The Female Gaze: Charli XCX

Film is used as an escape from reality. However, conditions within film may inform our reality. Film theorist Laura Mulvey considers film depictions. In her piece Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey highlights the sexual difference in female and male portrayals. 

In her analysis, she defines scopophilia, pleasure generated by observing. In this sense, she recognizes females within film are subjected to the male gaze, serving as passive objects for male pleasure. This imbalance of power within film is evident as women are shown well-kept and desire to be possessed, rather than direct controls of the plot. 

Mulvey also remarks that scopophilia within film remains within two dimensions. First, it is a detachment from reality as pleasurable entertainment for presumed male viewers and an enforcer of real-world misogynistic tendencies. Behind the scenes, women face similar conditions. Females are a minority in director and production positions, which prohibits women from controlling their depictions. 

In response to these realities, women strive to better gender inequalities. Singer Charli XCX is amongst these women to oppose gender restrictions, making her directorial debut for her song Boys. The music video showcases various recognizable men subjected to the active female gaze. She instructs the men to pose as women traditionally do in film suggestively. Charli XCX as a woman in the entertainment industry, contains the power of these portrayals. 

Charli XCX toys with objectification in film, encouraging the men to do habitual tasks sexually. However, through her diverse cast, XCX empowers all men as several types are deemed sexy, and there is no one ‘ideal.’ In conclusion, the directorial debut and song Boys rejects film’s patriarchal structure and empowers those involved and viewing the project.