Male Gaze

          The male gaze is less of an action and more of a mechanism under patriarchy. The male gaze is a pervasive form of vision in popular culture because it reflects “pre-existing patterns of fascination already at work within the individual subject and the social formations” (Mulvey 833). These pre-existing patterns of fascination allude to the societal normalities faced by women in which their identities are determined by how they are viewed.  Standards of appearance, sexuality, presentation, and personality are answered to subconsciously as a result of the male gaze. Mulvey explains, “The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female figure which is styled accordingly. In their traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness” (837). This quotation reiterates that the male gaze is not only something women answer to but also is evaluated on. Understanding the male gaze as a standard reveals the fact that both men and women act off of this role to be accepted in the patriarchal society.
     Understanding that the male gaze effects both genders was something I never truly fathomed because in a patriarchal society there is a clear imbalance in opportunity for men and women, with women constantly being deemed inferior. However, Bell Hooks writes “Patriarchal masculinity teaches males to be pathologically narcissistic, infantile, and psychologically dependent for self-definition on the privileges (however relative) that they receive from having been born male” (Hooks 117). This reading allowed for great insight into the problems of the male gaze because it demands pressures and anxieties about fitting into its limitations. The gender roles created by the male gaze have to be taught and media is a major outlet that expresses that. An example of this is a franchise I highly idolized as a child, James Bond.
    Bond is the ultimate white male savior yet needs a beautiful woman to be able to achieve his task. Often, the beautiful woman needs Bond as a protector which limits her importance to submission. However, these character developments are masked in the spectacle of film and are made for a male audience. Large stunts and beautiful sceneries distract from the gender roles being forced upon the unsuspecting viewers. When I was a child Bond represented everything I wished to grow up to be. The character of Bond however also is an alcoholic with an ego problem and yet all I desired to be was a figure of pure strength, intelligence, and class. This essence also resembles the Marlboro Cowboy figure in which an image of an ideal man is projected. Both of these figures were composed of traits that I have always aimed to embody due to the pressures of becoming a provider.

Marlboro Advertisement depicting the ideal version of a man 

     After reading the Bell Hooks works, however, I began to realize the negative effects these idolizations have had one me. Whether it was dropping out of art class when I was younger to pursue an interest in wrestling or today when avoiding conversations about my emotions with my girlfriend, I have been answering to the male gaze my whole life while feeling like I was benefitting from it. Hooks further discusses the oppositional gaze, which is created due to the misrepresentation of women of color by the male gaze in cinema, that allows women of color to view the reputations of them, as well as white woman, as a third party. This critical lens reveals how the phallocentric gaze is translated through media to participants who can envision themselves in the characters. I was able to accept the projections of James Bond because he too was a white male and therefore my innocent self did not question the representations.
      Challenging this gaze through the bending of gender roles can be seen in Graffiti Grrlz by Jessica Nydia Pabón-Colón. This work depicts female graffiti artists, a hobby that is mainly male-dominated. They redefine what gender means while pushing the limitations. I believe this work offers an answer to how to deal with the male gaze and that is to challenge it. If we begin to show representations of equality rather than the normal gaze of a white male, we can grow a more inclusive society that allows anyone to pursue their interests without having to build anxieties concerning their fit in the patriarchal society.

-Thomas McMillen

Works Cited:

-Hooks, Bell. The Oppositional Gaze.” In Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press. 1992

-Hooks, Bell. “Understanding Patriarchy.” The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love. New York: Atria Books. 2004

-Mulvey, L. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. New York: Oxford UP: Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. 2004.

-Pabón-Colón, Jessica Nydia. Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora. New York University Press, 2018.