In a patriarchal society such as ours, women are constantly subjected to the male gaze. From the cocoon that she calls home to public spaces – her physical appearance is constantly under scrutiny. Her societal status is irrelevant – she could be an elitist fundraiser passing by in her leather seated limousine or a harried homemaker, dropping her children to school. The male gaze is impartial, when it comes to its’ selection of subjects. What’s more worrisome though, is the acceptance of this male intrusion. With the sex ratio in India at 914 females against 1,000 males – this immunity towards the male gaze comes as no surprise.

My essay attempts to identify this male gaze, and to make its invasive nature accessible to one and all. Through this essay, I hope to evoke responses that will incite women to give up their silent suffering and men to know what it’s like to be at the receiving end of a gaze as penetrative as this. 

(Made as an installation in public space)