The Male Gaze and the Beauty of the Female Form

The assertion that women’s bodies are inherently beautiful, while men’s bodies are strange and ugly is frequently invoked by straight, cisgendered men. It is used as a justification for the objectification of women, and as a reason for the idea that straight women should enjoy going to strip clubs with their partners. It justifies the expectation that straight women “experiment” with other women, while simultaneously excusing homophobia. Many straight men believe there is something intrinsically alluring and sensual about the female form. More importantly, they think that this sensual quality is inherently lacking from the male form. They tend to state this stance openly, and take it for granted as fact rather than as subjective preference. That this viewpoint blatantly excludes the possibility of trans, intersex, or other non-gender conforming bodies is self-evident and highly problematic.   Furthermore, it systematically marginalizes every concept of sexuality that does not exist from the straight, cisgendered male perspective.

Of course I’ll include the usual disclaimer: this does not apply to all straight, cis men. There are exceptions. But the general trend and the cultural acceptance of it as a “norm” remain problematic, despite the individual men who oppose this way of thinking. Dirty Silver also has a recent post (NSFW) on this topic.

It seems simple. Heterosexual men, by definition, find the nude female form more sexually stimulating than the male. It stands to reason that the inverse of that statement applies to straight women and gay men. The widely accepted straight male viewpoint that “naked women=beautiful, naked men=funny lookin’ “ is dripping with privilege. I find it amazing that it has never occurred to men who share this belief that their personal perspective does not necessarily constitute a reality for those with other sexual orientations. This should be common sense. Some people are physically attracted to women. Others are physically attracted to men. Some are attracted to both. None of this has any logical bearing on the inherent attractiveness of any body, or of any primary or secondary sex characteristics.

This notion is deeply damaging to women. Not only does it excuse blatant objectification under the guise of “admiring the female form,” but it also promotes the age-old double standard against female sexuality. Female bodies are viewed as public property. They are consumed visually through misogynistic porn and lad mags, and they are the perpetual targets of rape and sexual harassment. With the opinion that female bodies are intrinsically irresistible, however, qualities innate to the female form become the acknowledged cause of these problems—not the actions of the men who devour them. The male perpetrators are thereby absolved of responsibility, and women are expected to take violence, harassment, and objectification as some kind of compliment.

Moreover, this serves to devalue female pleasure even further. After all, someone who assumes that the sight of a naked man cannot cause arousal is clearly not concerned with the arousal of his own sexual partners. The assumption that the male body cannot be a turn-on for anyone shows a total lack of interest in whether a man’s sexual partners even want him. Needless to say, this is dangerous territory. Indifference to the arousal and desire of one’s sexual partners is at the very least a promotion of rape culture, and in the worst cases, can actually lead to rape.

Furthermore, this increases the pressure on heterosexual women to “perform” bisexuality for men. Brian Safi’s take on it is hilarious and spot-on. The idea that women’s bodies are innately sexually appealing makes it acceptable to pressure straight women into engaging in sexual acts with other women. After all, if your girlfriend protests or if she says she isn’t comfortable, she’s just being coy. Deep down, she can’t resist a woman any more than you can, right? This is yet another example of the normalization of an utter lack of concern for women’s comfort and arousal in our society. And rape culture grows.

  And of course, this attitude isn’t only harmful to straight women. It contributes to the Othering of gay, bi, and asexual men. After all, according to men who espouse these views, men’s bodies are, at best, uninteresting and at worst repulsive. What other argument do homophobes need to label homosexuality “unnatural”? As for lesbians and bi women, their sexuality is interpreted not as a legitimate expression in itself, but rather in terms of its relation to straight male arousal and gratification. These men are quick to label girl-on-girl “natural,” but still expect it to be performed for the viewing pleasure of men. Straight, male, cis privilege enables many men to deny the legitimate existence of any conception of sexualtiy outside of their own limited perspective.

Worst of all, all this is wrapped in a complimentary guise. In my opinion, two of the greatest challenges facing feminism today are the widespread misunderstanding of what constitutes sexual power and the inability of many men to distinguish between loving and hating women. Tucker Max dodges charges of misogyny and the perpetuation of rape culture with the insistent remark that he “loves ” women. Megan Fox has been famously quoted as saying that “women have the power because we have the vaginas.” By framing this whole concept as a self-deprecating comment on their own gender, cis men simultaneously absolve themselves of misogyny and bolster the myth that being objectified gives women any real sort of power over men. Our bodies are just so pretty that they can’t help themselves, or so the story goes. With one “compliment,” men can easily evade charges of sexism, harassment, and even rape. They are quick to cite the proliferation of female nudes throughout the history of Western art as proof that naked women are indeed more appealing than naked men. It does not occur to them that this, too, is a symptom of a centuries-old problem.

When it’s taken for granted that only the female form is visually stimulating, straight women are silenced,  gay and bi men are dehumanized, gay and bi women are turned into little more than novelties, asexual and non-cisgendered persons are erased entirely, and rape culture is strengthened. In short, many cis het men need to realize that this mindset is not a compliment to women. It is an assertion of privilege, which only causes women and LGBT people to become even more marginalized, Othered, and dehumanized.