Possibility of Female Gaze
Unlike men, women are thought to represent a threat - in Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the threat of castration. The threat is however experienced by the presupposed male viewer upon looking at the women's images. So this threat is overcome, for example in cinema, by the narrative which either victimizes or fetishizes women.
The male gaze is therefore always active trying to mastery over the threat-reminding female body. So the "female gaze" is always subordinated and limited to an identification with the woman being looked at. Moreover, the hegemony of male gaze has such an effect that even if a female designs any advertisements, she does it according to the existing patters and according to the expectations of males. For she presupposes that the audience are males. This could also be proved by the fact that there are no advertisements where male characters are portrayed as a passive bearer of female look.
This situation rules out the possibility of any kinds of significant "female gaze" that could influence the making of visuals and photography in cinema or television.
Similarly, the existence of female gaze is also ruled out because, male are often, at least in Nepalese context, presented not as a bearer of female gaze but as a perfect and ideal ego, a macho figure. Let me explain it more, as described by Laura Mulvey.
In looking, according to Mulvey, pleasure is derived in two ways. One way is through socopholia which arises from using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight. The other is through "identification," where the ego outside identifies with the one in cinema. While the former one is more associated with sexual pleasure, the latter one is close to nostalgic reminiscent of the pre-subjective moment of image recognition and to narcissism.
In narcissism, one takes pleasure by looking at the screen image (or mirror image as in the version of Lacan), which is regarded by the viewer as an ideal ego or the role model which the viewer aspires. So the activities however glamorous of the male protagonist are not viewed as the erotic activities of the gazed object but as activities of a more perfect ego that is identified.
So the process of getting pleasure through the system of socopholia involves separation of egos (one of the viewer and the other of the viewed) and that of identification involves merging of two egos. The first is direct socopholic pleasure second is fascination with the character in the screen and identification which is indirect.
So the spectator too can possess the woman whom the character of the screen posses. Besides, the female viewers are subject to identify with the male gaze and take part in the activity of watching as a male.
So, had there been the presence of female gaze, there would have been man’s images presented as a bearer of look. Most of the advertisements in Nepalese televisions have portrayed male figure in a way to reassure the controlling gaze rather than evoking female gaze. Very few advertisements have imagined women as their audience or as the target of their attraction, even if they are meant for the women ...........[some sections missing] ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ...........
Unlike men, women are thought to represent a threat - in Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the threat of castration. The threat is however experienced by the presupposed male viewer upon looking at the women's images. So this threat is overcome, for example in cinema, by the narrative which either victimizes or fetishizes women.
The male gaze is therefore always active trying to mastery over the threat-reminding female body. So the "female gaze" is always subordinated and limited to an identification with the woman being looked at. Moreover, the hegemony of male gaze has such an effect that even if a female designs any advertisements, she does it according to the existing patters and according to the expectations of males. For she presupposes that the audience are males. This could also be proved by the fact that there are no advertisements where male characters are portrayed as a passive bearer of female look.
This situation rules out the possibility of any kinds of significant "female gaze" that could influence the making of visuals and photography in cinema or television.
Similarly, the existence of female gaze is also ruled out because, male are often, at least in Nepalese context, presented not as a bearer of female gaze but as a perfect and ideal ego, a macho figure. Let me explain it more, as described by Laura Mulvey.
In looking, according to Mulvey, pleasure is derived in two ways. One way is through socopholia which arises from using another person as an object of sexual stimulation through sight. The other is through "identification," where the ego outside identifies with the one in cinema. While the former one is more associated with sexual pleasure, the latter one is close to nostalgic reminiscent of the pre-subjective moment of image recognition and to narcissism.
In narcissism, one takes pleasure by looking at the screen image (or mirror image as in the version of Lacan), which is regarded by the viewer as an ideal ego or the role model which the viewer aspires. So the activities however glamorous of the male protagonist are not viewed as the erotic activities of the gazed object but as activities of a more perfect ego that is identified.
So the process of getting pleasure through the system of socopholia involves separation of egos (one of the viewer and the other of the viewed) and that of identification involves merging of two egos. The first is direct socopholic pleasure second is fascination with the character in the screen and identification which is indirect.
So the spectator too can possess the woman whom the character of the screen posses. Besides, the female viewers are subject to identify with the male gaze and take part in the activity of watching as a male.
So, had there been the presence of female gaze, there would have been man’s images presented as a bearer of look. Most of the advertisements in Nepalese televisions have portrayed male figure in a way to reassure the controlling gaze rather than evoking female gaze. Very few advertisements have imagined women as their audience or as the target of their attraction, even if they are meant for the women ...........[some sections missing] ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ........... ...........
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................ ..........[some sections missing] ........... is however, a single advertisement, collected here as an example, in a daily newspaper The Himalayan Times December 12, 2005. It is the print advertisement of Frenchie, men's underwear, where there is a caption in the advertisement that reads, "Women resent being treated as sex objects SOMETHING TELLS US . . . men won't have any such problems . . ." Apparently, it seems to have a female gaze (clip 1), but it neither by its visual aspects nor by its words printed as caption present the male figure in a way that could facilitate or cater to the female gaze.
The possibility of the existence of female gaze is however undercut by the man’s bold facial expression and his look. Unlike the advertisements with male gaze, the male character in the advertisement does look at the audience with certain power to counter the female look.
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