The Male Gaze In Woman Hollering Creek

b) According to Janice Loreck, “The male gaze takes many forms, but can be identified by situations where female characters are controlled by, and mostly exist in terms of what they represent to, the hero.” Give an example of a work of literature from this semester that directly counters the “male gaze.” Explain how the author does so, where you directly see this in the work, and examine why the author does this.
From the introductory line of Sandra Cisneros’ Woman Hollering Creek, it is apparent that most of the plot will be male-driven. It opens on the transaction of Don Serafín giving Cleófilas to her abusive husband, and her life remains constrained by the men in her life. In the case of Juan Pedro, this entails literal confinement and isolation - physically, socially, and financially. Cleófilas is a background character in her own life, where, aside from doing various chores, her only public appearance is as a wallflower. She “accompanies her husband, sits mute behind their conversation” (page 1104) because his abuse and hundreds of years of silencing women have robbed her of her voice. It is more important to everyone that she fulfills her role of nice woman for the male gaze by flashing a smile and faking a laugh through her pain. Despite having no real control in her life, she internalizes the messages she receives from her family and the …show more content…
She cannot simply be sad about her situation. She shuts herself down, because her emotions so far haven’t mattered. Cleófilas “has to remind herself why she loves him” (page 1104) not as a coping mechanism, but as a form of policing herself. She acts as if any doubting of men is a thought crime: is it unthinkable to question her father’s decision to give her away, unthinkable to resent her abuser, and unthinkable to be independent from men. Just as Cleófilas’ mind is shaped and centered around the male gaze, so are her literal