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The Male Gaze
The Male Gaze In a study, female characters in films were found to be more than twice as likely to be “shown in sexually revealing attire” when compared with the males as well as over twice as likely to be “thin and partially or fully naked.” In the world, women make up 39.8% of the workforce, whereas overall in films, they only make up 22.5% of the working characters, and even fewer were placed in high-powered jobs.

One possible explanation for the lack of professional women in films may have to do with the male gaze, as described by [|Budd Boetticher] which is used in film so that the heroine is one who exists for the hero. He says, “What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the slightest importance.” In this way, the male gaze plays a role in the creation of the manic pixie dream girl, as the way it is put here makes it appear as if she would not exist without the male gaze.

Some believe that the male gaze provokes a sense of guilt in the female character as she represents something to be lusted after but also a symbol of castration.