The Male Gaze: Taking Our Power Back
The male gaze is something that is very prominent in many fairy tales, regarding woman only being viewed as worthy and desirable if their physical attributes are in favor of a man. This concept is very noticeable in the story of “Rapunzel”. The prince comes across a beautiful princess in a tower. His desire for her pushes him to ask her to let down her long, beautiful hair so they can be together. Whereas the man is portrayed free to roam wherever he wants, and be with whoever he wants, the woman is viewed as stuck, helplessly desirable in a tower, waiting for someone to save her. This classic fairy tales sends a message to women that if they are patient, beautiful and desirable towards men, their “prince charming” will come along and rescue them from their tower.
When researching contemporary retelling of the story of “Rapunzel”, I came across the Disney adaptation of this classic tale that was released in March, 2011. The film was entitled, “Tangled”, and it completely turned the classic, misogynistic tale of “Rapunzel” into a more progressive film showing that women are so much more than their looks. Rapunzel in this film is seen as passionate, resourceful and brave. Her physically beauty is present, but very secondary to her personality. Her and her prince, named Flynn Ryder, go on a journey to see the lights at the kingdom together. They are seen as equals, who fight the obstacles they face side by side, rather than the man in front protecting the helpless woman. In the end, and possibly my favorite part of the film, Rapunzel cuts her long, magical golden hair off into a short bob, which turns dark brown. She at first is scared what Flynn is going to think of her appearance, but it is made clear that he loves her just the same, because she is desirable to him for so much more than her looks.
https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/how_rapunzel_reinvents_th
I found myself becoming quite frustrated with the continuous portrayal of women in these fairy tales being seen as helpless and weak, but finding happiness when a man decides to love her. So, I decided to research the concept of the male gaze in Greek mythology, in regards to the creature named Medusa. Medusa, a once beautiful, mortal woman, was cursed by Athena. Poseidon had raped Medusa in Athena’s temple, causing Athena to become enraged with the mortal woman. The Greek goddess turned Medusa’s golden hair into snakes and gave her the ability to turn men who looked at her into stone. Medusa symbolizes a woman taking her power back; she takes the idea of the male gaze and does something about it. She isn’t seen as a helpless damsel in distress, but rather a woman who “reclaims her curse as a powerful protection against the male gaze”. Although the myth of Medusa and what happened to her can be viewed as quite sad, I really enjoyed reading about her story in a different light; less about a sad girl who was blamed for a man’s wrongdoing and more about a strong woman who endured what horrible things life through at her regarding men and took her power back.
