The Eyes And The Gaze Of The Male Psyche

This quote from Look Me in The Eye by John Elder Robison is brief, but crucially important. During our Clarkson Seminar class discussion my fellow students and I delved into the topic of what emotions and feelings John Elder Robison possibly experienced as a child. It was generally accepted by the group that he often felt confused, frustrated, and alienated throughout his childhood. However the deeper reason as to why he felt these emotions was only briefly touched on. Much of the blame for these feelings was put on the fact that Robison did not have a formal Asperger's diagnosis as a child. It was argued that if he had a formal Asperger’s diagnosis at a young age he wouldn’t of been as frustrated as he was, simply because he would have at

Society faces an issue that is not usually addressed because it is seen as the norm in today’s American culture. It is the crisis of masculinity. The notion of how men should be portrayed is not usually identified as a problem; today’s society views men’s apathetic and exasperated exterior as the orthodox behavior of everyday life. Boys at a young age are taught by the popular culture that they need to be a “real man” - strong physically and emotionally. The mask many men put up is based on the extreme idea of masculinity that emphasizes toughness, physical strength and gaining the respect of others through violence or the explicit threat of it. This front is put up by men because they do not want to stray from what is accepted, for men who

Vision and the act of looking is an important and recurring theme in many horror films. In early gothic literature, such as in Guy de Maupassant 's Le Horla, the author presents vision as definitive and universal proof and stresses the importance of seeing as well as the act of showing gore. As a society, we are routinely told ‘seeing is believing ' in the wake of any paranormal or supernatural phenomena, placing weight on the tangible. However, as science and technology have progressed the faithfulness of visual representation is increasingly throw into question, which in turn has led to societal anxiety. A few years earlier, video footage of an event rarely had its validity questions, whereas now it is easy

Both Laura Mulvey and bell hooks describe the idea of the “gaze” in film. In both of the theories presented by Mulvey and hooks, the “gaze” is the way in which viewers are subjected to a particular perspective because of their social standing. In Mulvey’s case, she argues that the “gaze” in which the audience is forced into is that of the “male gaze” while hooks argues a more nuanced “gaze” including the “oppositional gaze”. While some of Mulvey’s argument is accurate, hooks argues that it leaves out important other factors, in particular, race. Both arguments have many similarities and differences, and can be seen exemplified in many films, such as Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It.

The male ego boundary represented through Ray, reinforces to society what it means to be masculine. Ray is always putting humorous manipulations on events throughout the series whether it is a serious issue or insignificant. His witty remarks frustrate others and often cause emotional damage to his family. Men are often unequipped with the knowledge on how to handle and successfully deal with emotions. Placing humor into the situation allows Ray and other men to not show attachment and/or feelings that could be interpreted as being sentimental, which is ultimately viewed as feminine. I believe that this is a serious issue for many couples, and the media displays it as being

#1. Discuss the character of Achilles in Homer’s Iliad. What is the nature of the existential crisis in which he finds himself, and why is his relationship to both gods and the other Greek warriors so unusual? What realization does he arrive at during his period of withdrawal from the battlefield? What does it mean to say that he is probably the first true individual as well as the first “problem character,” in Western literature? Finally, discuss the reader’s response to his behavior. In what ways does Achilles repel our human sympathies? In what ways does he maintain or regain them? In this context you will certainly want to discuss his

In a society plagued by misogynistic and sexist overtones and beliefs, many have fabricated preconceived ideas on the right and wrong ways a person should act depending on a socially constructed gender. In Dr. Kathleen Young’s words, “Our culture over-values men and masculinity and devalues women and femininity in ways that are destructive for us all” (“Tough Guise”). This is the story of Jax, a fictitious character whose life is used to outline the hypermasculinity and sexist ideals pressured onto boys and young men by society and the effects of these pressures on them. Note that the reactions and end result may be stressed for dramatization, but are not wholly unrealistic outcomes.

In ancient Greece, it was crucial that men proved their masculinity in order to uphold their worth and earn them a place in social establishments. An important aspect of human life is a man’s masculine identity and how it plays a role in society. However with this idea of masculinity came limitations that were not to be crossed. Ancient Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, both function to provide their own view on masculinity in society through the reverse sex similes. In the Iliad the crucial role of Achilles as a warrior and his association with maternal protection, as represented through it’s reverse sex maternal similes, ultimately proves problematic. This intrinsic part of man to fight on the battlefield to win timê and kleos is ultimately

In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien uses male gender roles and masculinity as additional devices in telling a fictionalized war story. Throughout “The Things They Carried”, each of the characters is putting up a facade that highlights their hyper masculine traits based on male gender roles and social norms. Therefore, masculinity influences all of the soldiers in one way or another. Some traits even become synonymous with particular characters. Each one being a different representation of what gender roles they are to follow or not, even in a setting of war. By using male gender roles and masculinity in telling this fictionalized war story, their actions and ways of speaking are“performative actions” that either enforce their masculinity or takes away it.

The gaze deals with how the audience views the people presented in visual culture, in this case, adverts, magazines and Cinema. The ‘male gaze’ is the male ability to exercise control over women by representing them in visual means as passive, sexual objects of male desire. The power of men over women has always existed. They are seen as the more powerful and clever species. This control over women has been seen predominately in linguistics senses in past times. It is clear that there are more derogatory terms for women than there are for men. Men can also wolf whistle or cat-call in order to harass a woman but

In this paper I will analyze two characters in two separate works, one from a literary text and one from a film. The focus of this paper will be on heroes that have a relationship to an element of mythology. I will use the character Odysseus from Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey” and the character Wonder Woman from the American superhero film “Wonder Woman”. In this essay I will analyze the gender, appearance, actions, and roles that these heroes have. Throughout this essay, I will also discuss the negative characteristics that both these heroes have, such as their violent actions towards others. Heroes possess numerous qualities that make them great, however, there are certain qualities of a hero that are consistent throughout Greek mythology; bravery, intelligence, and strength. These qualities are significant to these two Greek Mythologies because these heroes are known to bravely risk their lives for others, using their wisdom to guide them, all while fighting strongly for what they believe in. This paper will serve to prove that regardless of the gender of each of these personas, the characteristics that define a hero remain consistent.

In the early 1990s Laura Mulvey’s thesis concerning the patriarchal structure of an active male gaze has influenced feminist film critiques and Hollywood. Mulvey’s project is to use psychoanalysis to uncover the power of patriarchy in Hollywood cinema. Patriarchal influence upon cinema is found primarily in pleasure (pleasure in looking) or as Freud’s has put it, scopophilia. Mulvey suggests that it may be possible to create a new for of cinema due to the fact that patriarchy power to control cinematic pleasure has revealed.

The first point I would like to make regarding the article., Beauty (Re) Discovers the Male Body, is that I agree with the general idea of the article as a whole. The article discusses the sigma of sexual orientation among American society. There are certain standards or stereotypes that a man or women of any sexually have to face. Why can’t a person in America be free to express their sexuality? It’s because of the judgment that is created through the stereotypes in American Society. I believe that American should do away with the blindness it has created and free itself to an more open minded entity that will create an environment where sexual orientation is not something that matters.

This highlight area of his eye is the part of the frame which has the greatest contrast, so naturally the audience is drawn directly into this man’s stare,

The heroes in Greek and Roman mythology had the characteristics of violent masculinity and bravery, the ideology of a patriarchal society in which all the men were elite than the women. According to Kampmen in Gender Theory in Roman Art, “Roman society evolved in such a way as to enable elite men to establish and maintain power over everyone else, ” such men included heroes like Hercules, Achilles, and Pentheus (1996, p.152). They represented the elite males who had stable physical attributes that emphasized their masculinity and heroism. Heroes like the ones mentioned above had been idolized and worshiped with cults due to their works in helping their societies to fight monsters, the gods also favored them. Gender is emphasized by one 's appearance, dressing being the primary attribute. The mythic narratives of Achilles on Scyros, Hercules and Omphale and lastly Pentheus and Dionysus give a rather strange definition on the characteristics of heroes when they crossdress. In this essay, I shall discuss how male heroes characteristics become subverted than emphasized due to the myths of cross-dressing.