The problem with the male gaze

by Liz Fe Lifestyle

The Male something we continuously see in media, psychology, and our everyday lives. The objectification of women has unfortunately been something that we are subjected to every day, whether we realize it or not. However, many people don’t realize the dangers of this thought processes. The Male Gaze has been attributed as the core of the sexual harassment, abuse, and sexual assault as a result of the over-fetishization of women in the media. In this book, we’ll go over the various ways that the male gaze can do harm to women as a whole, as well as the people fighting against this endless objectification.

Genres: Feminism

34 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2021

About the author

Liz Fe Lifestyle is a woman-owned, black-owned publisher. Liz Fe is the leading author/publisher on feminism in Columbus, OH. Her best-selling book to date is “The Problem with the Male Gaze.” She has spent years educating herself on feminist theories in order to publish numerous titles on feminism.

Liz grew up in a Caribbean immigrant family in the United States. Like many others, her family was very patriarchal. She grew up around women who were often dismissed and disrespected. Misogyny was so ingrained in her family’s culture that her mother enabled the behavior. This bred antifeminist men and strong, intelligent women who were fed up with the toxic cycle. Liz focused much of her life on education and began writing in 2017. Her writing combined with her lifelong experiences with misogyny led to the creation of LFL and a focus on creating feminist texts.

Liz created Liz Fe Lifestyle to be a beacon of feminism in an increasingly antifeminist world. LFL is continually evolving and innovating in this field. We create different series of books based on different aspects of feminism. We discuss the feminist angle of different trending topics, such as The Toxic Female Gaze.

Reviews

[ToriBeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The feminist equivalent of wanting a nice refreshing glass of Coca-Cola and getting off milk instead. This short book is a libfem bullshit version of *actual* feminist theory.

[Laurel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Problem With the Male Gaze was a good introduction of how the male gaze impacts how women are portrayed, and how this impact's their self- worth. Although the main idea seemed to be the film industry's treatment of how women were represented, it also dove into how they were treated in school and sports. I agreed with all the information provided in these sections, but found they didn't quite align with the original theme of film. I also would have liked to have seen more research backing up claims made in the book. I found the font for the quotes hard to read, and would like to see a crisper font to increase accessibility for readers. This is a timely book which has the potential to have a positive impact on a wide audience.

[Mia Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good brief overview of the male gaze in media (social media and the entertainment industry) and sports. Includes examples of the institutionalised aspect of the male gaze even when women are the ones producing the material. Provided a description of the alternative, the female gaze, for comparison as a base point with multiple references to expand the reading around the topic further.
Overall it was a satisfying and succinct quick read.

[Lucy-Jane Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good start at the look into the male gaze, especially in media and sports. It includes some good studies and figures that are really quite eye-opening.

Here are some quotes:

📕In terms of the psychological reasoning behind the male gaze, it is similar to the Freudian concept of scopophilia – the pleasure of looking.

📕One out of ten girls already experience incidents of catcalling before they even reach their eleventh birthdays.

📕If anything, it seems to give the impression that dress codes are in place to prevent adult male teachers from becoming distracted or tempted by girls’ bodies.

📕Just this year (2021), the Norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined 1,500 euros, or $1,768, for inappropriate attire after failing to wear the standard bikini bottoms during the European Beach Handball Championship in Bulgaria.

📕Federation banned the use of products from the company Soul Cap. Soul Cap designs swim caps made specifically for natural Black hair. Most swim caps, including the ones approved by the International Swimming Federation, do not work for Black hair

📕According to Variety, out of the 1,447 directors responsible for the most popular films over the past decade, only 4.8 percent were women, 6.1 percent were Black, 3.3 percent were Asian and 3.7 percent were Hispanic/Latino.

📕According to RAINN, America’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, there is an average of 463,634 victims, 12 years of age or older, of rape and sexual assault every year in the United States. Additionally, an American is assaulted every 68 seconds, and every nine minutes, that victim is a child.

📕Looking the other way when someone is harassing or committing a crime against a woman is still reinforcing the male gaze.

📕The female gaze sees all people as people rather than objects. It is more emotional, intimate, and filled with empathy.

[Nivedita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with the general premise of the book. I just DESPISE the way it was written. The author needed to elaborate and create better transitions between ideas. Like, we started to learn about one topic before abruptly moving on to another one. Bleh

[Heens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've grown up in a world where I knew this was an issue that affected me but not to this extent; definitely an eye opener that will stay with me. Must read for men and women alike.