With this weeks discussion of Oscar Wilde's Salome, I noticed the ways that the illustrations accompanying the text play on the idea of the male gaze, as was discussed by many of the presentations. Especially when analyzing how Salome's character is being depicted in the illustrations, it is easy to idenfity the ways in which Beardsley's images draw on the male gaze by the visual cues that they feature. For example, many of the images of Salome feature nudity and sensuality on the part of her character - she is either outwardly nude in the image, or the visual cues direct all of the attention to her. One specific image representative of this is the one entitled "The Peacock Skirt," in which although she is not nude, the viewers attention is drawn towards her. The skirt seems to encompass Salome in beauty and makes sure that the viewer is focusing on her. This idea is further proven when we consider the character standing next to her - they are being shown as small in comparison to Salome, possibly in an effort to comment on the effect that her beauty has on the people around her. Through all of the images this seems to be a central focus, as Salome is constantly drawing the attention of the viewers and of those around her. In all of the images Salome is showcased as being beautiful, based on the associations of beauty that are derived from the idea of the male gaze, and commentary can be drawn about her character and the story as a whole when making this analysis. 

In contrast to works that we would see today, although the male gaze is still very present across many forms of media, I have also noticed that there has been a largely growing effort on the part of women to take back the agency that is stripped of them by the male gaze. Now, many more books are being written and images being showcased that are by women, that shift the focus of the female characters to be less of beauty and more focused on who the character, herself, is. Some of these images can be seen in direct contrast to one another when we consider an image derived from the male gaze and then one that seeks to bring back a sense of agency. One example that I constantly think of is the character of Harley Quinn across many action films - in the ones that are directed by men, her character is constantly sexualized, and she exists in the text to help her partner, the Joker. Despite this, a more recent film called Birds of Prey that came out this year places Harley Quinn at the forefront. This film has a female director, and Quinn's character changes noticeably in this film, in the ways that she now aims to own her sexuality and is instead portrayed as a superhero that acts, instead of a partner that helps.