The Male Gaze

Focusing on how the piece was filmed brings up the issue of the male gaze. Within the article “Oppressive Texts, Resisting Readers and the Gendered Spectator: The New Aesthetics” by Mary Devearaux she argues under the premise that “the male gaze is not always male, but it is always male-dominated” (Devearaux, 339). Meaning that film and other media forms will always be male connoted. “Men do not always do the looking, but they control who does” (Devearaux, 339). This is very powerful statement in this argument and says a lot about how females feel they are being viewed, as well as how much power they possess. Within this piece, Fosse sees women as merely objects from the heavy makeup masking the girls’ true form, to filming just a dancer’s

Schultz, however, steps in to explain that these ads are simply pictures. They do not have a history with any person or anyone in that moment. Schultz explains that these ads take away the human and leave an object to observe. Similarly, Fosse takes the person out of the performer on stage and shows movement through an object or the anatomy or parts. According to Schultz the male gaze is driven by “sexual anxiety” (Schultz, 368), meaning that a male feels the need to look at a woman as an object in order to make her difference and mystery seem rational and okay in their mind. Schultz defines the “paternal superego” (Schultz, 371) as a “masculine vision” (Schultz, 371) summed up with the terms, “power, violence and control” (Schultz, 371). Schultz states this because it is important to reflect on how men see themselves and how women see men. Finally, Schultz presents the image of the strong women in comparison with “history of bodies” (Schultz, 377). Strong women are ones who stand up to the male gaze and the male patriarchy. In contrast, the idea of the “history of bodies” (Schultz, 377) contextualizes a female body so that there is depth and meaning behind her. When billboards of models in lingerie