The Female Gaze

This series addresses ideas surrounding gender assumptions and expectations. The first objective of this project deals with the idea of the male gaze, the objectification of women is all too common and this series plays with the idea of the consented objectification of men. These men are exposed, both literally and in the sense of mental vulnerability.

The objective of this project was to create a series of works that showcase the feminine man, or feminine masculinity. This explores the idea that masculinity and femininity are not restricted to sex, but rather a fluid-changing thing found within everybody, and that showing feminine traits should not be considered a vice in men.

Since gender is merely a social construct, it is important to understand that every person should be encouraged to express all emotions in a healthy and natural way. I have found that the gender expectations of men can be aggressive. The man that cries and shows sensitivity is usually acknowledged with negativity and is rewarded with offensive terms. Terms that carry the implication that being feminine, such as a female, the “weaker” sex, is wrong. This is insulting to both men and women and is a behavior that is taught and enforced in our culture and society.

This series of images explores the visual tendencies and physical attributes of the “feminine” man. The work is to be expressive, intimate, and slightly intrusive, as these images will be a representation of the beauty and strength in a man who is not ashamed to be seen as feminine.

(click on images for best viewing)