TMS Discussion: Has the Female Gaze Actually Made a Difference?
(Columbia Pictures)
Words and labels can evolve over time, for better or for worse depending on the context. There’s never been any confusion when it comes to the term ‘the male gaze’ in art and entertainment. It’s objectifying the female species sexually for the male consumer by the [generally straight] male author/artist. Feminists associated with pop culture have been bemoaning and fighting against this portrayal of women for decades. Especially in the 1970s-1980s, when screen censorship was in its ‘wild west’ days, and it wasn’t just enough to include love scenes and references to sex in movies, but also a token shot of a topless woman. Even John Hughes with his wholesome and heart-warming reputation fell into this cliché with Sixteen Candles (1984), Weird Science (1985) and Harold Ramis’ Vacation (1983). Cable TV breaking through in the early 1980s blurred the lines between legitimate art and softcore pornography; and the music industry with its ‘sex, drugs and rock & roll’ didn’t waste an opportunity to show scantily clad video vixens in music videos, usually from rock and hip-hop acts, in the 1980s-2000s.
(Paramount Pictures)
Not all nudity is objectifying and can be a narrative choice, naturally. Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola are two female filmmakers who have featured nudity by women effectively in their films. One of the most common exploitation picture directors in the 1960s was Doris Wishman. But that line between art and porn can be crossed so easily. If you were to ask me, the three filmmakers who took full advantage of commercializing the male gaze were Paul Verhoeven [Basic Instinct (1992), Showgirls (1995)], Brian De Palma [Carrie (1976), Body Double (1984)] and Adrian Lyne [Flashdance (1983), 9 ½ Weeks (1986)]. The infamous shot of Sharon Stone uncrossing her legs in Basic Instinct, the steamy locker room scene in Carrie, virtually any of the sex scenes in 9 ½ Weeks. I don’t believe a woman would direct any of these sequences exactly as they are in their official films. But they’re there because the men who directed them can with a convenient R rating. Over the years, female filmmakers and other male directors have responded to the male gaze by turning the trope around with ‘the female gaze.’ I’m not an expert on gender studies or read up on academic feminists like Laura Mulvey or Bracha Ettinger regarding their theories about male or female gaze. But as a viewer and writer with basic knowledge and research over time, I’m under the impression the act can be described as two things. A piece of art that is from the perspective of a girl or woman in an inherently feminine manner [like say, a Sofia Coppola or Nancy Meyers film]. Or it’s literally just the inverse of the male gaze, where men are objectified provocatively.
(Paramount Pictures)
Two of the earliest examples of the female gaze I know of feature movie star Gary Cooper. In Victor Fleming’s Wolf Song (1929), his character is famously shown bathing in a forest pond completely nude; and with King Vidor’s The Fountainhead (1949), we see Patricia Neal’s character unsubtly checking Cooper out while using a drill on a construction site. Though alluring, neither of these sequences fully land because they’re directed by two very masculine directors who clearly weren’t thinking of their female viewers’ perspective. Wolf Song’s scene ends up being a goofy, dated attempt at comic relief, while Fountainhead’s is melodramatically over the top to the point of unintentional silliness. Generally, when the female gaze is discussed, it’s usually with movies like Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike (2012), which was pitched and marketed as a gender-bent Flashdance or Showgirls. Or how Kathryn Bigelow supplied us with those beefcake shots of Keanu Reeves in Point Break (1991). Hayley Atwell gawking at Chris Evans post-makeover in Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Maisie Williams giving Joe Dempsie a once over as he chisels iron on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” (2012). Shania Twain and Ingrid Michaelson featuring male models as their backing bands in the music videos for ‘Man, I Feel Like a Woman!’ (1999) and ‘Girls Chase Boys’ (2014) that are also spoofing the female models in the music videos for Robert Palmer’s ‘Addicted to Love’ (1986) and ‘Simply Irresistible’ (1988). It’s not that deep. The difference is when the male gaze is exploited, it’s casual and second nature. With the genders reversed, it’s more tongue-in-cheek or self-aware, as if suggesting, “See, we can turn the tables on you too.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
What’s puzzling in recent years is how many people, particularly very young women and teenage girls, on social media have been throwing the term ‘female gaze’ around for anything that references a good looking man. This is…completely missing the point. Neither gaze is about having a crush on someone or acknowledging that they’re hot, it’s sexualizing them through art. Like I mentioned earlier, there are already two definitions of ‘female gaze,’ let’s not make it any more complicated. Especially since we don’t have this problem with the male version of the term. To me, neither should be utilized in art unless they’re making a statement. Otherwise the person being sexualized is practically reduced to a human doll. At the end of the day, the act is not about making art sensual. I imagine the original push for the female gaze to be a thing was that it would be easier to have the concept exist on both sides than to try to fight for the original offense to be nonexistent. But if the term is thrown around as erroneously as it has been currently, then it might become increasingly irrelevant the way a lot of buzzwords are in the digital era. Which is more backwards than forward, and frustratingly doesn’t make much progress ultimately.