What is the male gaze?

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When evaluating the concept of the male gaze, it's useful to assess how each option frames representation and audience expectation.
Option 1 posits that the gaze presents and represents men as sexual objects for the heterosexual female viewer. This reverses the traditional gendered dynamic described by the concept, which centers on women as the objects of heterosexual male desire, not men as objects for female viewers. Therefore this statement misidentifies who is objectified and for whose pleasure.
Option 2 suggests depicting the inner thoughts of a male character. While character perspective can be a narrative device, it does not capture the core notion of the male gaze, which is about how visual culture (film, art, media) frames women and invites the male viewer to adopt a masculine perspective. Hence, this option misses the objectification and viewing position central to the concept.
Option 3 describes watching what a male character is looking at. Although this hints at viewing behaviors within a scene, it narrows the concept to a moment of observation rather than articulating the broader structural idea: how visual representations are framed to align with male desire and how the camera and depicting gaze position the audience. It does not fully articulate the systemic objectification implied by the male gaze.
Option 4 states that it is a perspective that visually presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer. This aligns with the widely discussed definition of the male gaze in feminist theory, which concerns how media often visualizes women to satisfy male spectators, reinforcing gendered power dynamics and objectification. This option directly addresses both the visual framing and the intended viewer's pleasure.
In summary, the first option reverses the gender who is objectified; the second and third options touch on aspects of viewing but fail to express the overarching concept of objectification and the target audience that characterizes the male gaze; the fourth option captures the central idea of women being depicted as objects for male pleasure within visual media.

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What is the male gaze?

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