O olhar masculino e a representação da mulher: Uma análise das obras de Cindy Sherman e Carrie Mae Weems

Abstract

The present research analyzes the concept of the male gaze, developed by the theorist Laura Mulvey within film theory, and uses it as a central foundation for the understanding of contemporary artistic practices by the artists Cindy Sherman and Carrie Mae Weems. It examines how, in their photographic works, with special attention to self-portraits, these artists construct a critical approach to the question of the gaze in artistic production by positioning themselves simultaneously as both object and subject of representation, intensifying the tension between art and life. The act of positioning oneself before the camera also operates as a gesture of recognition and revelation of the power relations mobilized by the image of women in society and by the gaze of the spectator. Throughout this work, ideas by writers such as Bell hooks and Linda Nochlin are also incorporated in order to reflect on the particularities of each artist and on how these self-representations function as strategies of subversion, resistance, and contestation of traditional regimes of the gaze.