Voyeurism - The Female Gaze

Voyeurism is the idea of viewing in order to gain sexual gratification through observing nude bodies or through sexual acts. Voyeurism is most commonly found in music videos , and largely consists of women being objectified in order to attract the male gaze. This is done through the use of low angles, close ups, fragmented body shots, editing and costumes.

We as consumers are very used to seeing the typical images of women being objectified, so it is very uncommon to see males being objectified for the sexual gain of women. A good example of the female gaze and voyeurism is; Jennifer Lopez I Luh Ya Papi ft French Montana.

 The video begins with J-Lo sitting in a room surrounded by half-naked men. The camera slowly pans over one of the men, and immediately it is clear this video is meant for female viewing as it objectifies men.

In this next picture you see her putting on a lot of big gold chains, and then dancing around a lot of very expensive cars. This is the sort of behaviour you would expect to see from a male in a music video. She has completely inverted the image of conventional gender roles in the music video.

Throughout the course of the video we see a lot of shots of men's bodys, including close ups on abs and crotch shots. It also tends to be in slow motion to add greater emphasis on the physique but also for the purpose of having the image linger in the mind of the viewer for longer.

The shot where Jennifer is standing at the front of the pool and the men are all lined up against the side of the pool, gives the impression she is in control and the men are nothing but mere decoration.

Jennifer continues to toy with the men further on in the video. In this shot she and her friends are seen slapping a mans bum and pouring stuff down his pants. His face is not shown just his body. He is made to look more like an object and less like a person. This reflects the action seen in other videos where men are seen slapping women's buts.