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The Female Gaze in The Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat and Lost Highway by David Lynch

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Kara Abdolmaleki
Kara Abdolmaleki*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Canada
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Abstract

In feminist theory, the “female gaze” is a reaction to the imbalance of power created by the “male gaze”. Yet, since the concept lacks sound grounding in theory, it solely poses “a simple (antagonistic) response” to male voyeurism. This article traces the manifestations of the female gaze in Lost Highway and The Blind Owl, a film noir and a novella. It is concluded that instead of offsetting the imbalance of power, the female gaze only reverses it, turning the concept into yet another catchphrase of patriarchal hegemony to further commodify and subjugate women.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 6 , November 2013 , pp. 903 - 919
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 The International Society for Iranian Studies

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References

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2 Ibid.

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58 Ibid., 20.

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63 Hedayat, The Blind Owl, 45.

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73 Ibid.

74 Ibid.