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.

We are committed to making our sessions as accessible as possible. If you are unable to pay the full amount for this class, please reach out to us via email at [email protected] and we will provide you with a discount code.