Zigfield Guy!!

In the 1930's directer Busby Berkeley reinvented musicals on film media. By drawing from the burlesque elements of the previous decade, Busby Berkeley manages to combine film, acting and dancing in such a way women are portrayed sexually as objects. An example of this combination is is 1941's Ziegfield Girls. Ziegfield Girls deal largely with the male gaze. However, try envisioning a film with its gender roles reserved, with a predominantly female gaze attached, say Zigfield Guys? To envision such a film, we first have to analyze aspects of the male gaze in Zigfield Girls.

To envision a film like Zigfield Guys, we first have to take a look and analyze how Zigfield Girls was constructed and how the women were objectified for the male gaze. Right from the beginning, we see how director Busby Berkeley brings us into his world, with a man ending his confession to a woman. This serves to tell us the purpose of what we were about to see, which was a "love story". However, if we pay closer attention to how the following sequence was constructed, we know this not to be true, that it was just a mere cover story for the "main event" which followed. This sequence begins with sexual attraction, where Tony Martin serenades a woman, confessing his love and pleading for her affection. However, as the sequence goes on, it slowly turns from sexual attraction into sexual objectification.

Even as Tony Martin belted out his love song, we see how the woman is objectified. The wardrobe in this opening scene betrays the intention of Busby Berkeley, to portray his women as glamorous beauties, and here we see how the woman is dressed in a long white dress, closely resembling a wedding gown. Also, a soft focus camera angle is used to induce of aura of mystery around the woman, emphasizing her beauty. In addition, as the scene unfolds, we do not see or hear the woman talking at all. According to feminist theory, sexual attraction is the being physically and emotionally attracted to the a person, compelled by that person's appearance, personality and individuality. Sexual objectification, on the other hand is the viewing of another person as de-personalized objects of desire, not taking into account his or her individualism, instead purely focusing on his or her physicality. And this, is a clear example of sexual objectification, as we do not learn or know of this woman's personality nor identity, and her mere purpose here is to be the object of Tony Martin's affection and to draw the male gaze.

We also see more evidence of sexual objectification in the scene where the Zigfield Girls slowly descend a flight of stairs in their long flowing robes. Here, it can be clearly seen that Busby Berkeley intends these girls to be objectified. The stairs in this scene is a signifier of how these women descend from a "higher" place, coming down from above and gracing us with their presence. Also, by coming from above, it shows how these girls are "untouchable", thereby increasing the male desire even more, playing to the innate human desire of the forbidden. This motif is of the forbidden has been constantly repeated, however the most obvious being how Adam and Eve succumbed and partook of the forbidden fruit. Also, another important element which reinforces the fact the these women were intended to be objectified as objects of sexual desire was the uniformity seen here in this scene. As they descended the flight of stairs, the women moved in a slow uniform manner, thereby eliminating the individuality of each of these women, instead turning them into a single unit of beautiful women, aimed at the male gaze. The casting of these Zigfield Girls is also reflective of the sexual objectification in this scene. Every single girl here was the stereotypical all American beauty, with blonde hair and blue eyes, unblemished "virgin" girls. It is also notable how similarly all these women look, that no one women in that scene was distinguishable from one another, reinforcing the fact that these women have no individuality.

So, moving on to envisioning a movie like Zigfield Guys, how then would the element of the male gaze be transferred to the female gaze? A good example of this would be Kylie Minogue's The One music video. Standing in stark contrast to Zigfield Girls, Kylie Minogue's video is all about the female gaze. As it opens with a half naked man dancing to the background of some fireworks, it immediately subverts the male authority over the female. By degrading males to the level of female sexual objectification, the males here in turn are no different from strippers, parading their body to satisfy the sexual fantasy of women. However, here is where the similarities end. As a male gets sexual gratification from the submission of a woman, females in turn are sexually gratified by the secret indulgence in their fantasies. This is mainly because in today's patriachal society, it seems perfectly fine for a man to indulge in his sexual desire, however it is shocking to say the least, if a female does the same. While a man gets sexual fulfillment from a woman's submission, a woman gets hers from the subversion of the male authority, or in other words, dominance over a man.

As the intro of the song begins, we see half naked male dancers literally "bending over backwards" to the music. This, in a way, is the subversion of the patriarchal power, a literal bowing down of the male, in the worship of a female. Also, the partial nudity in the opening dance sequence also serves to expose the vulnerability of the male. This is simple a toned down version of how a fully naked man is vulnerable, with his phallus exposed. Subsequently, the image of the male dancer is replaced by Kylie Minogue, symbolizing how Kylie, or the woman, is more powerful and dominant. Also, while the women in Ziegfield Girls are demurred and perfect, reinforcing the image of the perfect woman, Kylie Minogue portrays a woman who is wild and and confident of herself, imperfect as she may be. In fact, she embraces the male gaze, and turns it into something in her favor. By doing so, she turns herself into something of a femme fatale. In subverting the male power for the sexual gratification of the female, that would be the equivalent of the female sexual objectification.

Again, similarly to Ziegfield girls, the males in this sequence are not named, nor given an identity. In the same way this uniformity steals a person's individuality, this anonymity again robs the male of his power. As in a patriarchal society, the patriarch, or head of the family, gains his power from recognition. However, here precisely the opposite is happening. The man loses his power in his anonymity. He is degraded to a piece of eyecandy, for the pleasure of women. When a man is used in a way that bypasses his identity, that is where sexual objectification comes in.

In comparison to today's world, in view of gender equality, many films such as this Ziegfield Guy already exists. For instance, one of the biggest popstars of our century, lady Gaga, exercises the female gaze in many of her videos. In her video "Bad Romance", lady Gaga surrounds herself with hulky male dancers, embracing her sexuality and feminity, strengthening the concept of the female gaze. In the 50s, such an explicit video would have caused a furore, sparking cries of satanism, as men were expected to be given due respect, and such a video would have undermined them. Hypocritically, yet it is okay for dancers to be female, attracting the male gaze.