"The male gaze"? Well, here it is in spades...

[Greythorne]

it worries me to be raising two girls in this world where a film poster such as www.premiere.fr/film/Sea-No-Sex-and-Sun-2630291this does not even raise eyebrows amongst most people.

I showed it to my lovely, generally feminist best French friend and she coukd not see a problem.

When I explained a bit about the male gaze, about the objectification of women (esp here, where the woman is merely a body, no head, no face, no personality), where the men are specifically shown to be of various ages ages, young and middle aged, showing the universality of men's desire to sit on a beach and lust after nubile women......She just shrugged and couldn't see a problem.

Ok, it's nothing against FGM and equal pay, but it makes me sick as a mother of two girls.

Sorry, link here:

www.premiere.fr/film/Sea-No-Sex-and-Sun-2630291

Fuck.

Here:

www.premiere.fr/film/Sea-No-Sex-and-Sun-2630291

That is horrible.

sick? nope don't see it

Er yuck!

It's disgusting. I work in a DVD shop and have become really hyper-aware of this kind of thing.

Here's a recent(ish) UK DVD cover which is similar (I think worse) than your example:
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1280&bih=899&tbm=isch&tbnid=wOxcDEpZGNXPbM:&imgrefurl=www.movieposterdb.com/poster/61ea7264&docid=5fYLtrvwE65HHM&imgurl=www.movieposterdb.com/posters/09_07/2009/1020885/l_1020885_61ea7264.jpg&w=300&h=425&ei=yNqmT8PZNqGm0QX_hsjhAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=661&vpy=487&dur=1107&hovh=267&hovw=189&tx=103&ty=157&sig=108508892687602794687&page=1&tbnh=171&tbnw=121&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:0,i:98" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lesbian Vampire Killers

I've noticed while stacking shelves at work that film cases are extremely male-dominated. I always assumed this was an exaggeration, but it's true - try going to any shop which sells DVDs in a general display (rather than ordered by genre) and look at them. It's like women don't actually exist unless they're sex objects, chasing after a man or men, or procreating, since they're kind of needed for that.

The shop I work in has around 2,000 DVDs in at any one time and I can think of only two films which focus on women or girls who aren't there only to fulfil one of these three roles - My Sister's Keeper, and Julie and Julia.

God yes. Can you imagine this DVD cover the other way round (especially the male figure not having a head and face). I can't. And that's what makes it a feminist issue to me.

what about that new coffee advert? with the bloke and blow dried dog?

UUUrrrrrrgghhhhh....

how did they look at that and think;

'Ah yes, good shot, good imagery, yes well done, that will make people want to watch it'?????

If only I had the time and expertise, I would like to do reverse versions of all those male gaze movie posters we see around us all the time and then bombard people with them on facebook. It would be so great to see three women of different generations looking at a set of male abs in that way that makes it clear that the only thing that matters about the abs, is the abs and not the human being attached to them.

Thats what I find unsettling about this picture in particular-the cross generational thing.It makes me a bit sick in my mouth

A bit of a tangent--but what mother would let a child be in a picture like that??? I always think that about kids in horror films though

I was at the cinema on Friday and saw an advert fir piranha 3dd (yes that does refer to bra size) it was a completely horrific advert, I'll see if I can find a link. It was about women in bikinis and even in the bath with they're legs spread getting attacked between the legs by fish seemingly on steroids.

I thought it was actually a joke

Msrisotto - you forgot the pole dancing lifeguards... Eugh. What a horrible film.

That is awful. I think the way she is headless and the men and whole, real people and all ages, bonding - perving over a young girl.

but I think the picture is actually CRITICAL of these men, gazing like that.

it makes them look a bit stupid.

IMO

Therefore not offensive to me.

I think if the message wasn't clear, Michael Clarke Duncan walking around with a rather large machine gun between his legs to shoot the rabid fish does.

I have already hear about this, it's another film that punishes women for succumbing to the sex idol cliche that men request and require and ultimately punish.

Of course it's just a funny film with no possible message

They look like they're at a lap-dancing club.

Chandon I think you're probably seeing it through the prism of what you would think of these men if you saw them on the bearch.

You'd be critical of them, so would I, so it's easy to think maybe the designers are also trying to show that.

Not sure if that's the case though. And I'm not sure that anyone not seeing that poster through our prism, would get that either.

"but I think the picture is actually CRITICAL of these men, gazing like that."

If the picture is intended to be critical of those men then why are they the protagonists of the movie?

The idea that men perving over women is more insulting to men just allows it to carry on by confusing the issue. Because at the end of the day, it all boils down to the same thing: a naked woman on display. Every time we see a man portrayed as a sex starved idiot we also see a sexualized, semi-naked woman to be ogled at.

The objectifcation may be ironic, tongue in cheek, mocking men, whatever, but it's objectification nonetheless.

Women's only raison d'etre is as an oriface to be fucked, doncha know?

We aren't like, real, normal people.

Greythorne - how come your French friend was not put out by this? Do you find that you both agree on most issues and that this is a rare difference, or are there wider cultural issues?

nah; sadly there are cultural issues at play

french women (gross generalisation alert) find it very hard to see that SAHMs have a valid place because they feel like going to work is The Feminist Choice and it is hard to get them to see otherwise

and yet, and yet, there are myriad feminist issues that abound in France that wash right over them

Something seems to be up in France- (French) DP just got back from visiting his sister who is a waitress in a hotel; she was complaining that her back hurt. Turns out this is due to the high heels she is required to wear for work. It's in her contract, along with make up. He was fuming, she apparently shrugged as she has no choice.

It seems that if you scratch the surface of the French chic image, there's a lot of sacrifices women are required to make which would not be accepted here.

Is this poster a symptom of a greater malaise?