Have you ever been by yourself and felt that you were being embarrassing or not attractive enough, even though no one was around? Have you ever explained that you wear makeup, shave and/or wear lingerie just for yourself, even when no one will see? Though the previously mentioned actions are completely valid preferences for anyone wanting (or not wanting) to do them, they are not naturally intrinsically motivated.
In other words, no one is born wanting to do any of those things, and though there are people that may genuinely feel better once they do them, they have been conditioned to feel that way by external forces. This is because of a phenomenon called the male gaze. Women in particular are most affected by the male gaze, but it is deeply ingrained in all of us, influencing our social perceptions and interactions constantly. Though people of all gender identities are affected by the male gaze, I would like to focus on the relationship women have with it at this time.
The term male gaze was first used in Laura Mulvey’s 1975 essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” The term initially referred to the way that women were portrayed by male film writers and directors as passive, sexual objects with little to no other redeeming traits. The term still refers to film, as the male gaze is still very much prevalent in today’s cinema, but it has grown to mean so much more in modernity.
Women have been portrayed in all facets of media through the lens of heterosexual men since its beginning. Because of this, many generations of women have been taught that that’s what a woman is and have grown to internalize, or even strive for, this archetype bred from male fantasy. It should be noted, however, that individual men are not necessarily to blame for this. The male gaze is more of an issue with societal structures that uphold sexist sentiments to cater to a dominant societal group (men) so as to capitalize on their pleasure (women, their sexualities and their bodies).
The severity at which women internalize the male gaze is best illustrated by the sociological metaphor of the panopticon. A panopticon is a prison structure created by Jeremy Bentham in the 1700s with the intention of being able to monitor the most prisoners with the fewest possible security guards.
The prisons consist of a central tower for guards that is surrounded by a ring-shaped wall of prison cells from each direction. This structure made it so the guards could see all the prisoners at any point of the day without the prisoners being able to see them. Because the prisoners never knew when they were being watched, they were constantly on their best behavior. The prisoners began to internalize a constant sense of authority, discipling themselves because someone could be watching.
Similarly, women have had to live in the eyes of the male fantasy so often that they’ve continued to play into it, and grown to prefer it, even when they are alone. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we judge ourselves based on the desired features we’ve been shown by men in the media. Through this conditioned internal desire to fit the male gaze, we have come to accidently perpetuate our own objectification.
Margaret Atwood explained this phenomenon best in her novel “The Robber Bride,” saying, “Even pretending you aren’t catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you’re unseen, pretending you have a life of your own … unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole, peering through the keyhole in your own head, if nowhere else. You are a woman with a man inside watching a woman. You are your own voyeur.”
So, how do we solve this issue of the male gaze when it is so deeply ingrained in each of us? Well, we shouldn’t be looking to any individual person to blame for its perpetuation. Though it is always helpful for everyone to stop putting women into the box of the male gaze as much as possible, the most effective change would be produced by ending the portrayal of women through the male gaze in the media.
We need more movies and shows that have dynamic female characters who aren’t just there to serve as sexual appeal and garner more views. We need more attention to female celebrities’ non-physical accomplishments and traits in magazines. I am not saying that female sexuality is inherently wrong, nor that it should be censored in the media, I just think it should be represented in a way that is not objectified and catered towards the male fantasy.
If we continue to portray women more fairly in the media, we may be able to raise daughters who are not plagued with a man living inside their minds some day.
Kendall Bergeron is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Kendall know by emailing her at kb016121@ohio.edu.
