ABSTRACT

We look at men all the time and in all contexts from the home to the classroom and from the workplace to the street, yet the paradox or conundrum here is that we are often unaware of quite what we are looking at or that we are indeed looking at it. The unconsciousness of this gazing per se is perhaps significant or worthy of investigation in itself and is most recently studied in relation to the rise of men’s fashion (Edwards, 1997; Mort, 1996; Nixon, 1996). Conversely, cinematic images of men and indeed masculinity are perhaps some of the most conspicuous and, moreover, most conscious forms of looking at men that we engage in. It is the intention of this chapter to explore and unpack exactly how and what we are looking at when we look at men, particularly when considering masculinity as it is presented through the medium of cinema.