It's Time To Share Your Favorite Examples Of The "Female Gaze" In Movies And TV
If you're a film aficionado, chances are you've heard of the "male gaze." Basically, the male gaze refers to how women in media are depicted from the perspective of heterosexual men, therefore making them passive objects of male desire.
DreamWorks Pictures
An example that always comes to my mind is the shot of Megan Fox looking under the hood of a car in Transformers. But really, you see this kind of thing in about 90% of all movies and TV shows.
BUT, lately there's also been a lot of talk about the "female gaze." There's not quite an official definition of the female gaze yet, but it generally means subverting the male gaze and depicting things from the female perspective, usually tapping into empathy, emotion, art, and/or empowerment more than simply objectifying. For example:
So, I'm curious: What's your favorite example of the female gaze in movies and TV? Maybe the scene in Pride and Prejudice where Mr. Darcy's hand flexes after touching Elizabeth's for the first time always makes you weak in the knees.
Focus Features
Or perhaps you really appreciate how the Amazons are portrayed in Wonder Woman as strong, empowered warriors when they could've very easily been sexualized.
DC/Warner Bros.
All of Wonder Woman is a female gaze dream, TBH.
Or maybe you've always preferred Loki over Thor in the MCU because his depiction was always SO MUCH more appealing than Thor merely taking his shirt off.
Or perhaps you still think about the moment when Miles helps Iris get something out of her eyelash in The Holiday:
