Welcome to The Female Gaze. This site explores the concept of a female gaze in film, TV, advertising, written content and other media.
It’s all about assuming the audience is female and being prepared to offer women visual entertainment that they would want to see.
This site is still new and growing slowly.
The Female Gaze In Films, TV and Media
Brainwashed: Sex – Camera – Power
Brainwashed: Sex – Camera – Power is a documentary by Nina Menkes that explores how shot design in mainstream cinema reinforces the male gaze and, ultimately, the patriarchy.
Turning Red
Turning Red tells the story of a 13 year old girl dealing with puberty and family problems… and she also turns into a red panda. It’s an animated female gaze film.
Carol
Carol is a love story between two women, set in the 1950s. It has a focus on looking, on meaning glances and touches, as part of the lesbian gaze.
Promising Young Woman
Promising Young Woman is ostensibly a rape revenge film but it’s really about fighting rape culture – and it uses the female gaze to do it.
The Silence Of The Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs uses cinematography to subvert the male gaze and create a female perspective.
Insecure
Insecure is an HBO series exploring the lives of two single black women, Issa and Molly, best friends since college. It represents a great example of the black female gaze.
Orange Is The New Black
Prison comedy Orange Is The New Black’s female gaze manifests as a diverse array of female experiences and characters
Fleabag
British comedy Fleabag is an example of the female gaze in action, with an imperfect female character breaking the fourth wall
Magic Mike XXL
Magic Mike XXL, a film about male strippers, embodies an objectifying but fun-loving female gaze
Diet Coke Break
In 1994 Diet Coke launched the “Break” series of ads, which were hugely popular because they embodied a desiring female gaze… and included hot guys.
Girls
Lena Dunham’s series Girls was hailed as an exciting and groundbreaking show with four female leads and a fresh approach on on-screen sex.
Smack The Pony: Window Cleaner
British TV show Smack The Pony brought the female gaze to sketch comedy. The “window cleaner” sketch is a great example of this.