Lesbian gaze

The lesbian gaze is a queer response to the male gaze. The notion of gaze considers how an audience perceives a work of art, particularly people within the work of art. Theories of the male gaze particularly consider the presumed audience for a work to be male; creation of a work in relation to the male gaze is an exercise of patriarchal power. The presentation of a woman is presumed to be in part an exercise of sexuality. The lesbian gaze disrupts -- queers -- the expectation of a male gaze, and also raises questions of identification, objectification, and attraction.

Examples of use of lesbian gaze in feminist SF criticism include:

• Atara Stein, "Xena: Warrior Princess, the Lesbian Gaze, and the Construction of a Feminist Heroine", Whoosh Issue #24, available at http://www.whoosh.org/issue24/stein1.html

Further reading:

• "identification vs. attraction," 2006 Nov. 24, post and discussion thread thru 2006 Dec. 11, at The Bookworm

See also Audience Theory