The Oppositional Gaze

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Grace Jones by Robert Mapplethorpe (image source)

The Oppositional Gaze, a 1992 essay by bell hooks, is an insightful look into the perspective of a black female with regards to mainstream cinema. The lack of realistic representation combined with a history of oppression has created a “rebellious desire” to look within the black female psyche. Hooks defines ‘the oppositional gaze’ as this rebellious act of looking which empowers the black female to see with a critical eye. She further emphasizes that the critical eye is how the black female finds pleasure in film.

Historically, black people have not been allowed to freely gaze at white people, and punishing them for looking didn’t end with slavery. This repression not only created an overwhelming desire to look, but it also created an attitude of defiance amongst the oppressed. In cinema, to be able to look upon the oppressor and not feel any sort of relationship but rather an attitude of resistance that unites the oppressed to each other was the outcome of this power structure. The end result is learning to look at film with a critical eye. More specifically, the female ‘oppositional gaze.’ Bell hooks argues that black men could find commonality through a rebellious ‘phallocentric spectatorship’ while black women had no common ground with which to rest their gaze.

Hooks analyzes the whiteness of the most desirable characters as an intentional contrast against black female characters in order to perpetuate white supremacy. The whiteness was a commentary on racial purity, and the black female characters were somehow always a prop to support this idea. The black female character was either written as the bitchy side kick or the caretaker with no real thoughts or opinions. Black female spectators have no choice but to be disrupted in the experience. They deal with the inadequacy of representation by resisting the immersive experience and developing a “pleasure of resistance.”

I believe this essay is a critical analysis of the black female perspective that should be required reading for everyone. I am ashamed to admit that it never crossed my mind that black women have had such a disruptive experience with film. I feel fortunate that bell hooks wrote this essay, and that she has shared it with us. It is important to understand how things impact others so that we can make informed decisions about where to focus our attention. Do I want to perpetuate stereotypes, or do I want to bring about social change through my own art? I think we have a responsibility to leave the world a better place.

I added a photo of actress musician Grace Jones by Robert Mapplethorpe as my artwork for this week. Whenever I think of a strong, beautiful, black female Grace Jones is the first to pop into my head. As a kid I thought she was one of the most beautiful women alive and I probably got that idea from my mom. She is an actress and musician that peaked in the 1980’s, but is still going strong today. I think that she is a good example of a black female that has broken through the stereotypical mold.

Source
  Bell hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze,” in Black looks: Race and Representation (Boston: South End Press, 1992), 115-31.

Comments

  1. Yvonne_HumeOctober 9, 2021 at 8:35 PM

    Hello Grace,
    I think you did an awesome job of the summary for this week's reading. I like that you highlighted the whiteness of characters as an intentional contrast against black female characters in order to promote white supremacy. This is something that has happened throughout television cinema but I never realized until reading this essay. Do you think white supremacy is still being promoted in American television today? I also liked the photo that you chose as your art piece. Overall, wonderful job.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ashley MOctober 10, 2021 at 3:53 PM

      Yvonne, Thank you for taking the time to write a response to this post. I had a hard time writing this one (as usual). After deleting my sentences about a thousand times I thought the best way to approach this was by summarizing. I honestly never thought about Hollywood's perpetuation of white supremacy. If you had said this was a common practice to me before I read bell hooks's essay, then I would have thought you were crazy. The way she wrote clarified a lot of things. I love being learning about the experience of non-whites in America. It's a lot different than mine, and I can appreciate the struggles. I do think that white supremacy is promoted on television and in the movies.

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