From the Male Gaze to the Female Gays : Universalizing Lesbian Experiences in Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article argues that Alison Bechdel envisioned a new way of looking at lesbians in her long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For (1983–2008). Through simultaneously universalizing lesbian experiences while celebrating the ways in which her characters’ sexualities rendered them different from each other and from the so-called ‘universal’ white male protagonists of much mainstream media, Bechdel created what I term a ‘universalizing’ gaze. This gaze usurped Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’ through presenting lesbian characters, not as sexual objects drawn for the reader’s pleasure, but as aligned with readers: as the sexual subjects of the comic. This technique allowed Bechdel to portray lesbians as sexual people without hyper-sexualizing them, enabling a diverse group of readers to see themselves represented in the strip.
Source: Journal of Lesbian Studies
Author: Cassia Hayward-Fitch
Institution: University of East Anglia
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7140735910