Off Topic > The Pub

The Male Gaze

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sam:
I really didn’t expect to be back! ("The cognescenti did, sam.") I’ve come in search of discussion deemed unacceptable at CycleChat. If you'd rather not have it here either, I apologise in advance.

The Conversation:

--- Quote ---The "male gaze" invokes the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women. In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an "object" of heterosexual male desire. Her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being "framed" by male desire.
--- End quote ---

Admit it guys, do you gaze malely?*



* I apologize unreservedly for that sentence on two counts: for saying "guys" as if you all were, and for making up a word that doesn't nicely roll off the tongue. (Google: "Did you mean "malery"? No I did not. But now that you mention it…


Mallory from Family Ties: "An unscholarly material girl, but kind-hearted and inoffensive, whose only main interests are shopping and boys.")

The following was on the BBC site. If you saw it, was your first thought related to Covid-19?


Subliminal message: testing isn't so bad. In fact you'll like it.

Because images cause immediate unfiltered reactions – to paraphrase Tina Turner, what’s the prefrontal cortex got to do with it? – I'll admit mine wasn’t. This may be because I haven’t yet had a swab up my nose and down my throat. (Not that either are virgin territory: I’ve had both nasal and gastric endoscopies, the later unsedated. Which was particularly fun.)

When you first heard "the male gaze" did your eyes glaze over, or did you want to book yourself into the nearest media studies or self-improvement course?


"I'll be your tutor today."

Although this is directed at men, I'm equally interested in the female response.


on edit: The link at the top leads to a page which I've since rewritten to give greater context to the CC mod's decision, so it might be a little confusing now until you scroll down. I didn't start this thread intending it to be about them.

Tim Hall:
<follows link> Blimey. Who have you upset over there?

Any way, let me ponder on the subject in hand. I'll get back to you.

barakta:
G'wan then, obligatory female response.

I'd say the male gaze is totally a thing. I think, but CBA looking it up, that the concept of a "X's gaze" comes from one of the Foucoults (not the pendulum one, another one).

It can be a useful model to think about how you/others/society view others and behave. I've seen the concept expanded thoughtfully in the white gaze, abled (non disabled) gaze and so on. It can be a useful way for a marginalised group to point out how they feel they are perceived by people who 'as a group' have tendencies to be oppressive towards them.

I wrote about the abled-gaze being turned back on itself last year when attending a friend's Judicial Review case last January. We had a group of ~15 disabled people, 8 or 9 using wheelchairs. As we walked (and in some cases wheeled) down the corridors we could see the reactions of the other court users (mostly legal types) to our presence in numbers. Wheelchair users are used to being stared at, but this time there was enough of 'us to stare back with a sense of power and not being outnumbered for a change. Upon describing the visuals of the stares as doors were held open for our "procession" (narrow corridors necessitated a bit of a procession) a blind companion, she started humming Chariots of Fire which merged into the Imperial March, which was highly entertaining (Even little old deaf me got those references).

More seriously, having enough visibly disabled people materially changed the way the government argued their case against my friend. One of their proposed arguments was "Only the claimant cares, this is not a wider issue for disabled people", they never used it.

At the time I wrote:

--- Quote ---Supporters travelled <to London> from as far as South Wales and North Yorkshire on a sunny weekday January morning. Being part of this large group turned the abled-gaze back upon itself as we proudly and quietly took up space in the court room and corridors and made our presence felt.

One of the government’s proposed legal arguments was that the claimant was only taking the claim because she is excessively litigious. After seeing over 8 different wheelchair users, people with other visible impairments and non-disabled allies in court; this argument was never even raised. I think our point was made – through solidarity.
--- End quote ---

So yeah. I like it. It's a useful model/tool both as someone on the receiving end, and someone who can be on the 'gazing end' where say I as a white person 'gaze' at people of colour and what I can do to be a better ally/supporter and aware of those things that I don't experience, but are very real.

sam:

--- Quote from: Tim Hall on 05 February, 2021, 02:01:17 pm ---let me ponder on the subject in hand. I'll get back to you.

--- End quote ---

Music to my ears. I’m already quite pleased with the response.

LittleWheelsandBig:
I think I do, I guess. As a teenager definitely and too much for too long after that but I may have grown up a bit since then. There were certainly some situations that I remember with shame. It will take some thought before I might be able to give a more coherent response.

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