Says the woman walking by on the street, on her way to work. I think, at least once, every woman on the planet has experienced some sort of awkwardness with a man or several every day.
The concept was introduced by scholar and film maker Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’. She argued that traditional Hollywood films gave the impression of scopophilia, the sexual pleasure involved in looking. She said most popular films portray the male scopophilia. A good example of a classic, old Hollywood film is ‘Some Like It Hot‘, the 1959 film starring Marylin Monroe about two men who pretend to be women in a jazz club so they can escape Chicago. However, they end up falling in love with Marylin’s character.
Within seconds of their alter egos, Jerry, dressed as Daphne, says, “I feel like everyone’s staring at me” before doing exactly that at Monroe’s character. Scenes later, the same thing happens, only it’s men in the club doing it to the two characters dressed as ladies. The hotel porter makes one of them uncomfortable with suggestive remarks despite being of same height. Jerry then gets pinched in the elevator. “Now you know how the other half live!”, says Joe, his friend. How ironic! It just plays down and jokes on the experience of women and their independence to the male observer. I understand that the actors may not be at fault here with this film, per say, but it doesn’t give them the excuse not to play a character such as that. It’s humiliating and embarrassing to see a man disregard women even though dressed as one.
Another thing I want to talk about are the outfits that Monroe wore for this film.
This further proves Mulvey’s point of that women are characterised by their “to-be-looked-at-ness” and being “spectacle”.
Marylin Monroe is known to be one of the “sex symbols” of her time, making everyone (men and women alike) look up to her in terms of looks and personality (that was portrayed in the films she was in, she obviously didn’t really act like that in real life, right?). In most, if not all, of the films she’s been in, she’s always worn short, slim dresses that would curve around her waist and show her cleavage. Also, her voice was always trying to sound seductive and sexual, even though the film was not intended to be on that side of things. Obviously, she was forced to act this way and show herself out like this because at those times, it was how the film would get sold and have the most amount of tickets for people to see it in the cinemas.
Despite Mulvey’s thoughts and how it it men acting towards women, the same can be done from a man to man perspective.
All men aspire to have the fit, muscular stature and a good home life with a family, good friends, good working life, etc. Men also stare at other men who appear to have that sort of life and become jealous but it’s not necessarily in the sexy way the Mulvey discusses. It’s just a way of looking at someone who has what you don’t. This type of behaviour also happens on social media, where people who are jealous go out of their way to comment something negative and hurtful but there are always other users that clap back at the mean comments which always makes me happy to see.
I just want to bring it back to current times now. For example, if a man were to ask a woman for her number and she says no, the normal reaction would be to leave it and tell them to have a good day. In worse case scenarios, the man can turn violent and say that something “bad” will happen to you. Here’s a real life example of this scenario. The man crosses to the other side of the station, just to ask for the girl’s number and becomes aggressive and threatening when she says no. This situation happening at night time made it even worse in my opinion because from what can be seen in the video, there was barely anyone around so you can just imagine how the girl was feeling.
This post isn’t trying to say that all men are like this, it is usually men who act this way and in my opinion, these things will always continue to happen to women. It is what to do in the moment that is important. Carrying pepper spray or having someone important on speed dial. Just these small things can really make a difference. In the case of media, there’s a long way to go.
The example you provided of this scary behaviour from men was shocking; crossing a train line to approach a woman is insanity. Your analysis of Monroe was intriguing and highlights the dark areas of Hollywood’s view of women. We hope times have changed, but this objectification is still relevant today. Your post analyses the male gaze meaningfully, bringing real-world examples to back up your research. Like you said in your last paragraph, it’s not all men, but it is all women who go through this harassment at some point in their lives.
I also find it depressing that Marylin Monroe is still only viewed by the majority of the masses as a sex symbol. I genuinely think that she is a hilarious actress.
Talking about toxic masculinity is also an interesting perspective. I mean, comparison is the thief of joy. I hope men can one day find security without bringing people down.