Gaze....

What is the Male Gaze??? The term gaze is used for analyzing visual culture. Laura Mulvey can be credited for bringing to the light the term "male gaze." Mulvey says, the male gaze is when the woman is the object rather than the possessor. The thought alone being a woman is a bit harsh on the eyes and ears. Despite the progression of our society the term is still used and so is the meaning in which it stands for. Mulvey states, "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." "A woman performs within the narrative, the gaze of the spectator and that of the male characters in the film are neatly combined without breaking narrative verisimilitude." Man possesses the gaze because he is a man and has the ability and power to do so. It seems to be as if one breaks it down, plain and simple, women are the object and men view the objects. It's sad and degrading, but the reality of it is that its still happening yesterday, today and tomorrow. When will it change? Will there ever be a change? Everyone can pick up a magazine and see a woman posing to sell shoes, and can see how the ad is made for the male audience yet however is suppose to lure the female audience in to wanting to buy the shoes. I wonder why is it, that a woman is always posing sexy in an ad that is intended for women but seem to only attract the men.  As I was doing this assignment I started to wonder lets forget about the "male gaze." Now is there a "female gaze." "Female gaze" is not a term that arose naturally. Whenever I searched the term "female gaze" all that came up would be women look at women. One might just wish to think that the "female gaze" would be opposite of that of the "male gaze." I did find this website that I thought was very interesting, which suggest should be checked out. On another note, I want to end by saying, our young generation is going to be catching on to the "male gaze" and "female gaze". my 8 year old nephew was with me while I was buying my daughter some new clothes, as I picked out jeans and a t-shirt, he proceeds to tell me, why don't I buy her this instead, holding up a dress. I asked him why should I buy her a dress, and he says, so she can look more like a girl....my heart broke in disbelief as to how was it possible that an 8 year old so innocent yet already becoming tainted by this "male gazed" world :(