The White Gaze

Sydney Watkins

Introduction: White supremacy in America has manifested itself in many ways, one being the “white gaze,” or the way in which white people gaze upon non-white skinned minority groups. There is no natural difference between people based on race or ethnicity, however the problem of racism is still extremely relevant in our society and the white gaze plays a big part in its existence. The objective of studying the white gaze is to find a definition that explains the source, the embodiment, and the effects. What is the “the white gaze”? How can one recognize it? Where does it stem from? Why do people feel they are superior based on physical or material differences? What are its effects on our society today? This research intends to provide insight behind the construction of the white gaze and how and why it is still so prevalent today. Research on the white gaze also aims to describe its efficiency and to explain the lived experience of those being gazed upon. Our research group hopes to one day make a short anthology outlining various types of gazes (male, able, dominant) in our society that lead to social suffering.