British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, introduced the idea of “the male gaze” to describe mainstream representations of women. Images of the female form holds a central place in contemporary digital culture today.
I found an interesting interview speaking to the curators of the exhibition entitled In the Raw: The Female Gaze on the Nude, which featured women working with the female nude in visual media.
“I think that addressing the way the nude is depicted in art by female artists brings to light some important issues that are very current,” she continues. “I’m inspired by the idea of creating more balance in how women perceive themselves. Women are so used to seeing themselves via the eyes of men, due to the fact that men have dominated the visual spectrum of the arts and media for so long. When you look at the history of art, television, advertising, and media in general – the image of women has always been how men wanted them to look, versus how women do look and feel. It is important to present the alternative.”
Indira Cesarine