Male Gaze

Authors

  • Emma Unruh she/her

Keywords:

Queer, Male Gaze, Feminism, Love

Abstract

“Male Gaze” brings to light the complexity of being under the surveillance of the male gaze. My poem speaks to the male gaze and the behaviour of real men that reinforces the patriarchy. The first two stanzas demonstrate the false love and admiration of the male gaze in spaces like nightclubs and bars. The metaphor of the male gaze as light plays with the fact that it can be nice to feel adored and seen, but this light can also be harsh, cold, and fleeting. This poem is a call for resistance of patriarchal values which aim to force women into subservience.

Author Biography

Emma Unruh, she/her

Emma Unruh (she/her) is a fourth-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing. She has a passion for poetry and often explores themes of resistance and identity in her work. Her poems “Burn the Witch,” “Him,” and “Lovesick Horror Show” placed first in the poetry category for the 2022 Okanagan Young Writers Awards. Alongside her studies, she works as a Senior Writing Consultant at the Student Learning Hub, as well as an editor for Inkwell and Papershell. When she is not writing, her favourite genres to read are memoirs and thrillers. 

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Published

2025-04-03

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2025): Resistance

Section

Creative

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Emma Unruh

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.