I wonder how the male gaze manifested before the invention of cameras and film. Film revolutionized the male gaze and now it’s even worse because in many ways all of us, male and female, ARE often performing for an invisible audience. But the normalization and presence of TV and film really prepped us for that, viewing ourselves in the third person instead of the first.
people make fun of the "oh you only hate her because she's a WOMAN" crazy feminist mentality but yeah actually you guys do only hate her because she's a woman a lot of times. for every hated female tv character there's ten male tv characters who are a million times worse and still given at least the "intriguing morally grey character" treatment if not straight up praise. for every hated female celebrity in real life there's one hundred famous men who have done worse and don't get half the hate she does.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you’re at a low point:
If you were a fictional man right now, there would be *at least* ten people if not a large portion of the fanbase that would call you their wet beast poor little meow meow