By: Grace Doh
Men have dominated the arts since the beginning of time, whether it be music, fine arts, or film. While each has always had a considerable influence on the attitudes of the public, in today’s digital age, cinema is arguably the driving cultural force that molds and sways our collective understanding of life. But, if this understanding continues to be defined by the male perspective, the experiences of marginalized groups such as queer women will never be candidly depicted.
When discussing the portrayal of women in the arts, the concept of the male gaze must be acknowledged. The term was coined in 1975 by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Mulvey articulates that women are assigned the passive status of being looked-at, whereas men are the active subjects who do the “gazing.”
When male directors include and sexualize queer women in their stories as a means to attract male audiences, these characters who are theoretically independent of men become objects of their gaze. Margaret Atwood said it best: “Up on a pedestal or down on your knees, it's all a male fantasy… Even pretending you aren't catering to male fantasies is a male fantasy: pretending you're unseen, pretending you have a life of your own, that you can wash your feet and comb your hair unconscious of the ever-present watcher peering through the keyhole…”
Although the male gaze upon fictional characters is not oppressive in itself, it does reflect the system that Atwood describes in which queer women are inevitably subject to the regard of unsolicited spectators. Being reminded of this dynamic everywhere in queer cinema instead of seeing well-crafted and well-intentioned representations can feel stifling to say the least. Because of this, many queer women find sanctuary in films like Portrait of a Lady on Fire by Celine Sciamma. Portrait was written, directed, and played by lesbian women who understood the reality of the queer experience and were able to capture it beautifully. In fact, it is known for epitomizing the idea of the “female gaze” in film. The female gaze is considered the opposite of the male gaze as it does not objectify the subject, but rather empathizes with it and recognizes its agency.
However, aside from Portrait, there are very few widely accepted representations of queer women in mainstream media. Other attempted depictions like Blue is The Warmest Color by Abdellatif Kechiche or Below Her Mouth by April Mullen are met with many critics, most of which pertain to the hypersexualization of its characters and overall misrepresentation of the queer woman’s experience. These movies tend to fixate on unrealistic and even harmful tropes such as the idea that LGBTQ individuals are more prone to cheating in relationships. They gloss over experiences that are worthwhile yet underexplored in mainstream media, including but not limited to topics such as internalized homophobia or the complicated relationship that queer individuals have with gender.
There are a number of complications that arise when straight men try to write queer women’s stories. While it is possible for them to create positive representations of the community, there should be a greater focus on uplifting women directors in the film industry to popularize more authentic stories. In order to do this, audiences and people in the industry should shift their focus onto breaking the barrier between “straight” movies and “LGBTQ” movies. One of the greatest benefits of film is the opportunity to learn about experiences that are foreign to us, and this can only be achieved by being open to consuming media that is not tailored to the straight, white, upper/middle-class population.
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