26.9.17
So, this is something I am guilty of. I have a male 'gaze' (sorry). The things I write about are written from a male perspective, because I am male.
This is the strict, logical interpretation of the term, 'male gaze'. It's a bit limited and not very helpful, however. A broader interpretation is not just about the stuff I write about and the way I write it. The male gaze, in my (male) opinion, is about the whole male experience of privilege and entitlement.
Male privilege (as I will now mansplain to you) is the experience of having the world set up for you, by other men, in order to propel other men into success, with as a little effort as possible. Male privilege makes life easy. Male privilege is being able to walk home alone at night without being scared. Male privilege is having better employment prospects. Male privilege is being listened to more than women. Male privilege is being respected in the workplace. Male privilege is all the things men don't have to think about, and male privilege is in the fact that you don't have to think about them.
Entitlement is perhaps one step further. Entitlement is about consciously expecting these privileges to appear before you. Entitlement is about expecting to be listened. Entitlement is about expecting people to read your blog. Entitlement is about ,when women mention something negative, assuming they're asking for your informed opinion on the matter. Entitlement is about assuming that life is yours and everyone should fit in with that assumption.
So I wrote a play about how women experience self-expression and limitations on their communication. And I am not a woman. So I demonstrated male gaze on so many levels. On the strict logical level, my view on the female experience was a male one. My interpretation of the female experience is the male gaze. On a more ethical level, the idea that people should come listen to me and my opinion on the matter is entitled. Why should anyone expect me to be worth listening to on this? On another level, blogging about myself in a virtue-signalling way, saying 'Look, I am aware that I am male and exercise male gaze, but it's ok, because I know it and blog about so please forgive me', is a pretty silly attempt to excuse myself. Oh, so many levels!
So I write in a way which exhibits the male gaze in a whole variety of ways. And I don't really know how to respond to it. Whatever the best response is, I think endless research has to take part in it. If I accept that I have a limited, male gaze, then I should do research to get around that. If I refuse to acknowledge that my gaze is male and limited, then I should keep on keeping on and write about whatever I like (provided I research it properly and give as much credit as possible to those relevant) (I don't think this is the solution..)
I don't feel entirely comfortable with this halfway solution I currently operate which seems to go: 'I am aware I am male in my gaze. Sorry. Sorry. But that's life'. Like, blogging about my male gaze does nothing to alleviate the maleness of it. There is a maleness in expecting that people will read what I have to say. So that gets me no further.
Of course, there is an argument that I should use my male privilege to promote the voices of the unheard and marginalised. But that's very vague: should I be amplifying the female or queer experience by writing about it? Should I be actively reaching out to female or queer artists and getting them to put on work? Isn't that no better because it's still coming from a male starting point?
Folks, I don't know what I should do! Isn't it hard for me?
-
'Some Girls', the title track from the album of the same name, by The Rolling Stones, is an odd song. Some samples of the lyrics:
"Some girls give me children
I never asked them for
So give me all your money"
"White girls they're pretty funny
Sometimes they drive me mad
Black girls just wanna get fucked all night
I just don't have that much jam
Chinese girls are so gentle
They're really such a tease
You never know quite what they're cookin'
Inside those silky sleeves"
To be honest, I don't know which direction to address this from. Should I point out the connection with my previous blog about the ideas of femininity correlative to race? Should I talk about the male-ness of the idea that 'girls' give him children he didn't ask for? Should I acknowledge that Mick Jagger says it's a parody, but then go on to point out that's a shit excuse? Maybe just say 'It's racist and sexist and male and shit". Maybe the infantilising/paedophilic nature of talking about fucking 'girls'?
So I'll leave it and let Jagger's maleness speak for itself, rather than, in my virtue signalling way, add another level of male gaze on top of an already male song.
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uid7RrXBY2A
So, this is something I am guilty of. I have a male 'gaze' (sorry). The things I write about are written from a male perspective, because I am male.
This is the strict, logical interpretation of the term, 'male gaze'. It's a bit limited and not very helpful, however. A broader interpretation is not just about the stuff I write about and the way I write it. The male gaze, in my (male) opinion, is about the whole male experience of privilege and entitlement.
Male privilege (as I will now mansplain to you) is the experience of having the world set up for you, by other men, in order to propel other men into success, with as a little effort as possible. Male privilege makes life easy. Male privilege is being able to walk home alone at night without being scared. Male privilege is having better employment prospects. Male privilege is being listened to more than women. Male privilege is being respected in the workplace. Male privilege is all the things men don't have to think about, and male privilege is in the fact that you don't have to think about them.
Entitlement is perhaps one step further. Entitlement is about consciously expecting these privileges to appear before you. Entitlement is about expecting to be listened. Entitlement is about expecting people to read your blog. Entitlement is about ,when women mention something negative, assuming they're asking for your informed opinion on the matter. Entitlement is about assuming that life is yours and everyone should fit in with that assumption.
So I wrote a play about how women experience self-expression and limitations on their communication. And I am not a woman. So I demonstrated male gaze on so many levels. On the strict logical level, my view on the female experience was a male one. My interpretation of the female experience is the male gaze. On a more ethical level, the idea that people should come listen to me and my opinion on the matter is entitled. Why should anyone expect me to be worth listening to on this? On another level, blogging about myself in a virtue-signalling way, saying 'Look, I am aware that I am male and exercise male gaze, but it's ok, because I know it and blog about so please forgive me', is a pretty silly attempt to excuse myself. Oh, so many levels!
So I write in a way which exhibits the male gaze in a whole variety of ways. And I don't really know how to respond to it. Whatever the best response is, I think endless research has to take part in it. If I accept that I have a limited, male gaze, then I should do research to get around that. If I refuse to acknowledge that my gaze is male and limited, then I should keep on keeping on and write about whatever I like (provided I research it properly and give as much credit as possible to those relevant) (I don't think this is the solution..)
I don't feel entirely comfortable with this halfway solution I currently operate which seems to go: 'I am aware I am male in my gaze. Sorry. Sorry. But that's life'. Like, blogging about my male gaze does nothing to alleviate the maleness of it. There is a maleness in expecting that people will read what I have to say. So that gets me no further.
Of course, there is an argument that I should use my male privilege to promote the voices of the unheard and marginalised. But that's very vague: should I be amplifying the female or queer experience by writing about it? Should I be actively reaching out to female or queer artists and getting them to put on work? Isn't that no better because it's still coming from a male starting point?
Folks, I don't know what I should do! Isn't it hard for me?
-
'Some Girls', the title track from the album of the same name, by The Rolling Stones, is an odd song. Some samples of the lyrics:
"Some girls give me children
I never asked them for
So give me all your money"
"White girls they're pretty funny
Sometimes they drive me mad
Black girls just wanna get fucked all night
I just don't have that much jam
Chinese girls are so gentle
They're really such a tease
You never know quite what they're cookin'
Inside those silky sleeves"
To be honest, I don't know which direction to address this from. Should I point out the connection with my previous blog about the ideas of femininity correlative to race? Should I talk about the male-ness of the idea that 'girls' give him children he didn't ask for? Should I acknowledge that Mick Jagger says it's a parody, but then go on to point out that's a shit excuse? Maybe just say 'It's racist and sexist and male and shit". Maybe the infantilising/paedophilic nature of talking about fucking 'girls'?
So I'll leave it and let Jagger's maleness speak for itself, rather than, in my virtue signalling way, add another level of male gaze on top of an already male song.
link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uid7RrXBY2A
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