Concept
Male gaze
Overview
In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer.
The concept was first introduced by art historian John Berger, in his work Ways of Seeing (1972), which highlighted how traditional Western art positioned women as subjects of male viewers' gazes, reinforcing a patriarchal visual narrative.. It was further articulated by British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema". Mulvey's theory draws on historical precedents, such as the depiction of women in European oil paintings from the Renaissance period, where the female form was often idealized and presented from a voyeuristic male perspective.
In the visual and aesthetic presentations of narrative cinema, the male gaze has three perspectives: that of the man behind the camera, that of the male characters within the film's cinematic representations, and that of the spectator gazing at the image.
Concerning the psychologic applications and functions of the gaze, the male gaze is conceptually contrasted with the female gaze.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
We do not wish to look upon the Uncharted Forest. We do not wish to think of it. But ever do our eyes return to that black patch upon the sky. Men never enter the Uncharted Forest, for there is no power to explore it and no path to lead among its ancient trees which stand as guards of fearful secrets. It is whispered that once or twice in a hundred years, one among the men of the City escape alone and run to the…
Ayn Rand, Anthem
States what Male gaze is; the author is tied to Male gaze in the knowledge graph.
In secret, everybody goes upon the principle that a man _is_ what he _looks_; but the difficulty lies in its application. The ability to apply it is partly innate and partly acquired by experience; but no one understands it thoroughly, for even the most experienced may make a mistake. Still, it is not the face that deceives, whatever Figaro may say, but it is we who are deceived in reading what is not there. The…
Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays of Schopenhauer
Close in meaning to Male gaze; the term itself is not named.
It is therefore very surprising to hear that there are men for whom the sexual object is not woman but man, and that there are women for whom it is not man but woman. Such _persons_ are called contrary sexuals, or better, inverts; the _condition_, that of inversion. The number of such individuals is considerable though difficult of accurate determination.[3] A. _Inversion_ *The Behavior of Inverts.*--The…
Sigmund Freud, Three Contributions to the Theory of Sex
States what Male gaze is.
Philosophers who discussed Male gaze
Related ideas
- Feminist theory
- Feminism
- Power (social and political)
- Human sexuality
- Jacques Lacan
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Paradigm
- Literature
- Being and Nothingness
- Cinematography
- Bell hooks
- Art history
- Patriarchy
- Camille Paglia
- Renaissance
- Racism
- Sexism
- Social class
- Sexual orientation
- Visual arts
- Cultural hegemony
- Objectification
- Unconscious mind
- Social capital
Place in the tradition
Part of Aesthetics.