The Male Gaze In Film

After reading through Chapter Three of our text, Practices of Looking, I found the male gaze theory very interesting. In almost every film and advertisement, a woman is at the center of attention. This is purely because sex sells: “female gender stereotypes are often based on ideas about sexual [behavior]” (Finzsch 1).

In the film, Bad Teacher, staring Cameron Diaz, men view her solely as a sex symbol. Though this is a comedy, and thus takes this idea of ‘the male gaze’ to the extreme, it still shows how attractive women are viewed in the workforce. In this clip, Diaz shows up to the school car wash and immediately receives everyone’s attention. The men in the clip are shown with their jaws dropped as the film then zooms in on aspects of Diaz’s body that is viewed as “sexual.” Though this clip is clearly not supposed to be taken seriously, it still shows a woman as the center of a scene. Rarely are there ever any scenes where a woman is not seen as the sex symbol and object of the male gaze, with the exception of the film, Magic Mike. In this regard, women seem to always be the ones “washing the car” as men are simply gazing.

Finzsch, Norbert. 2008. "Male Gaze and Racism.” Gender Forum 1 (23): 51. http://www.genderforum.org