Female Sexuality and the Male Gaze

CLASS DESCRIPTION

Ten years ago, Luisa MacCormack first delivered this lecture - and from it, the Feminist Lecture Program was born. What began as a one-off exploration of art history and feminist theory has since grown into hundreds of sessions, thousands of attendees, and a vibrant global community. To mark this anniversary, Luisa revisits the lecture that started it all for the first time in over five years, reflecting on what has changed, what remains the same, and why this subject is still as urgent as ever.

This lecture takes a critical journey through the history of how women’s bodies have been framed, consumed, and controlled by the act of looking. Beginning with the power dynamics embedded in classical art as a case study of how the Male Gaze evolved (think the “naked vs. nude” debate), we'll explore the iconic artworks works from the ancient world and european art history uncovering how art, mythology, and religion helped shape the visual language of female sexuality in ways that still reverberate today. Along the way, we’ll introduce key feminist thinkers - including John Berger, Laura Mulvey, and Linda Nochlin - alongside concepts such as the colonial and orientalist gaze as coined by Edward Said. 

From there, we’ll trace the gaze into modern and contemporary culture: from the rise of advertising and film to the ubiquity of music videos, slasher movies, and Disney princesses, interrogating how mass media has encoded femininity as spectacle. We’ll bring this discussion right up to the present day, examining the social media era as a Benthamite panopticon, where self-surveillance and algorithmic beauty standards have created new - and deeply damaging - forms of the gaze.

Finally, we’ll ask: how can we resist? Who is already resisting? From feminist art interventions to online activism, from body positivity movements to pop cultural controversies such as the furore over Sabrina Carpenter’s recent album cover, we’ll explore how artists, writers, and audiences are rewriting the terms of visibility. This lecture will equip you with the tools to see differently - and to question the cultural costs of being seen.

A rare chance to revisit the lecture that launched the Feminist Lecture Program - join us in celebrating a decade of feminist thought, community, and critical vision.

ABOUT OUR LECTURER

The Director of The Feminist Lecture Program, Luisa-Maria MacCormack (she/her) studied Textiles Design at London College of Fashion before turning to Fine Art and studying at the Royal Drawing School in 2014. A practicing artist as well as lecturer and Creative Director, Luisa has recently completed her MA at City and Guilds of London Art School. A founding member of the London Drawing Group since its inception in 2016, Luisa teaches drawing, and Feminist Art History classes across London, as well as exhibiting regularly in solo and group shows across the country. Her work specializes in Feminist Art History and with a particular interest in Ecology, Magico-Religious Practices and our Deep Past.

WEBSITE: https://www.luisamariamaccormack.co.uk/

INSTAGRAM: @luisamariamfineart

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AUTUMN/WINTER TERM 2025

Monday 15th September

Luisa-Maria MacCormack (she/her)

Female Sexuality and the Male Gaze

Monday 22nd September

Dr. Kate Pickering (she/her)

Ritual, Myth and Mysticism: Inclusive Religious Practices in Contemporary Art

Monday 29th September

Julia Kotziamani (she/her)

Misogynist Bureaucracies: Administrative Erasure and the Feminist Body

Monday 6th October

Noelle Perdue (she/her)

Post-AI Pornography

Monday 13th October

Erin James (she/they)

The Real Housewives of Racist TV Tropes: a Black Feminist Reading of Reality TV

Monday 20th October

tbc.

tbc.

Monday 27th October

tbc.

tbc.

Check back for the second half of term…

RECORDING

A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.

Please add hello@feministlectureprogram.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.

Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.

PAY WHAT YOU CAN

Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of £20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.

MORE FLP…

Can’t get enough? The Feminist Lecture Program has our very own digital archive, where you can find some of the best past lectures from our back catalogue to rent and watch ON DEMAND. Check out our ever growing collection here: https://thefeministlectureprogram.vhx.tv/

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And check out our sustainable merch from FLP Studio at https://feministlectureprogram.com/shop & @flp__studio

And that's it!

We're really looking forward to you joining us x