Intro:
Male gazeis a socio-cultural phenomenon defined as women being seen as the second sex. At the same time, men enjoy the pleasure of peeping through various media and channels, becoming the first sex of viewing and gazing. It also describes a way of portraying and viewing women, which empowers men while making women sexy and derogatory (Vanbuskirk, 2022).
The History of Male Gazing:
The male gaze is an emerging phenomenon that has spread due to the advancement and popularity of the internet today. However, if we trace back to the source, in fact, as early as the 1960s and 1970s, many scholars proposed related propositions. Sartre once proposed the theory of “the gaze of others,” believing that as soon as a person comes into this world, they are trapped in existence; that is, existence precedes essence, and therefore the gaze of others is unavoidable for us. The gaze of others is the decisive force in shaping our subjectivity (Burnham & Papandreopoulos, 2022).
Women’s resistance and integration against male gaze：
In today’s society, with the popularization of the internet, more and more women are gradually beginning to have female consciousness. However, at the same time, many women find that we already have a certain degree of male gaze. There was a period of popular literature about domineering CEOs in China, with the core idea of making domineering male CEOs fall in love with themselves. The male protagonists in the literature often waste money, have a deep affection for the female lead, and show disdain or even malice towards women other than the female lead. We cannot say that such works are evil because we cannot criticize past works that do not conform to today’s values from the perspective of the present. However, this type of literature starts from the perspective of the male gaze, believing there is competition among women and all women flock to one man. In the end, only one woman will win and become the man’s wife, and all the difficulties that women encounter come from other women, and these difficulties will ultimately be solved by the man. This view of women as hostile towards each other is a male gaze technique adopted by women who have long been in a state of being stared at, catering to the male gaze from a self-deprecating perspective.
Conclusion:
Gaze is innate, whether it is a patriarchal or feminist society or a patrilineal or matrilineal clan, as Sartre said, “the gaze of others.” When we exist in this world, gaze already exists. However, women should not feel inferior because of this, and should also bravely speak up for themselves in times of injustice because in the face of gender, everyone is equal.
References
Burnham, D. and Papandreopoulos, G. (2022). Existentialism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [online] Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available at: https://iep.utm.edu/existent/.
Vanbuskirk, S. (2022). What Is the Male Gaze? [online] Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-male-gaze-5118422.
The concept of the “male gaze” is eye-opening. It reminds us of the powerful power of media and culture in shaping our perceptions. So we must work towards a more balanced and respectful portrayal of all genders to promote a more equitable society.