Gaze Theory Research Articles

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: Deconstruction of Female Identity

Abstract: Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a drama film directed by Cline Sciamma and starring Adle Haenel and Nomie Merlant. The film centers on the passionate love story between Heloise, a bride on the brink of marriage, and Marianne, the painter commissioned to create her portrait. This paper analyses the construction and deconstruction of female identity in Portrait of a Lady on Fire through the lenses of gaze theory and feminist identity theory. It begins by exploring Heloise's resistance to the objectifying male gaze, illustrated through her defiance against the passive model identity and her challenge to the myth of Orpheus, which traditionally casts women in powerlessness and rescue role. The paper then delves into the film's critique of the roles of wife and mother within the patriarchal, heteronormative family structure, drawing on Simone de Beauvoir's ideas in The Second Sex to further contextualize the film's feminist discourse. Through these analyses, the paper reveals how the film reimagines and challenges traditional female identities, offering a detailed and subtle portrayal of women's autonomy and identity.

The Eve Made from the Rib of Female Spectators: The Construction of Rudolph Valentino’s Effeminate Screen Characters Under the Female Gaze—Case Studies of Three Films Starring Rudolph Valentino in 1921

The objective of this essay is to analyze the construction of Rudolph Valentino’s effeminate cinematic characters in the early 1920s Hollywood cinema, specifically case studying three films, namely, Camille (1921), The Sheik (1921), and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921). Through textual analysis, it would illustrate how these characters were crafted in terms of three pivotal aspects: melancholic romanticism, ethnic exoticism, and meticulously designed aesthetics, which together foster the sense of otherness and objectification that imitate the common situation of womanhood, and thus evoked profound resonance among female spectators. Through referring to the gaze theory of Laura Mulvey and the mirror theory of Jacques Lacan, this essay would further distinguish the male and female gaze, arguing that Valentino’s on-screen presence facilitated a reversal of the conventional looking pleasure and created a unique form of female gaze that mirrored their subjective projection and the experience of being gazed upon. This positioning of Valentino’s characters as both the object and the embodiment of feminine sensuality and suffering also symbolizes the self-awareness and empowerment in female spectatorship.

A Look at the Gaze in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings

ABSTRACT The gaze plays a pivotal role in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, steadily generating tension, affecting the characters’ physical and psychical values, and even governing the very way the narrative unfolds itself. This essay’s intervention lies in framing its examination of vision, visuality, and the gaze in Tolkien’s novel through contemporaneous theoretical and philosophical approaches, specifically gaze theory. In addition to highlighting the ontological, phenomenological, and structural dimensions of Tolkien’s gaze, this essay also interprets the novel as a robust and complex theoretical work that enhances our understanding of the meaning and substance of the gaze as a totalizing component of ontological experience.

When We See Us: A Kitchen Table Talk Exploring the Interior Lives of Black Women Educators Within Carceral Spaces

While there are many studies which examine the symbiotic relationship between schools and prisons, there are very few studies which center the voices and unique perspectives of Black women educators who teach, collaborate with, and learn alongside incarcerated youth and adults. Therefore, this article focuses on our storied lives as three Black women educators in carceral spaces. Utilizing kitchen table talk methodology and the analytical lens of Black Gaze Theory, this article seeks to explore the question: What internal and external factors have made it possible to pursue our work within carceral environments? As such, within this article we share and analyze our personal experiences, our ever-closeness to carcerality, and what continues to draw us to this work—interrogating ourselves alongside each other. That said, this article is also an invitation for educators, administrators, families, and community members to imagine and create liberatory educational experiences alongside, with, and for youth, adults, and community members who have experienced incarceration.

A Feminist Reading on the Exploration of Female Identity and Sexuality in Sri Lankan Cinema: A Case Study of Asoka Handagama’s Selected Works

Since the emergence of the feminist movement, the distortion of feminine identity and sexuality is profoundly discoursed in relation to literature and other genres of art. This research has endeavoured to articulate how female identity and sexuality is portrayed in Sri Lankan cinema with reference to selected work of veteran filmmaker, Asoka Handagama. The sample comprises of the award-winning movies, “Thani Thatuwen Piyambanna” (Flying with One Wing, 2002), “Aksharaya” (A Letter of Fire, 2005) and “Aege Aesa Aga” (Let Her Cry, 2016) which features three significant female characters and their plight in patriarchal society. The researcher has deployed Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory which examines the voyeuristic and scopophilic representation of women in media along with the Lacanian and Freudian concepts of gaze as the theoretical approach of the study. The research was predominantly conducted utilizing the qualitative approach while textual analysis and interviews focusing on the director of the selected films, critics and academics were the major tools of primary data collection. The secondary data was collected through research publications, newspaper articles, the internet and magazines. The hermeneutic approach was deployed in interpreting the sample and the collected data focusing on the connection between the selected sample and the broader discourses. Even though Laura Mulvey exemplifies that women are always being projected as passive objects in cinema, the findings of the study reveal that the selected sample represents the female figure as a more assertive and emphatic entity regardless of the persistent patriarchal norms.

Oppression and Females’ Defending in the Devil Wears Prada

Although the film industry has improved in terms of portraying female characters since the 1960s, there are still issues visible to the public, and one is the hidden objectification of females in supposedly feminist movies. Another popular opinion recently, especially on Chinese social media platforms, is that fashion acts as a tool of the patriarchy to force the male gaze onto women. However, this paper intends to discuss how the fashion industry acts as a non-patriarchal field that provides opportunities for females in terms of improving themselves. The movie, The Devil Wears Prada, will be analyzed as an example to explain how the fashion industry, in this movie, does not consist of the male gaze and propels the main character’s growth. The approaches used in this paper are Laura Mulvey’s gaze theory and analyzing specific scenes in the movie, The Devil Wears Prada. The scenes will be analyzed using the apparatus theory in films, explaining how the different types of shots influence the message conveyed in the movie. In conclusion, this paper reveals that even a feminist film like The Devil Wears Prada contains various circumstances of the male gaze; however, these circumstances of the male gaze influencing women do not appear because of the fashion industry, and consequently, the fashion industry should not be disapproved as a source of the male gaze, as it provides opportunities for women to improve themselves in terms of their career and wellbeing.

영화〈봉신제1부: 조가풍운(封神第一部:朝歌风云)〉에 나타난 여성 이미지 분석 -응시 이론 관점을 중심으로-

영화〈봉신제1부: 조가풍운(封神第一部:朝歌风云)〉에 나타난 여성 이미지 분석 -응시 이론 관점을 중심으로-

Analyzing the Growth and Feminine Consciousness of the Two Heroines in 'Thelma and Louise'

Influenced by the feminism movements in the 1960s, more and more films have begun to pay attention to women's issues as well as presenting a trend of criticism and reflection on the gender issues in the past (and in the Hollywood blockbuster). -The paper will be conducted by utilizing film techniques such as mis-en-scen, colour, lighting, filming techniques, lines, etc. in combination with postmodern feminist theories, female image analysis, female consciousness awakening, gaze theory, as well as theories of narrative and patriarchy to deeply explore and analyse the growth of the subjective consciousness of the two female protagonists in the film. The paper will be conducted by utilizing the textual analysis as a main methodology, trying to contribute a more comprehensive angle to dissect this artwork.

Unravelling the female image redefining and re-creation patterns in video mashups: from the perspective of gaze theory

ABSTRACT In the wake of burgeoning feminism and the prevalence of video mashups, the redefinition of the female image has garnered substantial attention from scholars and practitioners alike. However, there is a dearth of research on female images and their redefining patterns in the context of video mashups. This study endeavours to address this void by synthesizing existing literature on video mashups and employing content analysis methods to elucidate the female images within these multimedia amalgamations. A comprehensive dataset of female video mashups was amassed for examination. We identified five predominant female images: “Beautiful appearance,” “Power master,” “Capable professionals,” “Independent protesters,” and “Torture suffers.” Drawing inspiration from gaze theory, our study delineates three primary re-creation patterns: “Identification,” “Confrontation,” and “Hybridity.” This research extends the purview of gaze theory, providing valuable insights into the evolution of female images in the digital age and its multifaceted reconfiguration within the realm of video mashups. Additionally, this study offers practical implications for communication strategists, empowering them to devise effective campaigns fostering gender equality and female empowerment.

Cosmetics as Tools of Resistance and Survival in Paul Bowles's The Sheltering Sky and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

Abstract: Wearing makeup may not be merely a perfunctory beauty ritual in The Sheltering Sky and Nineteen Eighty-Four . This essay reads it as an act of defiance and emancipation that begins with the woman's face, using the very objects that putatively contribute to the objectification of women. In these novels—written by western white men in 1949—the restorative properties of makeup enunciate Kit and Julia's desire to restore their own existential image in a world that oppresses and dehumanizes women. Employing Lacan's gaze theory as its primary methodology, this study sheds light on how cosmetics are portrayed as front-line defenses of feminine identity—especially needed in hard times and dystopian contexts.

From Fire in the Eye to the Eye of War: A Media Theory of Laura's Gaze in Petrarch's Canzoniere

From Fire in the Eye to the Eye of War: A Media Theory of Laura's Gaze in Petrarch's Canzoniere

An extended view of tourist gaze theory: Proactive gaze in picnics

This research suggests an added view of proactive gaze to expand tourist gaze theory by conducting an exploratory qualitative study in the picnic context. The results reveal that there are two themes for picnic experiences: crafting external presentation and striving for recognition. The notion of ‘proactive gaze’ was further proposed based on the theories of narcissism and impression management, which is an intense desire and motivation to be gazed at by others through performing and presenting. During this process, tourists also fulfilled the role of acting as the host. Most importantly, while active gazing at others, tourists may voluntarily design, construct, and project tourist resources to other tourists (either on-site or online). The overall experience can be significantly influenced by new technology, i.e., social networking sites. It is expected that the newly developed concept of proactive gaze can be applied to explain diverse leisure/tourism activities.

Analysis of Clo from 5 to 7 Regarding the Gaze Theory

Before the 1960s, cinema was predominately focused on previous works of literature or the history before WW2 in France. A group of French directors in the late 1950s and 1960s, or the nouvelle vague (new wave), which can be directly translated to the new wave - contradicted this notion because they felt like this did not depict the realistic lives of people and produced films that countered the dominant cinema. Agnes Vardas 1962 Cleo from 5 to 7, follows Cleo (Corinee Marchand) in real-time on her journey through Paris, awaiting for the diagnosis relating to her cancer. This article argues that through the objectification of Clo under the male gaze, the audience is sutured into Clos perspective, allowing them to empathize with her emotions and understand the struggles that women face in a contemporary setting. This essay argues the point above by the detailed analysis of two particular scenes focusing on camera shots and the iconography of certain props and actions. By doing so, the analysis mirrors the social and political problems regarding gender of the films particular time of 1962.

Lee Chang-dong Poetry: Feminism from the Male Perspective

With the development of the feminist movement and the concept of feminist cinema, feminist cinema has continued to develop. In recent years, feminist films have received widespread attention, but how to embody feminism from the male perspective in the male-dominated film industry has long been a hotly debated issue. This paper analyses the Korean realist director Lee Chang-dongs film Poetry, combines Foucaults theory of panoramic gaze, analyses the symbolic language in the film, and compares it with the works of other similar directors, aiming to discover the diversity of the presentation of feminist films through the analysis of the film and to explore how the male director can present feminism, to provide a reference meaning for the development of feminist films. It is found that the director presents feminism by symbolising the characters, reconstructing the gaze, and using religious symbols to sublimate the theme. In the film, poetry is also given various meanings to show womens awakening and social problems. The director integrates feminism into the social background through the construction of characters and social environment and shows social problems through womens sufferings.

Revolution trend investigation of tourism destination image with machine learning

In tourism destination image research, topic modeling, mutual relationships among keywords, and image evolution trends have received limited attention. Filling these gaps in the extant literature, based on tourist gaze theory, this study is the first to use Latent Dirichlet Allocation, text visualization, and topic evolution trend methods to explore the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes’ image. Analyzing 22,371 reviews posted on tourism social networks, we find that (1) prominence, uniqueness, a rich culture, convenience, and enormous influence are five dimensions of the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes’ image; (2) these dimension keywords display different cooccurrence relationships; and (3) the dimension evolution trends vary in direction and degree. Our study enriches existing literature and provides important practical implications for the destination marketing field.

The Ambivalent Vision: The "Crip" Invention of "Blind Vision" in Blind Massage

Blind Massage, a film directed by Lou Ye (2014), depicts disability and sexuality through stories of blind masseurs. It employs “blind vision”, a novel form of cinematography that depicts blindness, assisting the film in unfolding the subjective experience of the blind masseurs in both sexual and non-sexual scenes. With the invention of blind vision, Blind Massage introduced a non-normative cinematic experience that decentres vision, while cinema had previously been perceived as an intrinsically visual-centred art form. This paper, therefore, asks: How does the am­bivalent representation of vision contribute to the cinematic representation of disabled sexuality? Does it reinvent or reinforce the normative understanding of disabled sexuality? As a response, the paper argues that the invention of blind vision destabilises the ableist foundation of cinema that centres on visual experience as the source of pleasure. It mainly grounds the argumentation on criticism of Mulvey’s (1975) gaze theory, which discusses visual pleasure and narrative cinema with the psychoanalytic gaze notion. The notion of blind vision will be elab­orated on, not only in cinematography but also as a cultural implication that touches on disability studies and sexuality studies. Methodologically, this paper will, use crip theory, feminist film theories, and psychoanalysis to understand the representation of disabled sexuality in Blind Massage. The paper will be structured as follows. It will first review previous academic discussions on disabled sexuality in cinema. Then, it will elaborate on the invention of blind vision through scene and cinematography analyses and consider how Blind Massage echoes with a Mulveyian gaze theory in terms of marking the gaze as a normative power. Finally, I argue that blind vision could be regarded as an approach to reverse such power and release the potential resistance towards normativity in cinema, with a Lacanian revisit and reworking of the Mulveyian gaze theory.

Decolonising the Cultural Landscape: Preserving Historical Statues in Tshwane, South Africa

ABSTRACT The post-apartheid South African cultural landscape is characterised by complex and contradictory dynamics. On one hand, it is a space where ongoing contestations, anti-racist struggles, and resistance against dominant ideologies persist, challenging the prevailing ways of thinking and perceiving the public sphere. On the other hand, this landscape is also susceptible to political manipulation and serves as a battleground for various class interests, power struggles, and attempts to control the state apparatus. This article employs a decolonising gaze theory to examine qualitative data collected from the former Groenkloof Nature Reserve to shed light on the challenges associated with preserving historical statues and monuments. Additionally, it seeks to understand the motivations behind the construction of statues and monuments commemorating former struggle icons at Groenkloof, despite the obstacles encountered. The findings of this study reveal that the presence of Groenkloof statues and monuments is an integral part of an ongoing resistance movement and contestation of colonial history. These monuments serve as a means of reconciling the past and the present, facilitating connections and exchanges, while also exposing the ruptures, struggles, and complexities that continue to shape South Africa’s deeply intertwined history.

Visual Modernity of Contemporary Chinese Women from the Movie Full River Red

This article explores the visual modernity of contemporary Chinese women reflected in the image of geisha in the movie Full River Red. This paper mainly uses Laura Mulvey's gaze theory and Foucault's power theory, combined with the female image of geishas in the movie, to explore the social relations embodied in Chinese women's visual modernity. In the movie, a total of eight scenes of female scenes appears. There will be a flow of female power in every scene, and selected two representative plots for analysis. In the process of women going from being powerless to having power in the movie, it can be found that gaze has changed into another kind of "make themselves seen". Recently, a large number of female audiences have become viewers and the flow of power corresponds to the change of female power in real life. In general, based on the female cases in the film, and then to dissemination and reception of images and the changes in the production of image meanings and the other, discusses the relationship between this visual experience and Chinese female subjectivity.

The "Gaze" Defect Behind Revenge: On the Ways of Female Revenge and Redemption in Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

In today's film and television genres that show women fighting against the powerful, women's revenge films are gaining more and more attention. These films have some positive significance in showing women's sense of independence. However, the problems behind most female revenge films are still under consideration. This article will take "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance," one of "The Vengeance Trilogy" by the famous Korean director Park Chan-wook, as an example and use the theory of gaze to analyze the otherness of the female gaze embodied in the film; from the way the female protagonist, Geum-ja Lee, takes revenge, it will analyze the otherness of the third-world female culture behind the violent revenge in the film; the similarity of women's revenge dilemma, that is, the inevitable self-alienation or self-destruction of excellent and weak women, is discussed by analyzing Geum-ja's revenge and redemption at the end of the film. Ultimately, the film tries to raise the discourse of the other and present a genuinely feminist perspective and voice.

“Sharing the Same Soil”: The Critique of Post-Feminist Gender Identity and the Materiality of Body in Sally Rooney’s Normal People (2018)

ABSTRACT Sally Rooney’s Normal People (2018) examines gender normality in a Post-Celtic Tiger Irish social context and a post-feminist cultural milieu, through detailed depictions of the material body and its manipulation by Millennial Irish youth. Employing Laura Mulvey’s gaze theory and post-feminist theories, this article explores the materiality of the body by analyzing the depictions of the female and male body facing social gazes in both public and private spheres. The paper argues that both women and men are adjusting their identity and sexuality to cope with anxiety in a post-feminist culture. However, the novel also highlights the entanglement and backlash of post-feminist culture, as the male gaze and violence gain power as a symbolic practice of identity construction through interaction with the material body. As Rooney’s characters rely more on material body interactions, the search for identity and cure of anxiety rely heavier on the material connectedness in a post-feminist way.