#the female gaze is so

[ecoterrorist-katara]

Zutara, romance novels, and the female gaze

Okay so I’ve been thinking about the female gaze a LOT so I checked out a subreddit about romance novels, despite never having read one. I came across this meme (which was initially a Tumblr post and then got posted to Instagram and then to Reddit and I’m now bringing back to Tumblr — Internet telephone, pls never change):

And…what is The Southern Raiders, if not a platonic grovel? Katara’s pain is central to the episode. It’s central to Zuko. Zuko asks Katara what he can do to make up for his betrayal; she demands the impossible. He reads between the lines, cockblocks her brother to get the necessary information, and then waits outside her door overnight (which he also did for Iroh, the one person we know for sure he loves). He basically makes himself a receptacle for her rage, and he holds space for her by coming with her on her revenge quest and carrying their bags and not saying a damn thing about what she should and should not do beyond like…asking her to rest. And obviously the grovel works! She forgives him and then they’re thick as thieves, bantering and fighting and saving each other’s lives, etc.

On a different note, I’ve been told that enemies to lovers is one of the biggest tropes in romance novels, similar to YA lit and fanfic. Here’s something else I found in the romance novel discourse:

And…yeah. In TSR, Katara really does show Zuko her worst self, because she doesn’t feel the need to perform for him. She doesn’t feel the need to perform moral perfection OR cold blooded vengeance. She bloodbends in front of him and he just goes with it. She doesn’t kill Yon Rha and he just goes with it. He doesn’t treat her any differently afterwards. Maybe they talk about it off screen, but I kind of like the idea that they don’t, because Katara doesn’t need to explain anything. And it’s so interesting, because some people in the ATLA fandom have a totally different read on TSR. They think Zuko was encouraging Katara to get revenge (by what, keeping his mouth shut?), and that Aang is the one who acts as her moral compass. I believe that either Bryan or Mike said in the DVD commentary that Aang is the angel on her shoulder the entire time. And this interpretation does make sense if you see it from the male gaze, where Katara as an object of affection is acting in an angry, irrational, threatening way. But if you see it from the female gaze, you recognize that actually it’s probably the most emotionally taxing experience Katara has to go through, and she doesn’t owe it to be nice or perfect to anybody. Katara’s formative trauma literally comes to a head, and she has to make a decision — no, a discovery — about who she is in relation to the tragedy that defines her life and even her identity (as a waterbender, as a parentified child who becomes the mom friend, as a genocide victim), and she’s accompanied by someone who trusts her judgement and validates her feelings.

I’m not saying TSR is explicitly romantically coded, but when it conforms so well to romance novel tropes…is it any wonder that so many people thought “yes this is her man?” And then he takes lightning in the heart for her and reaches for her when he’s literally dying, I will never be normal about that either

#Zutara #Katara #Zuko #the southern raiders #Pro zutara #anti Bryke #I guess #I swear I’m not a Bryke anti but I feel like they just don’t get #The female gaze #and the fact that Zutara is so female gaze is kind of an accident and I find that fascinating #atla fandom critical #The southern raiders turned me into a Zutara shipper #one ep away from the finale #Zutara meta #My meta

[ornithorynquerouge]

Constanza Ferreira - Female gaze, beautiful goddess

#Female gaze #beautiful eyes #stunning beauty #lovely breasts #so hot #Constanza Ferreira

[yuriiofthevalley]

hiii thank you for the tag danny @cursemyexistences ♡

my 5 fav songs right now

cheri cheri lady by modern talking

smooth operator by sade

gekka na yasoukyoku by malice mizer

baroque by malice mizer

just the two of us by bill withers

tagging; @hhymns @bithehand @interstellarisse @sprinedankle @anita-vainilla-blog @sixthlisbonsisterx @feski @anita-vainilla-blog @julia-bonkers @izzy444angel @ivoryteacups @f3mcelbambi @i-know-you-wanna-kiss-me @gothstage @astraeasparrow @carm3n-carm3n @daughterofcainnnn & anyone who's interested 🫶🏼

#do you have any idea how impossibly hard this was #i have so many favs. so many #and i'm literally obsessed w malice mizer so it was soul-crushing having to decide which of their songs to put here #girlblogging #this is what makes us girls #just girly things #this is a girlblog #just girly thoughts #just girly posts #girlhood #i'm just a girl #hyper feminine #girly things #pinterest girl #it girl #dream girl #femcore #femcel #the female gaze #girl blogger #gaslight gatekeep girlboss #tag game #mutuals

[verstappenclerc]

there’s just something about this picture……. the way max’s hand is so naturally placed just under charles’ nape, as he’s distracted and looking down. neither of them is looking at the other, but they still appear so comfortable and so relaxed in each other’s presence. the familiarity of someone’s finger brushing on your race suit, immediately knowing who it is…….. the feeling of being able to know someone blind…..

#formula 1 #charles leclerc #max verstappen #ferrari f1 #cl16 #lestappen #red bull f1 #mv33 #1633 #can you tell the brain rot is hitting #no but for real #maybe one of my favourite pictures of them of all time #missing them hours #it’s just that everything they do is so female gaze coded #personal hall of fame picture(s)

[copias-juicebox]

#the female gaze everybody #i figured why not more closeups of his damn pretty hands #also he‘s always so talkative with his hands… body language in full swing #hands #tobias forge #tender father #ghost #ghost band #copia #papa emeritus #ghesties #the band ghost #ghost sweden #myedit #papa emeritus iv

[mazzystar24]

My Roman Empire is hozier saying “I don’t worship and tell” when an interviewer started talking about the sexual nature of his songs and his real life

Actually scratch that

My Roman Empire is hozier

#yes you read that right #WORSHIP AND TELL #the definition of the female gaze #this man was written by a woman #you don’t even understand the things this man has done to my brain chemistry #my ovaries have not recovered from watching that interview #hozier #this man is so fine

[h3artshapedkisses]

It’s the way you can tell most of the lesbian community are full of bi-hets just by how enraged they are by a lesbian saying she’s proud to have never kissed, dated or had sex with a man. Why are you offended by homosexuality? Shouldn’t you be happy for her? Hm..

Also I hate when the fauxbians who have never had sex with a man are like “I just never happened to have sex with a men because no man wanted me lolll I’m a gold star but ashamed to call myself one :((.” Like as very femme young woman who never has done anything even slightly romantic with a men but has had boys ask me to be their girlfriend and even male friends try to ask me for intimacy since a very young age, and has had to put her foot down and firmly say no ever single time, its so weird that they are deliberately erasing gold star’s life experiences to just being “ugly”. If you would have then you are a bisexual. Full stop.

#God we are so fucked #And the worst part about this is it isn’t even new like even older western butch lesbian are fake homosexuals who are just ugly bisexuals #And don’t fit into the male gaze #That’s why they cant imagine femme and conventially attractive women like me being gold star #To them gold star is ‘never got fucked by a man’ not never wanted to have any romance or intimacy with a man #Because if a man asked them out they would have said yes because they are bi #they can’t even began to imagine true female homosexuality that’s why they speak over us gold stars #This is why they either love wearing strap ons or getting strapped too(pillow princess or stone) i blame the older bid-hets once again #Cause they can’t imagine any sex without a dick because to them that is the most ideal form of sex #I am a gold star willingly you idiot not by accident dick lover #They also truly can’t imagine never once wanting to be with a man #To them its just a missed oportunity #Sorry this is so long but yea #Like I’m sorry but older lesbians who aren’t willingly gold star don’t represent me or stand for me #They don’t speak up for me or even want me in their spaces and i sure as hell don’t want them in mine

[keithle]

that meme about red dead redemption 2 where it's like "how women dress arthur vs how men dress arthur" is a good example of the female and male gaze i think

#like i find it so fascinating?? #as a woman i love my men vulnerable and gentle #like arthur gently picking up flowers? yes #bathing regularly #dressing nicely #and greeting people #like obviously it doesn't apply to everyone #and there are lots of players #and different ways to enjoy the game! #but i think it's a good example #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #female gaze #male gaze #rdr2

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

we need more feminist horror

#there is so much potential there #rambling #the beauty industry… anti ageing… dieting…. #female gender roles as a demon haunting you… #the prison of femininity… #menstruation pregnancy abortion as body horror #subversing horror tropes of female exploitation and male violence… #men as monsters… the patriarchy as a haunted house… competition between women as curse… #or just female slashers and serial killers who are not sexy for the female gaze #liberal feminism encouraging ‚sex work‘ as a cult #as some sort of commentary #WITCHES… the last girl becoming ‚evil‘ but what really is evil… #intergenerational female trauma… #male religion > occult horror #zombie as symbolism of trauma… #MOTHER DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIPS

[d3cayingdolly]

right person wrong place wrong time wrong mindset wrong circumstances wrong-

my fav trope

#apart from its not a trope its my real life #has been since i was 12 lol #im so angsty and for WHAT #lana del rey #femcel #coquette #lana del rey aesthetic #coquette dollete #coquette girl #dollete aesthetic #female manipulator #lana del ray aka lizzy grant #lizzy grant #hole band #girlblogging #hole #90s vibes #90s grunge #90s aesthetic #hyper femme #female rage #the female gaze #femme fatale #hyper feminine #female hysteria #divine feminine #cinnamon girl #this is what makes us girls #this is a girlblog #hell is a teenage girl

[inafieldofdaisies]

Ship Art | John x Sabrina | The Diviner and The Baptist | Commission by @derelictheretic

“Kiss me, mercilessly. Leave no corner of me untouched.” — Beau Taplin

[tags] @socially-awkward-skeleton @strangefable @strafethesesinners @onehornedbeast @josephslittledeputy @trench-rot @adelaidedrubman @voidika @aceghosts @madparadoxum @theelderhazelnut @direwombat @florbelles @corvosattano @unholymilf @nightbloodbix @josephseedismyfather @macs-babies

#The way Dean slayed me with this piece the moment I woke up today ❤️❤️THANK YOU AGAIN for bringing those two to life! #Look at them gazing at each other. All the little details. JOHN'S TATS. ❤️ #Sabrina's freckles ❤️HER HAIR!! #they're so smitten your honor. #If you need me I'd be staring at this and twirling my hair #and absolutely grab yourself a comm; you won't regret it! #oc: sabrina donovan #john seed #john x sabrina #ship: the diviner and the baptist #wip: in hope of tomorrow #john seed x female deputy #fc5 deputy #far cry 5 deputy #art appreciation #ship art #art #fc5 ocs #far cry 5 oc #far cry 5 fandom #digital art #far cry 5 #my ships

[akajustmerry]

I truly do blame the Andrew Scott Fleabag discourse for the way ppl will now say shit like "this actor is the female gaze/ this male character is the female gaze" as shorthand for them being attractive. can we PLEASE bring back just saying ppl are hot??? what happened to that? don't intellectualise your horniness where it has no intellectual value. it's okay to just say you think the person is hot and that you find them attractive. I promise you that attempting to circumvent your weird shame around finding someone not conventionally attractive hot by pretending it's somehow intellectually or morally superior to find them hot does nothing except signal to everyone your own insecurity. stop bastardising specific academic terms because you have no conviction in your own taste and need to make it everyone's problem. either just own you think someone is hot or keep it to yourself.

#the female gaze #I hate seeing ppl talk this way about matt smith/daemon so much y'all are cowards and would never have survived 2011 #/

[jazzy-tzw]

The way he smiled at the kid🫠

#La knight #THIS IS THE FEMALE GAZE #I want him so bad

[yuriiofthevalley]

going to bed thinking about how i'd be the greatest world leader of all time

#given the opportunity i could very easily save the world #but that's a lot of work though so idk #goodnight say it back #girlblogging #this is what makes us girls #just girly things #this is a girlblog #just girly thoughts #just girly posts #girlhood #i'm just a girl #hyper feminine #girly things #pinterest girl #it girl #dream girl #femcore #femcel #the female gaze #girl blogger #gaslight gatekeep girlboss

[neon-tigre95]

🪿 i just found out the word for male geese is a gander?? only females are called goose? where do the lies end?! 🪿

#scott pilgram fanart #scott pilgram takes off #scott pilgrim fandom #scott pilgrim #scottpilgramfanart #scott pilgram vs the world #jason schwartzman #gideon graves fanart #gideon graves #gordon goose #gordon goose fanart #gideon x julie #female gaze #so babygirl #pathetic evil babyman

[sassylittlecanary]

Superman (1978) and the Female Gaze

In honor of Superman’s 85th birthday, I got to see the 1978 movie in theaters (!!!) and I realized how much it appeals to the female gaze, which I would NOT have expected for a male-led superhero movie from the 70s.

To elaborate:

I’ve always cringed a little at Lois’ cheesy voiceover during the flying sequence, but I realized it’s actually a whole scene from Lois’ perspective. It gets in her head and explores her thoughts and feelings. It doesn’t portray her as “Superman’s girlfriend” from his perspective, focused on his viewpoint. The entire scene is Superman from Lois’ perspective.

Even the cinematography (especially in that scene but also throughout the movie) caters to the female gaze. There’s so much focus on their hands — Lois and Superman holding hands, Superman gently cradling her face, etc. There’s a focus on eye contact, on body language. Superman’s muscles aren’t emphasized — instead the camera lingers on his eyes and his smile. Through the visuals, both leads are very humanized instead of gratuitously sexualized like many superhero movies ever since.

Also, Christopher Reeve’s Superman emerges as such an unexpected example of positive masculinity. In the late 70s, Family Feud’s host was kissing every female contestant on his show, consent be damned. ERA and the feminist movement were losing ground to the New Right. The macho male hero was already a staple thanks to characters like James Bond and advertising campaigns like the Marlboro Man. Men Were Manly.

In contrast, while Superman is held up as a quintessential “manly male protagonist” admired by many, he very pointedly does not fall into the action hero male power fantasy stereotype of “I’m a tough macho man who affirms my masculinity by harassing and sleeping with lots of women and who expresses emotions by hitting things and yelling at people. Wow look at me punch things and shoot guns! I’m so strong!” Instead, he’s always gentle. He smiles brightly, he laughs, he cracks jokes, he waves as he flies off. He’s a huge guy, but he’s not intimidating unless he wants to be because he’s just so kind and down-to-earth. He’s much more in line with a stereotypically feminine fantasy of a “kind, respectful, warm guy who makes me laugh” rather than the male power fantasy more common in this genre.

There’s also the way female characters are treated. Lois is Superman’s love interest, but she’s also more than that. She’s her own character with her own voice. She’s a tough, snarky, take-charge, no-nonsense, competent career woman who goes after what she wants fiercely. She grouches and rants with her signature attitude, and Clark just stands there smiling at her because he thinks she’s amazing exactly as she is. It’s the fantasy of an independent woman with traditionally “unfeminine” traits who’s loved and celebrated for being herself. Clark doesn’t want to tame her — he adores her and supports her.

In addition, Miss Teschmacher is stereotyped as the villain’s “sexy but a bit dumb” girlfriend/sidekick, yet she’s still allowed some depth. Superman’s treatment of her stood out to me because this woman has helped Luthor endanger innocent people and nearly kill Superman himself, yet he’s still kind and respectful toward her. Because he always treats women like that, no matter who they are or what they’ve done to him. She wistfully says “Why can’t I ever get it on with a good guy?” instead of a toxic one, and he touches her face tenderly and gives her a reassuring smile. He has compassion for her, as well as hope that her life will improve.

There’s also the climax. There really isn’t much violence (it’s all natural disaster stuff). The whole “hero does something dramatic to save his love interest” is a time-honored action movie cliche, but this feels different somehow. It feels more like the climax of a romance movie than an action movie in some ways. Maybe it is, again, the focus on tenderness. On the way Superman cradles Lois’ dead body so gently and then cries. On the way he allows himself to feel, to express his emotions, instead of heading out to punch something as an outlet for his grief. Lois isn’t a love interest to be won — she’s a person to be cherished, which is 100% consistent with the female gaze.

Just, 👏 THE FEMALE GAZE AND POSITIVE MASCULINITY Y’ALL 👏

#genuinely almost started crying while rewatching this movie because it is SO PURE #superman #superman 1978 #clark kent #lois lane #clois #christopher reeve #margot kidder #dc #dcu #dc comics #superman the movie #female gaze #positive masculinity #media analysis