(no subject)
Some thoughts that popped up while reading various commentary/meta about Madoka, re: talk about the "male gaze"
This isn't something I notice a great deal. There are occasional moments that I could call out as "FAAAAAAAN SEEEERVICE" (pretty much any straight cleavage or panty shot) but a some of the things people note as "male gaze", specifically, focusing on legs/torsos during dialogue instead of faces, or intensive focus on (usually impractical) clothing, just don't occur to me as such.
There's several things that occur to me here.
(Please note that I'm not trying to claim that the male gaze isn't problematic, I'm just rambling about some of the reasons I don't always perceive it as such, and tangentially about how different ways of perceiving things effect our perspective.)
- I would much rather look at girls in general than boys. Overall women tend to be much more aesthetically appealing to me; men generally lack the sort of elegance that I enjoy. I've always had a much clearer idea of what made a woman beautiful than what makes a man... handsome, I guess, although this is separate from what I find attractive in women. Some of this crosses in to the complicated territory where the lesbian gaze overlaps the "male gaze" which really should be the "het male gaze" since of course there is then the gay male gaze which would be quite difference. Ideally I suspect we should just aim for the bisexual gaze; some of my feelings are that fictional characters to a certain extent exist to fulfill the desires of the audience, including sexual fantasies, and that denying this to any segment of the audience is wrong, sort of like an indirect form of slut-shaming.
- I find dialogue scenes which don't focus on the characters' faces much more comfortable. I don't stare people in the face while they talk in real life, why should I do it in fiction? Normally I will be standing/sitting beside someone and/or doing something while talking to them. Think about talking to someone while driving a car; you can't look at them directly. In any case, in normal conversations what I see of someone is glimpses of their face/legs/torso. If I actually look at someone directly in conversation, it's usually to make a point and/or because I'm flirting with them and making direct eye contact as a mild form of intimacy and to gauge their interest. (Although thinking about it, I will watch someone's face if they aren't looking back at me.)
- I'm a devotee of fashion. What someone is wearing is something I always make note of, whether they are a friend or some random person walking down the street. My inner monologue on some occasions is just a running analysis of fashion mixed with bits of other things. Especially if someone is wearing something interesting, I expect the camera to take a good, thorough look at what they are wearing the same as I would. If magical girls did not wear ridiculously impractical costumes, I would be very disappointed. For me the costume itself is eye candy, much more so than cleavage or panty shots. While the idea that "all girls want to wear pretty dresses" is problematic, so is the idea that girls should not wear fancy, revealing clothes because of "the male gaze" and objectification. Yes, magical girl outfits are ridiculously impractical. They're magical girls, if I had magical powers you can bet damn well that I would similarly be using my powers for improbable clothing. Just being able to wear heels all the time without worrying about ruining my knees, making my feet hurt, and giving myself heel spurs would be something I would be incredible grateful for.
This isn't something I notice a great deal. There are occasional moments that I could call out as "FAAAAAAAN SEEEERVICE" (pretty much any straight cleavage or panty shot) but a some of the things people note as "male gaze", specifically, focusing on legs/torsos during dialogue instead of faces, or intensive focus on (usually impractical) clothing, just don't occur to me as such.
There's several things that occur to me here.
(Please note that I'm not trying to claim that the male gaze isn't problematic, I'm just rambling about some of the reasons I don't always perceive it as such, and tangentially about how different ways of perceiving things effect our perspective.)
- I would much rather look at girls in general than boys. Overall women tend to be much more aesthetically appealing to me; men generally lack the sort of elegance that I enjoy. I've always had a much clearer idea of what made a woman beautiful than what makes a man... handsome, I guess, although this is separate from what I find attractive in women. Some of this crosses in to the complicated territory where the lesbian gaze overlaps the "male gaze" which really should be the "het male gaze" since of course there is then the gay male gaze which would be quite difference. Ideally I suspect we should just aim for the bisexual gaze; some of my feelings are that fictional characters to a certain extent exist to fulfill the desires of the audience, including sexual fantasies, and that denying this to any segment of the audience is wrong, sort of like an indirect form of slut-shaming.
- I find dialogue scenes which don't focus on the characters' faces much more comfortable. I don't stare people in the face while they talk in real life, why should I do it in fiction? Normally I will be standing/sitting beside someone and/or doing something while talking to them. Think about talking to someone while driving a car; you can't look at them directly. In any case, in normal conversations what I see of someone is glimpses of their face/legs/torso. If I actually look at someone directly in conversation, it's usually to make a point and/or because I'm flirting with them and making direct eye contact as a mild form of intimacy and to gauge their interest. (Although thinking about it, I will watch someone's face if they aren't looking back at me.)
- I'm a devotee of fashion. What someone is wearing is something I always make note of, whether they are a friend or some random person walking down the street. My inner monologue on some occasions is just a running analysis of fashion mixed with bits of other things. Especially if someone is wearing something interesting, I expect the camera to take a good, thorough look at what they are wearing the same as I would. If magical girls did not wear ridiculously impractical costumes, I would be very disappointed. For me the costume itself is eye candy, much more so than cleavage or panty shots. While the idea that "all girls want to wear pretty dresses" is problematic, so is the idea that girls should not wear fancy, revealing clothes because of "the male gaze" and objectification. Yes, magical girl outfits are ridiculously impractical. They're magical girls, if I had magical powers you can bet damn well that I would similarly be using my powers for improbable clothing. Just being able to wear heels all the time without worrying about ruining my knees, making my feet hurt, and giving myself heel spurs would be something I would be incredible grateful for.