The territory of The Gaze

The dominance of the male gender over the female gender has manifested itself in different forms. One of the representations of this dominance is through the male gaze. The male gaze is a physical and psychological state of existence where men reinforce their gendered dominance by viewing women as commodities and not as equals. The woman becomes an item to be gazed upon by a male. Men express their dominance through strength, sexuality, money, religion, and many other facets of society.

The purpose of the male gaze is to establish a power separation between the male and female genders. This gaze is a pervasive situation in the media because women have accepted the realization that they are looked at and have to be looked at as objects in order to achieve a type of recognition or acceptance as a gendered species. An example in popular culture of the 21st century is when male rappers and singers use women in their music videos to express a statement of power.

To combat this gendered dominance, women, and specifically women of color who are even a greater minority than white women, have established what is called the oppositional gaze. This type of gaze is in essence a response to the male gaze.

The oppositional gaze is a force used to destroy the stereotypical values that the male gaze has established for women. This gaze is used to demonstrate that women are not only objects used to look at, but to show that women are intellectually sound, are not strictly focused on physical appearance, and that they are fully capable of taking an initiative in government, education, religion, and the other realms of civilization that men have dominated since the beginning of time.

As a man living in the United States, it is very easy to fall into the trap of the male gaze. But the more I educate myself about society and about the different aspects of the media, I am becoming ever more liberal and open minded about the realization that the oppositional gaze is powerful and it should not be taken lightly.