Male Gaze and Oppositional Gaze

The male gaze is the perspective or lens through which women become a "spectacle" or object. The perspective is based soley on what is pleasing to a male spectator. It is through this male gaze that the image of women is portrayed in an idealized form. As John Berger explains in Ways of Seeing, "Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves," (Berger, 47). Berger's explanation helps us to understand why the male gaze has become so pervasive in popular culture; it reflects how men and women relate to each other and themselves. We can also see in Berger's Ways of Seeing how the male gaze has endured throughout history with the story of Adam and Eve and Renaissance era paintings.

In response to the exclusive nature of the male gaze, the oppositional gaze has developed. The oppositional gaze, as described by bell hooks, challenges the authority of the spectator in order to give oneself agency or the permission to look. Historically, the male gaze posits the white male as the spectator; people of color are not permitted to be spectators especially when the object of the gaze is a white woman. According to hooks, the oppositional gaze means that, "Not only will I stare, I want my look to change reality." The oppositional gaze challenges the male gaze's power to construct the mainstream reality and consciousness. An example of the oppositional gaze would be Spike Lee's film entitled Crooklyn. This film, as noted by hooks, was criticized by white mainstream media for not having a plot however that was clearly not the case. In watching the film, the audience sees the story of a black family living in Brooklyn and the tragedy they experience when the mother becomes ill with cancer. The storyline, as hooks explains, is not of interest to critics and they therefore dismissed the film.

Given the structures of male gaze and oppositional gaze I have gleaned a better understanding of certain forms of media in terms of perspective and who their intended audience is. For example, for the past several years I have stopped watching Black Entertainment Television (BET) because of the negative portrayl of black people. When the company changed hands from black ownership to predominately white ownership certain changes became quite apparent. Shows such as BET news and Teen Summit which featured more culturally conscious dialog were dropped from programming. It became apparent to me that the perspective had changed and although the intended audience was the same, the messages had more of a negative effect.