2 years, 8 months ago-
The term “male gaze” was coined by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay Visual pleasure and narrative cinema to describe the way the inclusion of women as objects of desire functions in the majority of films to create a space for male scopophilic pleasure. The concept has been appropriated into feminist film theory, where it is used to describe the tendency for mainstream films to be seen as under male control. The male gaze is the foundation of the patriarchy. It keeps women down and poor, it forces them to be submissive and obedient; it keeps them from being taken seriously as professionals and as human beings.
The male gaze is a problematic issue in feminist theory about the visual arts and the interaction of the sexes, beginning when visual media developed to the point where images of women became more common than depictions of men. According to feminist film theory, movies are one of the primary means of relaying social attitudes through popular culture. Visual art forms like paintings are another way media portrays women as objects and reduces the value of their lives. Few visual media such as movies or paintings depict men in the same sexual manner. The male gaze is a concept used in feminist film criticism to describe how women are depicted on screen as sexual objects for the male viewer. It is most often described in the context of mainstream Hollywood movies, but it can be applied to other art forms, such as video games, mainstream music videos, and advertising.
We can identify three main roles in this phenomenon, each of them having similar effects but each with a distinct perspective: the gaze of the director, that of the male characters within the images, and that of the spectator seeing the result. The eye of the camera is often held against a different purpose. The male gaze exists in opposition to the point of view of the female characters, where it has symbolic associations with corruption and power. However, there is reason to believe that such a perspective can be more broadly conceded within the conventions of narrative cinema.
But the male gaze and its implications are not merely sexual; they encompass all aspects of the viewer’s relationship to the viewed. In film critique, for instance, Laura Mulvey describes the perspective of the male gaze in feminist terms as a way of seeing that is dominant, aggressive, controlling, and oppressing–even when this look is supposedly ‘feminine’ or used by women. The male gaze is inextricable from the concepts of voyeurism, eroticism, and sexism. The two different uses of the male gaze are traditionally depicted as a form of voyeurism and as a way in which women are made to feel self-conscious about themselves by their male counterparts.
The word “male view” was popularised as inert, often blatantly sexualized, objects of masculine desire, in regard to the representation of female characters in movies. The influence of the male gaze, however, is not restricted to how the films feature women and girls. Rather, the experience of being viewed this way extends to all girls and women in general, both in the case of female figures on the screen and via extension. Naturally, female self-perception and self-esteem are affected by the male gaze. This is all about how women are conditioned to fulfill these supportive roles, and the impact of seeing other women limited to these supportive duties. The urge to comply to (or to embrace or humorize) this patriarchal vision and persist in this way impacts the way women believe their own bodies, capacities, and positions in the world—and those of other women.
This topic covers all the mediums in which women are depicted and their experiences in real life in general. Think, for example, of how women often appear in advertising, magazine coverage, and social media compared to men, as well as of how their bodies usually have camera frames. Take into account the emphasis on how women, even their terms, seem, dress, and behavior as contrasted to men. These women’s bodies are utilized to market and attract attention (mostly heterosexual). On the cover of magazines, female celebrities pose provocatively, male stars (typically fully dressed) stand alongside or on their own less dressed models. The idea is that without displaying a lot of skin, males are provocative enough. There are certainly numerous perspectives about the influence and relevance of the men’s gaze and how this could have been or could not have been in the nearly half a century when the term was first introduced to the public. Many believe, however, that the foundations of the male look are profoundly sexist, patriarchal, misogynist and its impact is still entrenched. In addition, the male gaze is an additional burden for persons in traditionally oppressed groups. For example, the male gaze, which adds yet another facet of a stereotype to the systemic racism they endure, has historically represented black women as hypersexual.
Awareness of the influence of the men’s gaze is essential to free themselves from their power. It can only compensate a considerable bit of its impact if you consider its prevalence and influence so that you view yourself and function simply as you are in the world without being relieved of your supportive role. Focusing and searching for images of women and girls who go against male gaze tropes can also help fracture our collective psyches. Ultimately, you can be the one you want to be by putting out the weight of worrying that you see, who watches or fits in with the prescribed “woman” role.Male gaze is like impossible to stop, we can see that male gaze appears in movies, short film’s and advertisements. The way man sees constantly that makes women uncomfortable. At college, workplace and other places women also go through from body shaming. In today’s generation there are people who say to men and women (if they are healthy) “YOU ARE FAT”, “EAT LESS” or they will laugh on body shape or size, things like this may affect men and women who may get suffers from depression, self harm and stress due to which they don’t go outside for travel and parties, It’s just a one example but there are many more. Not only body but also clothes & makeup gets affect women from male gaze, If a women do a makeup her friend’s will make a joke on her and if women wear a short clothes then also she get judge by male gaze, We live in a society where this things are normal now. In movies and advertisements they focuses on a parts of women’s body, They create a sexual point of view from male protagonist. We can also see that in movie posters like Action movies, zombies movie, superhero… If a women also a part of a team superheroes movie, we can see on a poster every male is looking like builder & women is showing backside of the body. This were the persistent problem of the male gaze are still their in our society.
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