Chapter 31 Exercises: Objectification and the Male Gaze
Exercise 31.1 — Close Reading: The Gaze in Advertising (Individual, 30–45 min)
Select three print or digital advertisements — one for a product traditionally marketed to men, one traditionally marketed to women, and one for a gender-neutral product (food, travel, technology). For each advertisement:
- Map the visual structure. Who (if any person is depicted) is the implied viewer? Who is depicted, and how — as subject or as object? Is the body fragmented or depicted whole?
- Apply Mulvey's categories. Is there a bearer of the gaze? An object of the gaze? Does the advertisement construct a spectator position?
- Apply Nussbaum's seven features. Does the advertisement imply any of the following about the depicted person: instrumentality, denial of autonomy, inertness, fungibility, violability, ownership, denial of subjectivity?
- Compare. How do the three advertisements differ in their visual treatment of people? What do the differences suggest about how objectification is gendered — or not?
Write a 400–600 word analysis comparing your three advertisements. Come prepared to share one key observation with the class.
Exercise 31.2 — Observational Journal: Noticing the Gaze (Individual, 1 week)
For one week, keep a brief daily journal (3–5 minutes per entry) noting moments when you were aware of a "gaze" — either directed at you, directed at someone else, or your own gaze at another person. The goal is not to judge these moments but to become more aware of them.
Prompts for each entry: - Describe the situation briefly (public space, media, social media, interpersonal). - What kind of looking was happening? How did you know? - How did the person being looked at seem to respond (if you could tell)? - How did you feel — as the looker, the looked-at, or the observer?
At the end of the week, review your entries and write a brief reflection (300–400 words): What patterns did you notice? Were there asymmetries in who was looking and who was being looked at? Did the objectification theory framework help you understand what you observed — or did it not fit?
Important note: This exercise is not asking you to police others' behavior. It is asking you to develop observational attentiveness to a phenomenon that is usually invisible precisely because it is so pervasive.
Exercise 31.3 — Debate Preparation: The Objectification of Men (Small Group, 45–60 min)
Prepare to debate the following proposition: "Male objectification is categorically different from female objectification because it is not embedded in structures of gendered power."
Divide into two groups. One group argues FOR the proposition (the differences matter and are not merely quantitative). One group argues AGAINST (objectification causes similar harms regardless of structural context, and the power-asymmetry argument minimizes suffering).
Preparation questions for each group: - What empirical evidence supports your position? - What is the strongest version of the opposing argument? - How does intersectionality (race, class, sexuality) complicate your position? - What would you need to see to change your mind?
After the debate, write a brief individual reflection (150–200 words): What argument did you find most convincing — and did it come from your side or the other?
Exercise 31.4 — Design Exercise: Advertising Without Objectification (Individual or Pairs, 45–60 min)
Choose a product that is commonly advertised using objectifying imagery (a fragrance, a beer, a fitness brand, a car). Design an alternative advertisement for that product that:
- Does not fragment bodies
- Does not use a person's body as the primary signifier of the product's value
- Still communicates something genuine about why someone might want the product
- Is visually compelling
You do not need to produce professional-quality art. A rough sketch and a written description are sufficient. Then write a 200–300 word reflection: What was difficult about this exercise? What did you have to give up? What does your experience of difficulty suggest about how naturalized objectifying visual conventions have become?
Exercise 31.5 — Conceptual Application: Objectification in Non-Heterosexual Contexts (Discussion, 45 min)
The objectification framework was originally developed to analyze heterosexual male gazing at women. How does it apply — or not apply — when we examine:
a) Gay male pornography and its body hierarchies b) Lesbian-made erotic imagery c) Body evaluation practices on transgender social media communities
For each context, consider: What is similar to the heterosexual male gaze dynamic? What is different? Does the presence of shared gender identity between gazer and gazed-upon change the ethical stakes? Does structural power asymmetry (even within minority communities) matter?
Come to class prepared to discuss one of the three contexts in depth.