silly goose meekah

  • 21 Posts
  • 950 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 22nd, 2023

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  • As a man, here is my understanding, so take it with a grain of salt.

    While men staring at women is a problem, it is not what is meant by “male gaze”. That term is usually used to describe the way societal norms regarding women were strongly formed by men and what they like. The way conservatives generally expect women to present themselves and behave is heavily influenced by the male gaze. To my understanding, the exact standards differ by culture, but usually its along the lines of being submissive and fitting some beauty standard.

    If a person who is read as female (aka “looks like a woman”) does not adhere to those standards, they will face ramifications, because our society mostly has men calling the shots. On the flip side, people who are read as female, and try to please the male gaze while also genetically being lucky enough to fit the beauty standards, can benefit from it (see: beauty privilege).

    Regarding your plan to not be a dick, I think if you just treat people as people, regardless of their appearance, you are (passively) working against the perpetuation of the male gaze. I think that would also mean you’re not discriminating anyone.

    Apologies if I misunderstood your comment and you were not asking/looking for an explanation.