Gaze- Bella Kjellen

As noted in the reading, Gaze is “how gendered, raced, eroticized, and controlled bodies become visible within media and other texts, and how individuals look at, identify with, and are constructed by visual representations”. Media holds a large amount of control over perceptual gazes, especially toward women. The concept of the “male gaze” has held a prominent influence on the way our media is produced, especially within film. Female characters are sexualized for profit, as producing for men is commonly seen throughout the film industry. However, social media has been progressing over to a more inclusive perspective recently as new trends have arrived in efforts to shift the gaze. For example, I think there has been a big switch within fashion media. Women’s fashion does not highlight limited clothing and instead pushes toward a more diverse range of trends within the fashion industry that are not targeted toward the male gaze. Women emphasizing efforts to dress for themselves instead of for men, highlighting the obscurities within gender perspectives in media/ film, and addressing that the male gaze is legitimate are all ways in which we have tried to push from this narrative. However, the media itself ultimately holds the power in terms of production and consumerism, so it is up to producers and influencers themselves to shift this perspective.