Movies are a great source of entertainment. Have you ever noticed why some movies have more male fan bases while some have more female fan bases? Well, it all has to do with perspective. Feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey first coined the terms: male gaze and female gaze, which refer to how viewers engage themselves with the visual media.
Movie content that caters to male audiences targets the male gaze, and those that do so to female audiences target the female gaze. This generalization does not mean we cannot enjoy the content that does not cater to our demographic. It’s just a piece of media that happens to attract one specific gender.
Male gaze movies prioritize looks and competitiveness. The male character is strong, masculine and energetic. The women in these movies are attractive, beautiful and sometimes even sexualized. For example, in some Indian movies, there are songs where the actresses dance in revealing outfits. Popular masculine movies include James Bond and The Wolf of the Wall Street. In these films, the hero is a charismatic and intelligent man who fights a horde of people.
While the male gaze is prominent in movies, ads and covers, it has perpetuated into our society in the form of toxic masculinity. It wrongly influences the children and makes them believe that the male gaze is the way men are supposed to act and behave and that women are supposed to be attractive always.
If the male gaze is all about what the audience sees, then the female counterpart is more about what the audience feels. Both men and women find a well-toned body attractive. However, women tend to link this trait to unreliability. In movies catering to female audiences, the male character is not usually powerful and instead tends to be someone humble, humorous and playful.
The female roles portray them as bold, respectful and confident. Examples of female-focused movies are English Vinglish, where the heroine learns to respect herself during her journey of learning English, and Magalir Mattum, which portrays the life of three women challenging stereotypes. However, the female gaze sometimes objectifies the male characters, which becomes a form of toxic femininity.
Movies are just a form of entertainment, and we should not allow them to influence our lives. Both male and female gaze are business tactics followed by the media to attract the audiences. Retaining our charm and choice is what makes us unique creatures.
