The male gaze objectifies women, because it transforms them from a natural image to something perverse in order to feed the male ego.
This is predicated on the fact that women will play their part of the game. They must engage that gaze and thus validate the man's ego.
As we read from Mulvey in regards to film, "the two looks...are obsessively subordinated to the neurotic needs of the male." (Mulvey, p.843)
I have always been hyper-conscious of the gaze, but from a different perspective; dance. Since I was four years old, I have stared at myself in a mirror and worked to become not only a technically proficient dancer, but to replicate the image of my body as a dancer in terms of a man's vision. George Balanchine is the man to whom most ballet dancers revered as the master of this vision. His image of female ballerinas negated any sense of woman-hood, as he preferred young, ultra-thin dancers who looked to remain pre-pubescent throughout their careers. Thus, the New York City Ballet dancers held the standards by which dancers all of the world strove to attain.
In the above clips from The Turning Point movie, the dancers show this idealized vision. About 1 minute into the clip, you will see Mikhail Baryshnikov gazing at Leslie Browne and she supports his gaze and further almost begs for his approval through her movements.
The oppositional gaze, in terms of dance, shows a different story. So, what if dancers did not want to support this unhealthy image both physically and mentally? What if they wanted to embrace their womanhood, embrace their curves, and dance regardless if anyone was watching?
Enter contemporary movement, and the idea of women freeing themselves by dancing barefoot and in loose clothing to express their feminity.
The contemporary modern movement took dance back into the realm of equality, and gave women a sense of power by negating the male gaze. As bell hooks wrote that women who participated in an oppositional gaze by choosing not to participate, "created a critical space where the binary opposition Mulvey posits of 'woman as image, man as bearer of the look' was continually deconstructed." (hooks, p.122-23).
Thus, throughout the history of modern movement, we see a much different image and often a much different philosophy of the dancers who embody the movement. Generally speaking, these dancers challenge traditional notions of feminity on many different levels. Some are quite brash and 'vocal', while others create their own space for their expression away from the gaze.
For example, Hannah Kahn is an extremely well respected modern dance choreographer who refuses the gaze in terms of her choreography. The dancers practice and rehearse in a space without any mirrors, and just relate to one another through the movement. In the clip below, we see the dancers in very loose, free-form costumes which allows for the movement to speak for itself.
This is predicated on the fact that women will play their part of the game. They must engage that gaze and thus validate the man's ego.
As we read from Mulvey in regards to film, "the two looks...are obsessively subordinated to the neurotic needs of the male." (Mulvey, p.843)
I have always been hyper-conscious of the gaze, but from a different perspective; dance. Since I was four years old, I have stared at myself in a mirror and worked to become not only a technically proficient dancer, but to replicate the image of my body as a dancer in terms of a man's vision. George Balanchine is the man to whom most ballet dancers revered as the master of this vision. His image of female ballerinas negated any sense of woman-hood, as he preferred young, ultra-thin dancers who looked to remain pre-pubescent throughout their careers. Thus, the New York City Ballet dancers held the standards by which dancers all of the world strove to attain.
In the above clips from The Turning Point movie, the dancers show this idealized vision. About 1 minute into the clip, you will see Mikhail Baryshnikov gazing at Leslie Browne and she supports his gaze and further almost begs for his approval through her movements.
The oppositional gaze, in terms of dance, shows a different story. So, what if dancers did not want to support this unhealthy image both physically and mentally? What if they wanted to embrace their womanhood, embrace their curves, and dance regardless if anyone was watching?
Enter contemporary movement, and the idea of women freeing themselves by dancing barefoot and in loose clothing to express their feminity.
The contemporary modern movement took dance back into the realm of equality, and gave women a sense of power by negating the male gaze. As bell hooks wrote that women who participated in an oppositional gaze by choosing not to participate, "created a critical space where the binary opposition Mulvey posits of 'woman as image, man as bearer of the look' was continually deconstructed." (hooks, p.122-23).
Thus, throughout the history of modern movement, we see a much different image and often a much different philosophy of the dancers who embody the movement. Generally speaking, these dancers challenge traditional notions of feminity on many different levels. Some are quite brash and 'vocal', while others create their own space for their expression away from the gaze.
For example, Hannah Kahn is an extremely well respected modern dance choreographer who refuses the gaze in terms of her choreography. The dancers practice and rehearse in a space without any mirrors, and just relate to one another through the movement. In the clip below, we see the dancers in very loose, free-form costumes which allows for the movement to speak for itself.
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