The Consequences of the “Male Gaze” and Sexual ..., Study notes of Communication

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The

Consequences

of the “Male

Gaze” and

Sexual

Objectification

Written by: Gina Miller

Rhetorical Theories and Professional

Communication

The “male gaze” is a term that is commonly used among feminists arguing the role of a female for the sexual objectification of a male spectator. The “male gaze” was originally brought up by Laura Mulvey in her essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema , and her meaning of the term relates to the woman as a spectacle in film. Other feminists have used to the term to describe print material as well as film and multi-­‐media as being a product of the “male gaze”. Sexual objectification means looking at a person as an object merely for sexual pleasure and as an object for use. Sexual objectification is comparable with the “male gaze” because both theories are feminism theories and have affects on men and women in our culture today. Feminist see sexual objectification as being a major part in the patriarchal order in which women are not equal to men. Sexual advertisement has also been a producer of the “male gaze” and sexual objectification, which in turn has created consequences proving feminism theories and causing psychological problems within some women in our culture. Laura Mulvey’s Visual and Narrative Pleasure doesn’t regard homosexuals, and transgendered people in her theory concerning the “male gaze”, but her feministic views have opened reader’s eyes on the truth about patriarchal order existing in our culture. Laura Mulvey begins her essay with looking at women symbolically as the bleeding wound of castration, and unconsciously raising her child in this image, therefore continuing the patriarchy. Mulvey studies Freudian philosophy on phallocentrism^1 as she compiles her findings about how to break the oppression of the female gender.

are many feminists that study sexual objectification and argue for ways to prevent it, which in turn will hopefully help the patriarchal order to subside, and give women the respect they deserve. Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi-­‐Ann Roberts wrote an essay, Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women’s lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks. They focus on the consequences behind the “male gaze” and viewing women of different ethnicities as sexual objects. As a result of sexual objectification, women have a self image that they are constantly monitoring, which causes stress and actual mental disorders. Sexual objectification and gender oppression have the same consequences for women which results in employment discrimination and sexual violence. Frederickson and Roberts agree that sexual gazing is what enables sexual objectification, and when these acts occur women’s body parts are what defines her as a person rather than her personality. The objectifying gaze, according to Fredrickson and Roberts, is noticeable in three different instances; the first being in public places with an actual social encounter and in most cases women of color is more apt to get a sexual comment with the gaze than a white women. The second scenario would be objectification in the media that portrays a likeness of a real encounter in which a male is gazing at a female while the female doesn’t notice the attention, and her attention is directed at something else. The “male gaze” would be a good way to describe the third objectification instance in our society. Fredrickson and Roberts describe the third instance in terms credited to Laura Mulvey, and the “male gaze”. They see this visual media sexual objectification as being the most threatening in our culture. The “male gaze” is not limited

to pornography; in fact it is portrayed throughout many films, live television, and advertisement. While men are mostly represented in detail facial view, women are mainly shown as body parts alone. These media tactics are actually provoking sexual objectification in our culture today. Sexual objectification as a perspective on a person’s physical self can also be considered a condition that affects people today. Because of the objective portrayal of women in the media and advertisement, some women actually start viewing themselves as objects and start to dissect their appearance to what is the culture’s standard of being attractive. Some studies show that some women’s life experiences can be based upon how other people view her appearance. Unger, R.K.^3 says that physical attractiveness can emanate power for women in the work place, or enhance social acceptance. Women that seem vain and narcissistic can very well be conditioned from sexual objectification and the “male gaze”. If the audience views the material presented to them in a preferred subject position, then they would definitely experience the effects of sexual objectification or the “male gaze”. Some people view sexual advertisement in the oppositional subject position, in which they would have a more disgusted view and they would not be affected by sexual objectification or the “male gaze”, in fact they may even argue against the messages being presented. Not all men are natural to the gaze and not all men objectify women. Women too aren’t all affected by the “male gaze” or sexual objectification. The women that are affected by sexual objectification can actually experience psychological problems throughout their lifetime, and according to Mulvey, raise their

From little girl stage to womanhood, females seem to become somewhat self conscious in themselves. Self conscious thoughts actually stop women from experiencing peak motivational states of learning which can disrupt their path in life of learning and gaining confidence to follow long term goals. Females view their bodies as objects from as young as grade school age when little boys start commenting on their appearance. This can turn both ways, because it seems natural for boys and girls to flirt with each other, but little boys growing hormones seem to have a larger impact on sexual objectification of their fellow females than that of objectification of males. Females biologically go through puberty faster and develop breasts that can be noticeable to young men, which then some males start objectifying females at a very young age. Many theorists have also suggested that women are less aware of their internal bodily states than men, which is can easily be described as a problem caused from self views of objectification. Women are less likely to feel what their body is telling them through physiological sensations, for example; heartbeat, stomach contractions, and glucose level. This problem could be caused by either long term dieting and ignoring hunger cues, or self consciousness of the body due to body monitoring. Either way both of these answers can be rooted to objectification. Fredrickson and Roberts studied many different consequences of the “male gaze” and sexual objectification. They have also come up with major mental illnesses thought to be caused from sexual objectification such as; depression, which was mentioned earlier, sexual dysfunctions, regarding female orgasms or lack thereof. Women generally do not have orgasms as easily as men, and this could be a result of many factors mentioned above

like ignoring physiological cues, and also women being self conscious about their bodies due to sexual objectification. One other example of an actual disorder would be eating disorders. Some women starve themselves to lose enough weight to feel comfortable in our culture. They call it a phenomenon in our culture that women actually want to starve, but many people see it as a repercussion of sexual objectification. The “male gaze”, sexual objectification, and even self objectification can be seen in many different types of advertisement. One for example is the PETA commercial titled “Veggie Love.” The commercial was banned from the super bowl in 2009 because it was very perverted in the message they portrayed and the actresses weren’t dressed appropriately for public television. I presented the commercial to my peers in class, and they actually disproved sexual objectification because they acted in an oppositional position and actually rejected the ideological message that was presented, but some females are subjected to feelings of sexual objectification, and if it is causing some harm on females, then it truly needs to be noticed and disregarded from media and advertisement, The “male gaze” is definitely present in the PETA commercial because it is made for a man as the spectator, viewing the images presented to them in objectionable form in which they can imagine themselves using the women as objects of sexual desire. The camera source in “Veggie Love” is actually set up to have a feel of being a man spectating over the women as they have their way with vegetables. The PETA commercial is considered an extreme example of the “male gaze” and sexual objectification, but it is a good example because it shows that a lot of advertisement and media we watch today have mixed messages portraying sexual objectification and the

Bibliography Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism :Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP, 1999: 833-44. Fredrickson, Barbara and Roberts, Tomi-Ann ,” Objectification Thoery: Toward Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks .” Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21 (1997), 173-206, Printed in the USA Unger, R.K. (1979). Female and Male. New York; Harper and Row Deaux, K & Major, B. (1987). Putting gender inro context: An interactive model of gender related behavior. Psychological Review, 94, 369-­‐389.