Male and Oppositional Gazes

In Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Laura Mulvey describes how, in film, women are typically depicted as objects of gaze, and men as the possessors. This can be looked to as an explanation for why women in mainstream media are often (almost impossibly) beautiful, thin and tall. “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly” (Mulvey 837). Although there are films out there that feature female protagonists, most mainstream, Hollywood movies are prime examples of seeing through the male gaze, showing women being observed, and men as the observers. The term can also be applied to advertising, for everything from shoes to promoters of animal rights (hello, Peta!), and even art.

John Berger explores this concept in European art, saying that the female model is often shown directly to the artist or indirectly through a mirror, viewing herself as the artist views her. “

A woman must continually watch herself…How a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated,” he explains (Berger 46). Further analyzing nude paintings, he points to one in particular and draws the conclusion that, “those who are not judged as beautiful are not beautiful. Those who are, are given the prize” (52).

Hooks takes into consideration not only gender, but also race. Describing having been repeatedly punished as a child for staring and reading about whites who punished their slaves for looking at them, Hooks proposes the idea that one’s gaze can be dangerous. Blacks could feel as though they were rebelling against white supremacy by daring to look, and“…attempts to repress our black peoples’ right to gaze had produced in us an overwhelming longing to look, a rebellious desire, an oppositional gaze,” she states (Hooks 116). Trying to control their gaze had only had only created an irresistible desire to look. In The Oppositional Gaze, Hooks encourages black females to look upon the stereotypes portrayed in films with a critical eye, an oppositional gaze.

Before reading this essay, I hadn’t considered the oppositional gaze. I had only complained of the male gaze and how it reduced ads for animal rights to naked Playboy models and sneaker ads to cropped photos of women’s legs and butts. I also hadn’t given much thought to the male gaze when it came to European nudes. It was something that was lightly touched upon in one of my art classes, but never analyzed or discussed in length. These concepts are both fairly new to me, introducing that the idea of the male gaze came to fruition much earlier than I had previously thought, and affects different women in different ways.

Whenever someone tries to convince me that I have an unrealistic idea of what my body should look like, I always say, “I blame the media”. The male gaze is a pervasive form of vision in popular culture primarily because it sells. It gives males something nice to look at and gives females something to try (and fail) to emulate, a body they wish they could have, a hairstyle they wish they could wear, etc.

The Gaze

            Since the birth of media, we, as consumers and people have always been attempted to be out of control. The media would always tell us what to believe. Whether it is to tell us what is fashionably acceptable, or to tell us what looks are good for us, the media sets the standard for both men and women alike of what is supposedly right for them. That being said, each gender looks at the opposite gender through a specific gaze. Men tend to view women through their gaze where as women are the ones being objectified through the gaze.

            The male gaze, according the Mulvery, is the “ability to take erotic pleasure in looking at and/or turning someone, mainly women, into objects (835). And with Mulvery, one would have to agree because throughout the media, men tend to turn women into their own objects. It is a pervasive form of vision in popular culture because, and especially in today’s day, everyone is media friendly and keeps up with popular culture. Everyone knows what is going on in everyone else’s personal life, which sets the standard for mankind as a whole of what is supposedly right and wrong. Women are depicted with as sexual beings for men and everyone see’s it because it is constantly being shown.

            As for the oppositional gaze, according to Bell, is “to look a certain way in order to resist” (116). This gaze was specifically developed because of the lack of African American women in the media or in the gaze. Hook talks about how to go against the gaze by actually looking the other way. To take charge of the situation and to dominant oneself as opposed to the one being dominated.

            Understanding these structures hasn’t really changed my belief on the media. It hasn’t opened my eyes to what is actually going on because I have known this for quite some time on my own already. In my view, I look at all women in the same light. They are all similar, whether they tend to have sex appeal or not. I’ve always known that the only reason women are always half naked in a majority of campaigns because that company wants to sell their item off their sexy because their main consumer would be the male.

            My own identity hasn’t changed because yes, we all look at beauty and everyone’s beauty is different, but I do not look through my gaze in any specific way. These structures from the media don’t really open my eyes to a new world. Even though the gaze is based on a sort of dominance against women, I do and don’t see it. Because not everyone women lets the male take over the dominance and not every male takes that dominance against the woman. My own identity makes me look as a young white male. I am the male that gazes at women.

Portrayed gaze….

From the documentary Ways of seeing, it shows that the media and men have always portrayed women in general as an object. It’s as if women can’t think on their own on how they want to look like and how they want to dress like. They are being “programed” by the media, as if looking slim, sexy, spotless and in perfect shapes, as Susan Douglas says in her book, it is as if, “something we can get simply by watching or buying.” Also as she gives the example of a “American” who are suppose to, “to independent, individual, tough..,” while a “Women,” is suppose to be dependent, passive, nurturing…” What?? What is the difference between an American and a Woman? Women are not American?

This kind of views are still used to this because the society in their unconscious mind accepts it. Killbourne, says in her book that mostly adolescents are “vulnerable” to these massages। Basically what these young girls run after is the “male gaze,” if they are not a certain way then they are not good enough for the boys. When magazines and famous figures also come in public and show themselves in a certain way, it creates a even more pressure in young people to be like “her,” have hair like “her”, to look glossy like “her.”

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Killbourne quotes Margaret Mean, “ today our children are not bought up by parents, they are brought up by the mass media.” This is where kids learn to smoke and drink from; this is where kids learn to have unprotected sex from, how? When they show the ad of a young couple holding each other and the caption says, “You can learn more about Anatomy after school.” What are they trying to portray from this massage? When teen Magazine like, Jane, cover stories are titled, “15 Ways Sex Makes You Prettier, ” or “Are you good in Bad?” Doesn’t this tech girls to be pregnant, to go look for sex instead of school education?

My views have changed in many ways from these readings. It bothers me that most women do not realize that they are being represented my world in such a ways. The more we learn about history we see that this is a issue that took place at all times. During the time of slavery the slaveholders observed women before they were bought. The women were taken to private rooms so they can be observe, and so their slaveholders can make sure they were able to give birth.