A question about male gaze

[msagara]

Last night, when I was falling asleep at my keyboard and did not want to sleep, I went off to the internet to read about books. (Not my books, though, because that frequently wakes me up in the Bad Way, because - author.)

One of the books was a novel called Stormdancer. It is the first in a series that is set in not-Japan but which makes use of elements of Japanese society in a kind of “this is cool, let’s use this” way. This is a book, according to quotes in reviews, which is firmly anchored in the male gaze.

The protagonist is a woman.

I’ve been thinking about books, written by men, in which women are handled well. Or, to be more specific, in which I think women are handled well. It’s a question I used to be asked while working at the bookstore, and therefore a question I’ve turned over on the inside of my head, time and again.

And this morning, because I am writing and my creative writer brain has slowed, I have returned to this, having spent an evening reading about male gaze.

All of the male authors I’ve recommended or cleared as “writing women well” (Sean Stewart for example) are entirely absent male gaze.

(I once asked Sean Stewart how he handled his women, because he was one of the few male authors whose viewpoint felt so natural to me I would have believed he was a woman if I hadn’t met him, and he said “It’s not magic; I just write about them as if they’re…people.” One of the ways he achieved this, I realize in hindsight, is jettisoning male gaze.)

Male gaze irritates the crap out of me. Most of the women I know who notice their bodies are likely to say “I need to lose weight around my thighs” or “my stomach is so flabby”, so if you really want to write from a female viewpoint, you don’t have your character notice her fabulous perky breasts or creamy skin or etc. Because. Well.

But…

Is there a female gaze that has the same weight, and is irritating or reductionist in the same way? Do male readers feel reduced to uncomfortable margins by female gaze?

I realize that this is a touchy question. I am actually interested in the answer and will accept any answer that is given that does not constitute a personal attack on any other answer that’s given - but I want people to answer without fear of censure.

Comments

[nathreee.livejournal.com]

So basically, if I were to write stories with characters who are people and I don't spend a lot of time on what they look like, I would be avoiding this male or female gaze thing? Or is there more to it?

[msagara.livejournal.com]

I think there’s more to it. There’s a sexualized way of describing things; specific physical traits are by default sexualized. I think you can describe someone physically without sexualizing them.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Although that element of the male gaze is central (the sexual gaze) I would define it more broadly as valuing/privileging "male defined" (culturally defined) viewpoints, expressions, interests, etc as being intrinsically more important/of interest to the entire community while other viewpoints/expressions are marginalized. But not everyone will agree at such an expansive definition.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

I'm not so sure that's the "male gaze" so much as the "patriarchal mindset."

To my mind, the male gaze starts with "She wore a dark blue dress that hugged every curve." Whereas the patriarchal mindset is "Bill didn't care what she bought--shopping bored him--as long as she was dressed in the latest styles that suited the wife of a stockbroker."

The first example is about whether she's sexually appealing. The second example is about whether she is fitting into a particular gender-defined role, and minimizing a "female" activity (shopping) while emphasizing the importance of what her owner husband requires.

Though of course it's semantics, and I have no problem considering the second sentence as an extension of the male gaze. I just offer this contrast to show two different aspects of the problem.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree. I believe that the technical definition of male gaze (which can be found online) is narrow, a syou say.

I like the larger definition in terms of how I try to consider how text and story works and how people react to the stories we tell in whatever media. That is, in the sense of people saying "that's not right" or "that's not how things are" when it doesn't fit the default mode. If that makes sense.