Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema Lesson Plan

Perhaps the most important contribution of "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" is the invention of the phrase "male gaze." In your own words, what is the male gaze? What is an example of the male gaze in a recent popular film? What is the danger posed by the male gaze?

As the students answer, it's important that not all of the answers concern sexualization of female characters; while that may be the most obvious example, it's far from the only one. Push also for students to think of examples of women shown to have subservient roles to men, engaging in stereotypical behavior, or finding meaning only through their relationships with men. These examples also reinforce...