Women, Self-portrait and male gaze

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Women , Artists , and the Male Gaze

The concept , `male gaze ' as it is applied to the female body , ought to be understood as the idea that the female body stands as a gendered subject whose significance is determined by its male spectator . The concept `male gaze ' implies that the value of the subject of the gaze which is usually the female body , is determined

by the male spectator In the process of doing this , the spectator stands as the entity who maintains a degree of control over the woman in general ' which is specifically apparent as this entity determines and dictates the construction , as well as , the definition of women 's sexuality (Kuhn 11 As Vickie Shields (2006 ) states , the `point of view ' presented by the concept `male gaze ' implies the existence of a male spectator who determines the value of the object of the gaze (258 . To present this more succinctly , Valdivia quotes Laura Mulvey , who states

In a world ed by sexual imbalance , pleasure in looking has been split between active /male and passive /female . The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure , which is styled accordingly . In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed , with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness...