Sophia Evans

The theory of the male gaze highlights how patriarchal structures define the female ideals of beauty and sexuality, societally and individually. Many, if not all, attributes associated with sexuality can trace back to patriarchal ideals of desire that were created by men to execute the male gaze. Ideals of beauty for women are predicated on attributes of the male gaze, pressuring women to conform to be desired sexually and be submissive to the male counterpart. These beauty standards revolve around thin bodies, hourglass figures, and these qualities magnify the sexual attractiveness of the women for men. The female gaze emphasizes women’s agency and challenges the male gaze by portraying women as active subjects. By treating women as active characters, it highlights the importance of representing women’s experiences and perspectives.

The female gaze accounts for female agency and the individual or collective experiences women go through such as sex, maternity, or objectification. To depict the female gaze in my work, I want the viewers to feel the ways in which the female gaze can portray diverse ideas of sexuality and beauty. This means depicting diverse bodies that oppose the beauty ideals of the male gaze. Depicting curvier, larger, blemished bodies, it can allow the viewer to reflect on how sexuality can be structured differently for women.

Knowing whether the male or female gaze is being enacted impacts how one views themselves internally and how they view others. This can change how they interact with the world, navigate experiences and how they view media. Understanding the variety of gazes can shift how you view and analyze film, music, or any form of media.

There is a plethora of emotional depth associated with how sex and sexuality are structured for women through the male gaze and how it contrasts to female sexual agency within the female gaze. My work conveys the dissociation, power imbalances, and objectification within the male gaze. Within my female gaze works I depict the emotions of complex female characters that have diversity and autonomy in the spaces in which they are placed. The goal of my body of work is to depict the multitude of ways that the male gaze and female gaze can manifest. I want viewers to reflect on the patriarchal ideas that are built into society and how each gaze addresses or fails to address these hierarchies. 

Sophia Evans 26'