The Male Gaze: Female Consumption

First, to understand the Male Gaze, it is best to define it. The Male Gaze is a lens or way of depicting women from a heterosexual and masculine perspective that we often witness in works of literature and various forms of art. According to Berger, “Women are there to feed an appetite, not to have any of their own” (Berger 55). Essentially, this means that women are not allowed to have their own sense of self or identity because their purpose is for and from man. Similarly, the Male Gaze portrays women as sexual objects, solely for the pleasure and leisure of men. This sense of oppression has and continues to be relative to mass media and the arts, especially today due to technological advances in society.

The Male Gaze is heavily witnessed in art and pop culture due to the long and dreary history of the woman’s inability to construct her own “gaze” without receiving shame or ridicule from society. Being that women were not always able to work, create, or even discuss, society has become accustomed to receiving only one perspective and one target audience: heterosexual men. Even today, while there are much more women in the Art and Entertainment industry whom create more than ever before, these fields are still dominated by heterosexual (white) men whom essentially control what everyone sees.

“I wish men would decide if women are heavenly angels on high, or earthbound sculptures for their gardens. But either way, we're beauty for consumption.”

 Joy McCullough, Blood Water Paint

This quote alone holds great significance in terms of understanding the Male Gaze and its origins (at least to me). The narrator (knowingly or unknowingly) realizes that men have power over women in every aspect, as they have the ability to present and represent (what they believe as and desire in) women. I believe that the narrator also subtly acknowledges the hypocrisy that is the Male Gaze by using symbols. “Heavenly angels” is a symbol of holiness and purity, which can relate to how men wish for women to be women of faith; “Earthbound sculptures” is a symbol of tangible objects, and this relates to the idea that men see women as possessions rather than actual human beings. How can a women be heavenly, as you may draw her as a goddess, yet you disrespect her image and treat her as other? No clue. However, the narrator concludes that both portrayals end with the woman being gazed at by men, being that women cannot seemingly exist without any judgement.

Schneider Beer Advertisement - 2010

The image above is an advertisement for Schneider Beer that first surfaced in 2010. Upon glancing at the advertisement initially, it looks as if an unknown white man is attempting to grab a breast of an unknown woman. The advertisement also reads “It doesn’t matter what you see. What’s important is what it is,” which may confuse many until they look closely into the bottom-right corner to see what is actually happening: The unknown white man is not actually attempting to grab a breast of an unknown woman, but he is simply attempting to grab a glass of Schneider beer. The advertisers purposely captured the glass of beer from an high-angle shot while only showing half of the photo, as it will appear to look like the side of a breast. Advertisers understand that we, as humans, judge based off initial impressions. While the advertisement may say that the beer is much more important than sex in the advertisement itself, the message says otherwise, or else the advertisement would not attempt and succeed to strategically capture the attention of people using sex. Women are often sexualized to entice the target audience, whom happen to be (white) masculine men, to buy their beer. The message here is clear: the role of man is to submit their “gaze” and be the possessors, while the role of woman is to be a sexual object.

The Male Gaze did not just magically appear from thin air, as its origins link to the patriarchal society we live in. Patriarchy, as defined by Bell Hooks, is a "political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence" (Hooks 18). It is also important to note that while patriarchy does grant many men privileges, not all men benefit from patriarchy. Men who are not masculine, heterosexual, or even white, can be deemed inferior or weak. An example of patriarchy is Femicide, or Feminicide, which is essentially the killing of females for the sole reason of them being female and not male. While it is not heavily practiced here in the US, it is prevalent in other countries like Mexico, China, and India. Men are deemed better equipped and more resourceful than women, and in many cultures, having a female child brings automatic shame or bad luck on the family. Patriarchy is the father of the Male Gaze, in which patriarchal ideals allow for the Male Gaze to exist without little to any consequence. In relation to my example of patriarchy, the Male Gaze is also prominent in the countries initially mentioned, where violent crimes that men commit against women are ignored because it is ultimately the women's fault, according to society.

Mr. Clean's Mother's Day Advertisement - 2011

The image is an advertisement from the well known cleaning supply company: Mr. Clean. In the image, one can see an older woman using the product being advertised, Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser, to clean a window while a much younger girl points towards the window. The young girl appears to be very young compared to the older women, so upon looking, one may assume that they are both mother and daughter. Over the window, a title reads, "This Mother's Day, Get Back To The Job That Really Matters." This advertisement present patriarchal ideals by not only encouraging women to quit their jobs and clean, but to teach their daughters to do the same. As mentioned before, advertisers know exactly how to portray a message subtly, which is why they portrayed a mother-daughter relationship rather than a mother-son or father-daughter relationship in the advertisement. Also, it is important to notice that the mother and daughter appear to be happy with cleaning, as they are smiling in the image. This essentially shows how men are not always the teachers of patriarchal thinking, because many women continue to play the role that patriarchal ideals tell women they should assume. In order for women to coexist with men equally in society, women and men must come together and acknowledge the problem that is patriarchy. "Dismantling and changing patriarchal culture is work that men and women must do together. Clearly we cannot dismantle a system as ling as we engage in collective denial about its impact on our lives" (Hooks 27).

As mentioned before, women are becoming more visible in various forms of art, thus becoming the spectator and creating what is known as the Female Gaze. The Female Gaze is the perspective of the female viewer, allowing viewers to see the women and everyone as they are and not what we want them to be. The Female Gaze specifically attacks the Male Gaze by being respectful rather than objectifying. The Female Gaze does not promote female dominance, as it merely allows the viewer to finally see and understand female perspective as the subject rather than the object. I personally love the concept of the Female Gaze, as I believe it screams "Girl Power!" without shame and allows women to finally gain or reclaim their own sense of self. Although the term is fairly new and there is still much misogyny and sexism in the world today, I have faith to believe that somewhere in the near future, women will be able to address themselves as just artist, creator, director, or such, without mention of gender.

Works Cited

Berger, John, and Michael Dibb. Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series Directed by Michael Dibb. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2008.

Hooks, Bell. Understanding Patriarchy. Louisville Anarchist Federation Federation, 2010.

McCullough, Joy. Blood Water Paint. Dutton Books, 2018.