Well. The male gaze is a really prevalent and harmful thing in animation/cartoons/comics.

The male gaze designs female characters purely in relation to sex with a man. These characters have no defining qualities beyond being a love interest.

There's nothing really wrong with drawing sexualized women. But it becomes a problem when the female characters are treated VERY differently than their male counterparts. Male characters are given goals and personalities, while female characters are given sexualized anatomy.

Note: Male characters are not given hair, eye lashes, eye shadow, or human anatomy. Why are we giving this lizard character....chest lumps? Why isn't the male lizard given nipples or even a bulge? Technically, it's the same as giving a lizard boobs. Oh, bc that would be bizarre.

But men DO have this anatomy. It's not included. Why is the female anatomy included, then?

The male gaze becomes an issue when it's the most prevalent depiction that exists of women. Additionally, there's something to be said about men profiting off of women's sexuality, when

women are often put in danger for even having sexualities.

Idk. I love super cheesecake drawings of women. I'm attracted to women. I love women. But the male gaze IS a problem, esp when male characters are constantly treated with so much more humanity. It's frustrating when the

only popular depictions of women in cartoons/comics are created purely to be sexual objects.

Anyhow. I would love to hear what y'all think about this kind of stuff. I'm genuinely curious and want to hear more.

Okay beans may not have been a perfect example but I think what I’m actually saying is still valuable and good to think about when designing lady characters.