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 male viewer. 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.
The film critic Laura Mulvey coined the term 'male gaze', which is conceptually contrasted with and opposed by the female gaze. As a way of seeing women and the world, the psychology of the male gaze is comparable to the psychology of scopophilia, the pleasure of looking; thus, the terms scopophilia and scoptophilia identify both the aesthetic pleasures and the sexual pleasures derived from looking at someone or something.
One of Mulvey’s examples used to demonstrate her theory of the male gaze is the first appearance of American actress, Marilyn Monroe in the 1954 film, The River of No Return. During the scene, Monroe’s character of Kay Weston is subject to the male gaze in a way that treats her like an ornamental object. Through a sexualised outfit and the lounging position that she assumes, she becomes an object to be viewed, both by the audience of the film and the predominantly male audience within the room of the scene.
Two forms of the male gaze are based upon the Freudian concept of scopophilia: the 'pleasure that is linked to sexual attraction and [the] scopophilic pleasure that is linked to narcissistic identification', which show how women have been forced to view the cinema from the perspectives of the male gaze. In such cinematic representations, the male gaze denies the female's agency and human identity, thus dehumanising the woman, from person to object, to be considered only for her beauty, physique, and sex appeal, as defined in the male sexual fantasy of narrative cinema.
Two types of spectatorship occur whilst viewing a film, wherein the viewer either unconsciously or consciously engages in the typical, ascribed societal roles of men and women. In relation to phallocentrism (the ideology that the phallus, or male sexual organ, is the central element in the organisation of the social world), a film can be viewed from the perspectives of 'three different looks'. The first look is that of the camera, which records the events of the film; whereas the second look describes the nearly voyeuristic act of the audience as they view the film proper; and the third look is that of the characters who interact with one another throughout the filmed story. The perspective common to the three types of look is the idea that looking generally is perceived as the active role of the male, while being looked-at generally is perceived as the passive role of the female. Therefore, based upon that patriarchal construction, the cinema presents and represents women as objects of desire, wherein women characters have an 'appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact'. Therefore, the actress is never meant to represent a decisive female character whose actions directly affect the outcome of the plot or impel the events of the filmed story, but, instead, exists within the film to visually support the actor, portraying the male protagonist, by 'bearing the burden of sexual objectification'.
A woman being the passive object of the male gaze is the link to scopophilia, to the aesthetic pleasure derived from looking at someone as an object of beauty. As an expression of sexuality, scopophilia refers to the pleasure (sensual and sexual) derived from fulfilling sexual fetishes by viewing material such as pornography. There are two categories of pleasurable viewing: voyeurism, wherein the viewer's pleasure is in looking at another person from a distance, and he or she projects fantasies, usually sexual, onto the gazed upon person; and narcissism, wherein the viewer's pleasure is in self-recognition when viewing the image of another person. Therefore, it is believed that in order to enjoy a film as a woman, or as a person of any gender other than the male gender, women must learn to identify with the male protagonist and assume his perspective that is the male gaze.
The female gaze is conceptually equal to the male gaze; that is, when women objectify people, they view said individuals, and themselves, from the perspective of a man. The male gaze is considered a manifestation of unequal social power, between the gazing man and the gazed-upon woman; and is also seen as a conscious or subconscious social effort to develop gender inequality in service to a patriarchal sexual order. From either perspective, a woman who welcomes the sexual objectification of the male gaze might be perceived as conforming to social norms established for the benefit of men, thereby reinforcing the objectifying power of the male gaze upon woman; or, she might be perceived as an exhibitionist woman taking social advantage of the sexual objectification inherent to the male gaze, in order to manipulate the sexist norms of the patriarchy to her personal benefit.
Mulvey said that the female gaze is analogous to the male gaze, because 'the male figure cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification. Man is reluctant to gaze at his exhibitionist like'. In describing the relationships among the characters of the 1966 novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys, a writer known as Nalini Paul said that the when the character of Antoinette gazes at Rochester, and places a garland upon him, she makes him appear heroic, yet: 'Rochester does not feel comfortable with having this role enforced upon him; thus, he rejects it by removing the garland, and crushing the flowers'. It is believed that from the male perspective, a man possesses the gaze because he is a man, whereas a woman possesses the gaze only when she assumes the role of a man, and thus possesses the male gaze when she objectifies other people, by gazing at them as would a man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_gaze
Most films that do not serve the main purpose of being distinctively erotic, such as pornographies, do not necessarily consist of scenes that can be considered supportive of the male gaze, all throughout the runtime. They will often have such scenes scattered around, so as to not appear in direct favour of sexual objectification of women. However, certain films may have its main female characters seen rather scantily clad in the majority of scenes. Many superhero films, in particular, have been accused of using the concept of the male gaze to their advantage. Examples include The Return of Swamp Thing (1989), Barb Wire (1996), Elektra (2005), X-Men: First Class (2011), and Suicide Squad (2016). In this case, I shall be analysing a scene from French director, Pitof's Catwoman (2004), as the titular character is often dressed in a very revealing costume. In addition, Halle Berry - the American actress who portrayed the character - has played multiple roles that can be considered deliberately appealing to male audiences. Such roles include Ginger Knowles in Swordfish (2001), Leticia Musgrove in Monster's Ball (2001), and Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson in Die Another Day (2002).
In Catwoman, after being drowned and flushed out of a conduit pipe, artist and graphics designer Patience Philips is mysteriously revived by an Egyptian Mau cat, resulting in her developing cat-like abilities. Patience uses these to her advantage to become a vigilante, living as both a hero and a thief. After she steals a mask from a jewellery store that was being broken into, she fashions herself a sexual, skin-tight, leather outfit to further highlight her new Catwoman persona. The scene that I shall analyse is the one in which Patience sashays along a rooftop, revealing herself and her new attire to the camera for the first time.
Within the scene, the camera pans slowly up and around Catwoman's figure, presenting her assets in great detail. Transitioning smoothly, the camera begins at the character's feet, and ends at face, as she gazes intensely just above the lens. In terms of Catwoman's appearance, toes, waist, belly, neck, and arms are completely exposed. Cleavage is also very clearly shown, and rips in the form of claw marks can even be seen in her trousers, revealing pieces of flesh on her knee pits and buttocks. Her light-brown skin seems to be covered in some sort of beauty product, as it shines unnaturally. She compliments her look with a heavy layer of red, glossy lipstick on her lips. Ultimately, it is very easy to see why many believe that this scene appeals to the male gaze.
The camera's smooth movement disguises the fact that it is unnatural. In reality, one would not be able to view another in such a way without consequences, unless the two have a personal connection that they both consent to sharing. The viewer is able to view the character in a sexual manner because they are simply watching a film, and therefore, will not suffer at all for doing so. The fact that Catwoman only exists within the world of fiction - and is not written to break the forth wall - provides a layer of safety for the viewer to view her in the way that they see fit. Additionally, the viewer will know that the actress, Halle Berry, chose to portray the character, and most likely knew beforehand how a large majority of people would picture her onscreen.
An additional piece of evidence to suggest that the film scene is in support of the male gaze, is that only women seem to be presented in such a way. In other words, very little people of the opposite sex have been dressed in such sexual attire, whilst being filmed to show most body parts in full detail. For example, one of the only other superhero characters to rival Catwoman in terms of performance, is Batman. However, no obvious depiction of the 'World's Greatest Detective' can be seen to deliberately fulfil sexual appeals of audience members. Batman is almost always fully clothed from head to toe, with the only body parts showing being his eyes and mouth. Indeed, his outfit, due to being skin-tight, his large muscles are greatly pronounced, but this is much tamer compared to how Catwoman is presented.
If one were to argue against the idea of Catwoman serving the purpose of deliberately appealing to male audience members, one may compare to film to the comics - created and published by DC Comics, Inc. - that the character originated from. In many editions, Catwoman was sexualised through both appearance and actions. Therefore, one could argue that whoever proposed the idea for her to be presented in such a way within the film, was only attempting to make the project stay as true as possible to the original work. However, this can be countered with the fact that the story that the film tells is completely different to any found in the comics. For instance, the character actually gains superpowers in the film, despite being completely human - just like Batman - in the comics. Thus, what can be asked is why such drastic changes were made in terms of story, but the character's sexual appearance and personality were kept the same.
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