Introduction
"The male gaze" is a term used in film theory and criticism to describe the way in which the camera and the narrative of a film are often designed to cater to a male audience, objectifying and sexualizing women in the process. "Emily in Paris" is a TV series that has been criticized for its portrayal of women and its use of the male gaze.
However, it is possible for "Emily in Paris" to subvert or challenge the male gaze at times. For example, the show's protagonist, Emily, is a young, confident woman who is not afraid to speak her mind and take charge of her own life. In some scenes, the camera lingers on Emily's body, but it is not always presented in a sexualized or objectifying manner. In fact, some scenes deliberately undercut the male gaze, such as when Emily confronts a male colleague who has been making inappropriate comments about her appearance.
The perfume commercial controversy
Emily criticizes a perfume commercial where a woman walks naked across a bridge under the gaze of three men, Sylvie tells her: “I don’t have such a simplistic way of seeing men and women.”
Sylvie, being bold and independent, is convinced that through the male gaze, women acquire power and sexual liberation.
The male client also goes on to explain how the model is wearing nothing but the perfume, which is meant to empower her by giving her sex appeal.
Emily then asked if the idea of this male gaze is ‘sexy or sexist?’
This shows how much one’s cultural background influences one’s interpretation of feminism and the role of men and women.
In addition, some of the show's supporting characters—including Emily's supervisor Sylvie and her friend Mindy—are shown as complicated, fully-formed people with their own goals and objectives rather than as objects for the masculine gaze. As a result, even if "Emily in Paris" has drawn criticism for how it portrays women, there are times when it subverts or confronts the masculine gaze.
The female perspective on this series comes from Sylvie, Emily's boss and the head of the Parisian marketing agency "Savoir." She is a capable supervisor who understands what she is doing, completes her work on time, is strict, and takes the initiative.
We would perceive a guy with those qualities as a powerful and effective leader, but because we have a tendency to assume that women are always kind and soft, we are trained to perceive Sylvie and other women like her as negative characters. She just seems to me to be much more professional. She does act as Emily's supervisor in a number of instances, and she also gives Emily the advice to "Live and make errors" in Paris. Also, we may relate to the characters because of their gray tones. Everyone is not black and white, just like in real life.
Treating exploitation and disrespect as jokes
The #MeToo movement was intended to draw attention to all the ways that women are often placed in dangerous and exploitative situations. The discomfort and risk are satirised by Emily in Paris as though they no longer exist if we take ownership of them. The programme displays a distinct and unhealthy pattern. Women begin appearing to be at ease when we make fun of them for being uncomfortable with unwanted sexual advances.
Because of their lack of "prudence," they are "respected," which is actually rather demeaning. The implication is that true empowerment, such as recovering gendered French nouns, could be the focus if we could just learn to take the improper less seriously.
The issue with Emily in Paris isn't its humorous approach, its ostentatious costumes, or even its erroneous portrayal of Parisian life. The issue is that, even in the context of "guilty pleasure"
television, women should be treated with respect. Criticizing the sexualization of women in the media while downplaying sexual harassment and non-consensual sex is more than just a pointless, dumb script. That isn't the worst of it. Like adding poison to your cafe latte, adding toxic scripts to an ideal French tale. If women can't expect respect in a silly, entertaining programme like Emily in Paris, what hope do we have for real life?
Conclusion
In India, male and female characters are not generally portrayed similarly in terms of sexuality in the media and in movies. Typically, a man's extremely liberated lifestyle is lauded, and having several lovers is accepted as natural since "ladke toh aese hee hote hain" (Men will be men). In "Emily in Paris," this is not the case; she is never chastised for kissing or having affairs with other guys. Her actions aren't praised either, they're just not talked about.
I believe these ideas of feminism may vary, just as we know how subjectively different cultures interpret the word "shame."
The show, in my opinion, has more to offer than just Chanel handbags, Parisian culture, and baguettes!
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