The concept of the male gaze, first coined by film theorist Laura Mulvey in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, is a male-centric narrative in film and other visual mediums, objectifying female characters so that their bodies become objects of male desire, while men take the initiative.( Laura Mulvey, 1975). Here is the questions: In nowadays society,
In what kinds of forms does the male gaze manifest on social media? How is it depicted?
The concept of the male gaze, first coined by film theorist Laura Mulvey in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, is a male-centric narrative in film and other visual mediums. It objectifies female characters so that their bodies become objects of male desire while men take the initiative ( Laura Mulvey, 1975). Here are the questions: In today’s society, in what kinds of forms does the male gaze manifest on social media? How is it depicted?
Instagram as we know it has a lot of beautification filters designed specifically for women, and some of them are designed to cater to male aesthetics, which is one of the manifestations of the male gaze on social media. For example, “facial features” will emphasize the symmetry of the face, as well as the characteristics of male aesthetics such as face slimming, pointed chin, etc., and the design features of these beautifying filters reflect the influence of the male gaze. And women who use these filters have a high chance of thinking that they need to use “beautification filters” to gain male appreciation and attention, and to “please” men. Smooth skin, full lips, tight face, and plump buttocks are basically highly compatible with the male-dominated aesthetic tendencies and the aesthetic ideals shaped by patriarchal culture. Since males are not the only groups of people who are eager to see images of hot girls in media productions, the sexualized performance of women in advertisements is also attractive to females. After perceiving a certain beauty standard and aesthetic trend shaped by the hegemonic male gaze in social media, women are more likely to pursue the idealized definition of beauty by altering their physical features. Beauty filters on social media are the most popular tool used by females to change their looks to fit into the current beauty standard. (Yiran Dang, 2022)
Kim Kardashian is an example. I checked her Instagram posts (listed below) and found that some of the photos and videos were taken from angles and filters that subtly catered to the male gaze, portraying ‘sexualized’ women. Due to Kim Kardashian’s strong fan base, the click-through rate of the beautification filters used increases significantly, which not only affects the audience’s aesthetics but also indirectly influences the way women present themselves on social platforms.
The male gaze has infiltrated various social media. It subtly affects women in society, and the male gaze is horrible, not only restricting women’s physical expression but also deepening the roots of gender inequality.
Reference
Yiran Dang(2022) ‘The Hegemonic Male Gaze in the Media Culture’, Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Mental Health, Education and Humanities Development (MHEHD 2022), Atlantis Press, pp. 1-5. Available at: https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/mhehd-22/125975850
Here is the Harvard-style reference for Laura Mulvey’s concept of the male gaze:
Mulvey, L. (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Screen, 16(3), pp. 6-18. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/screen/article/16/3/6/1622202
Great analysis! I love that you give contemporary examples, like beautification filters on Instagram, to illustrate the idea that the male gaze still influences how we see ourselves. This is perfectly embodied by Kim Kardashian and the impact her social media aesthetic has on the presentation of women online.
I think it’s true that Instagram provides a platform for male aesthetic preferences and patriarchal norms to flourish and creates a preying outpost for punters to exploit women’s felt necessity to conform. I like the way you highlighted how social media magnifies the male gaze and the effect it has on our identities. Well done!
You make an interesting point, social media is really the most mainstream form of communication right now, and you mention Instagram filters, which probably reflect the prevailing aesthetic model. The impact between social media users can affect social media itself, and these aesthetic concepts have a significant impact online, becoming part of the oppression of women in contemporary society. Whether it is Tiktok or Facebook, it is difficult to find a relatively objective platform in these social media to combat gender inequality, and perhaps gender inequality itself is part of the platform’s attraction to users – social media constructs aesthetic values, which in turn encourages more self-expression and self-objectification in users. Men desire to see more sexual expression on social media, women cater to these values on social media, and in our other thematic algorithmic bias, algorithms will select certain topics for exposure when manipulated, and the algorithmic model of traffic selection builds a negative feedback loop of gender inequality, which is simply a nightmare. Men’s gender oppression of women is everywhere, and the male gaze reflects the unequal rights of the patriarchal society, which is not a simple division of labor, but a problem of the balance of social resources. The objectification of women needs to be avoided. In your opinion, apart from improving the overall education level of women, is there anything that can help fight against this gender inequality?