INTRODUCTION

The concept of the gaze has been widely discussed in cultural and feminist studies, highlighting how the
act of looking can be a source of power and objectification. It is now widely used in visual culture
(Smelik, 2016). What makes this so impactful in film is because of the Freudian concept of scopophilia:
the desire to look as the foundation of human sexuality (Smelik, 2016). The male gaze is when males
project their fantasies on to the female figure. It can be distinguished through these determining
factors:(1) the woman's role and display is coded for strong visual and erotic impact, (2) the woman is
displayed as a sexual object, and (3) the woman's visual presence tends to work against the
development of the storyline, freezing the flow of actions in moments of erotic contemplation (Mulvey,
1975). The female gaze is a rebellion against the male gaze. It shows the most intimate parts of a female
character without any trace of hypersexuality (Riebe, 2020). But this theory faces much criticism for its
reliance on the male gaze. The male gaze theory is not that old - not having even reached 50 years old -
and the female gaze is an even younger concept which explains its lack of a definite definition
(Dangerfield, 2022). The researchers examined two shows for the male and the female gaze: Lolita
(1997) and Season Two of Why Women Kill respectively. From these two shows, the researchers
compiled the defining characteristics that they have observed from the shows. One of the reasons the
researchers decided to pursue this topic is the lack of defining information for the female gaze. Through
this research, a more defining criteria can be made for the use of future researchers that plan to pursue
this topic. The fact that these gazes impact how society perceives women is also one of the reasons for
pursuing this topic.

RESULTS

To research about the male gaze, the researchers watched the movie Lolita (1997) 5 times. From the
movie, the researchers have observed three major things that can constitute as male gaze. First is the
random and unnecessary show of women's body parts. In this movie, the particular body parts being
focused on are the feet.(10:11),(20:45)Second is the comparison of women to objects and animals. In
the movie, Charlotte has been called a fat cow by Humbert (31:15). In another scene, Dolores acts like a
dog (42:13). Third is that the female actress more instance of sexual objectification compared to her
male counterpart. In the scene on 1:16:50, it can be seen that Dolores is fighting with Humbert. Both of
them are trying to pick up coins on the bed while naked but Dolores was more noticeable than Humbert.
There are also multiple instances where the scene focuses on Dolores' body.

Watching the series Why Women Kill, Season 2, for four times the researchers, have observed a lot of
things that count as the female gaze, such as: women chasing their goals and aiming for something
higher, which were evident in Episodes 9 (1:07–1:47), (3:34–3:38), and (31:57–34:07). Emotion, in which
the majority of scenes include women crying, upset, embarrassed, devastated, and terrified. Third,
stresses the strength they want people to feel and is represented by power and confidence in episode 1
(00:32–00:47). The fourth deals with the support, inspiration, and friendship that women provide for
one another. Fifth, women's life experiences that illustrate how they lived and how others treated them
and served as a source of trauma or inspiration to live more fully. Women's preference towards altruistic
men was also observed in the series with the way men are portrayed in Episodes 10 (15:14–16:06) and
(40:58–41:51); the autonomy of women through the way they can make their own choices and solve
their problems on their own in Episode 10 (19:44–20:46). Women are also seen as people with feelings
and intelligence that was shown in episode 8 (43:12-43:22),it shows that women focus on their feelings
rather than their emotions. Women are also showed to stay with their partner despite their
imperfections in (Episode 4/ 38:20 - 38:23).

DISCUSSION

In the film, feet were not included in the context of the scenes yet they were still put into focus. It
makes these scenes unnecessary to the plot so its only purpose left is to satisfy the male gaze. This
phenomena also happens with the actress' breast, although it doesn't happen as much as with the
actress' feet. This would mean that feet and breasts are considered attractive by the male population.
This is supported by the articles: Foot Fetishism by Sean Palmer 2014 and Male and Female Perception
of Attractiveness: An Eye Movement Study by Garza, Heredia, and Cieslicka 2016. The popularity of foot
eroticism in pornography has increased (Palmer, 2014). The fact that men consume pornography much
more than women (Hald, 2006) means that men consume erotic foot media which would support the
statement that men find feet attractive. This would explain the constant clips of feet which would in
turn, classify this as part of the male gaze. This phenomena has also happened with the director Quentin
Tarantino who has a confirmed foot-fetish. He also scattered shots of women's bare feet throughout his
shows (Palmer, 2014).

It is clear from the movie that women are likened to animals. This is supported by the scenes where
women were called "fat cows" or "cow". It is so commonly used that when Humbert went to a doctor
asking for medicine to knock out a "cow", the understood that he meant it for his wife. Animality is more
strongly associated with women's bodies than with men's (Roylance, 2016). Men have the implicit
tendency to associate women with animals. This correlates to their readiness to engage in sexually
aggressive behavior, negative sentiments towards female rape victims, and attraction to images of
sexual violence against women (Roylance, 2016). Since men are the main perpetrators, this makes this a
part of the male gaze. As for the scene where Dolores acts like a dog, this can be tied into puppy play.
Puppy play is a role-play behavior where participants adopt the characteristics of dogs and is usually
used in the BDSM/leather community (Langdridge & Lawson, 2019). In the scene, Dolores is playing with
a dog so she acts like a dog. But when playing with dogs, people typically don't act like dogs. So when
the researchers found out about puppy play, we concluded that it must be something that caters to the
male gaze due to the sexual connotations associated with puppy play.

Sexual Objectification theory says that women are only valued for their use by others and are treated as
objects. It occurs when a woman's body parts are singled out and is viewed primarily as an object of
sexual desire for males (Szymanski et al, 2010). In the scene in 1:16:50, both actors are naked but the
composition makes it that Dolores garners more attention. Showing her naked body on screen without
even showing her face counts as singling out her body, which makes it count as sexual objectification.
Multiple scenes also focus on her body more, like in the scene where Dolores was reading under a
sprinkler and her dress was see-through. Her face was obscured for most of the scene while her body
was the main focus. This counts as sexual objectification. Since sexual objectification caters to male
sexual desires (Szymanski et al, 2010), this makes it a part of the male gaze.

Women, as stated in the article by Carr (1997), have goals in their lives and after accomplishing their
goals they tend to aim for higher ones. In Episode 9 (1:07–1:47), (3:34–3:38), and (31:57–34:07), it was
evident how women aspire for more with how it was shown how Alma, who had attained her goal,
which is to join the garden club, then went for a new one and worked hard for it, which is to be the
president of the garden club.

Women in this series indulge in many characteristics, accompanied by the experiences they had around
those co-characters. It shows that women are a product of being soft, speaking about their emotions,
and how people’s comments can impact a woman’s life. In Sarah Todd’s article, other people’s negative
opinions can have an outsize effect on our self-image, deterring us from pursuing goals and new
opportunities. But women are more likely than men to internalize negative feedback (2022). This
concludes that women in this series are more likely to be affected by other people’s opinions about
them. Another major component of the female gaze is power and confidence. Alma and Rita showed
their confidence and power and how style and fashion can make a woman feel powerful and confident.
To feel beautiful, strong, and confident, you must wear clothes that empower you (Sophie Davis 2018).
This concludes that wearing clothes is essential to women and that it makes them feel empowered and
confident. The women in this series showed the support they provide to each other and the
companionship they have. There are articles that reveal women are each other’s support system, from
giving advice, offering a shoulder to cry on, keeping secrets, lending a listening ear, and boosting one
another’s confidence and self-esteem (Kristen Fuller 2018). This is how women carry each other in times
of difficulty.

Altruistic men were also evident in the series. They were shown in Episode 10 (15:14–16:06), where
Vern was shown to do his best to solve the case, which was somehow connected to Dee’s family, and
(40:58–41:51), where Bertram, who is ready to sacrifice for Alma, his wife, and who is taking the blame
for everything just so that he can save Alma, in the article by Farrelly, Clemson, and Guthrie (2016), it
was stated that those who displayed high levels of altruism were more desirable than those displaying
low levels of altruism. On (Episode 3/ 42:17 - 42:25//) where Bertram went back and swam to get Alma's
purse, which had been left in Mrs. Yost's car. Alma swims because Bertram is unable to move due of her
pants. After that, they were well with each other. According to Leaper (2011), women find men with
benevolent sexism attitudes attractive because they signal that a man is willing to invest.

Autonomy is observed in Episode 10 (19:44–20:46), where Alma is persistent in making her own choices
and solving her own problems on her own. She even admitted that she feels damn good about what she
is doing, and this shows her autonomy and how she felt better having autonomy. It was stated in the
article by McBride (1990) that women's lack of an autonomous identity has led to dependency,
depression, passivity, helplessness, loneliness, and difficulty in expressing anger. This further proves how
autonomy is important and showing women with their own choices is pleasant to be shown.
In episode 8 (43:12-43:22) shows that Rita focus on what she feel rather than her emotion, even if she
angry she still care and love Isabel. Feeling vs emotions is also supported by an article of Edouard
Claparéde that emotions and feelings are necessary mechanism by which behavior is best oriented in a
useful manner (1928) In episode 7 (26:09-26:26)

Dee inquires about her leg, and Vernon responds that he served her nation, and the girl was proud of
him, and it didn't matter to her, but when he returned home, the girl recognized him. This is on (Episode
4/ 38:20 - 38:23.)A women becomes willing sooner in the marriage to commit to the burdens of having a
sick spouse. According to (Chamberlain, Hsieh, Edwards, Van Hom, Recht(2009).