost four times more often sexually objective, e.g., “the camera concentrated slowly on their body parts,” and five times more likely that they would be sexually harassed than the men. Of the films evaluated by the researchers, none were directed by a woman, only 1 in 10 was written by at least one woman, of which only 1 in 1 had a woman. Of the films evaluated by the researchers, none were directed by a woman, only 1 in 10 was written by at least one woman, of which only 1 in 1 had a woman. From the beginning, males who look over the silver (iPhone) screen have gone from being caught on the road to being ridiculed as gold diggers or to “hissy fit.” In fact, the female sex is seen in every respect and shown. In extension, it can even fall into the shape that you live under a male gaze if you are just worried about your appearance, relatively attractive, seeming “too intelligent.”
    The influence and significance of the male gaze and how it might or might not have dulled over nearly 50 years since Mulvey first brought the term to the public attention are various opinions. Many would, however, agree that a male gaze is deeply sexist, patriarchal, and misogynist, and has an overwhelming influence. In addition, the male gaze is an additional hardship for people in traditionally marginalized communities. Black women have, for example, historically been depicted as hypersexual with the male gaze which gives the prevalent racism another face of the stereotype.

    DISHA SAPKALE
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    Male Gaze is important topic nowadays, especially in india due to the mindset of the people like they think that if women wear short & tight clothes she will get in trouble like harassment, kidnap or rape but they don’t think that if man stop seeing like that than their will be no problem wearing short clothes, this are the main reason behind the girls and women are not allow to wear short clothes, not only short clothes but Bollywood & ad’s is also promoting this thing. Bollywood movies in songs they used to focus on cleavage & other parts of the body & it’s common thing in Bollywood, they portray like while focusing on cleavage all man around her will get attract towards women, This thing also we can see in real life man make uncomfortable women focusing on her parts of body. We can also see that many people will blame female for wearing certain clothes or behave properly but very less people will point out male gaze in our society like no one will take stand against the way of male looking towards women in a wrong manner. Male gaze is mostly seen in movies, advertisements, songs through which women in someway are getting portray in a negative way. Male gaze is still relevant in our society and this thing need to get changed because of the male gaze family restrict their daughter to wear their own choice of clothes not only that but also women at workplace or anywhere they get uncomfortable and disrespectful due to male gaze, this needs to get stopped and people should raise their voice against it rather that pointing out women all the time.

    PALAK KASHIV
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    The male gaze refers to the ways of portraying and gazing at the women that permits men for sexualizing and diminishing the women, we know biologically we feel attracted towards the opposite sex, male gaze tries to change the natural urge and turns the women into a passive item and treating them as an object. So, the term male gaze gains popularity by the depiction of women in the cinema as an inactive and sexualizing object for the male desire and or just a passive character in movie. This concept of male gaze seeps into real-life as such women are conditioned to look like them in real life, even movie is all about fantasy so it is very irrelevant. The Male’s gaze tries to discourage women’s empowerment. Male gave shows that man is powerful and strong female as a sex object, we can see in a lot of advertisement females are told to show there skin models are said to wear bikinis, for adding male attraction in any show, movie or commercial to get attention. Male glaze in a way that feels uncomfortable for women, stalking is a kind of mental torture you can appreciate if they are beautiful but you cannot look at them from a dirty mindset. So the male gaze should stop everyone should have respect for each other.

    Afshan Iqbal
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    What Is the male Gaze? The male gaze describes a way of portraying and looking at women that empowers men while sexualizing and diminishing women. While biologically, from early adolescence on, we are driven to look at and evaluate each other as potential mates, the male gaze twists this natural urge, turning the women into passive items to possess and use as props. This concept is not just about how women (and their bodies) are used to satisfy male fantasy but also how this gaze, whether it’s directed at them or others, makes women feel about themselves. Naturally, the influence of the male gaze seeps into female self-perception and self-esteem. The pressure to conform to this patriarchal view and endure being seen in this way shapes how women think about their own bodies, capabilities, and place in the world. In essence, the male gaze discourages female empowerment and self-advocacy while encouraging self-objectification and deference to men and the patriarchy at large. The male gaze objectifies a woman’s character. Especially it is promoted through movies. Men writing the films, men making the films, men being the protagonists, and men being the target audience all combine into a unified male perspective of female characters. In other words, we have all been conditioned to adopt the male gaze because that is the way we were “raised” by traditional cinema.  Female characters must perform their story function while also adhering to the male fantasies, being beautiful or sexy is all that’s needed. Girls are constantly asked to sit properly, straighten their posture, dress up to attract people and cover up what displeases them. As women, this discomfort with their bodies continues. Studies have repeatedly found that the mere anticipation of the male gaze leads to higher levels of self-objectification in women and subsequently, increased negativity about themselves. Like with everything else in the patriarchal society we live in, it is time we took this gaze back. The only gaze that matters is your own. The concept of the male gaze should be varnished because it’s a curse to society.

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