The Human Gaze

The term Ecopornography as described in Bart Welling's Ecoporn is an interesting term that calls the audience to reconsider how they receive content. When initially reading the term it seemed almost a bit ridiculous. The comparison of how inhuman beings are depicted in relation to women; but as Welling's went on to explain I began to notice similarities in not just the content itself; but how it is enjoyed by the viewer. This term illustrates the audience's desire to exploit concepts for pleasure and how as writers we cater to this pleasure based writing style.

We love to watch animals in their 'natural habitat'. Many people find excitement from watching animals getting attacked, eaten, or any other horrific act that many can simply deduce as 'the circle of life'. These scenes are terrible and horrific for the animals involved; but presenting it gives the viewer some sort of pleasure. When communicating we often try to make our text 'exciting'. We tend to focus on the beautiful and offensive because it is an easy way to make what your writing seem interesting. While ecoporn is a term specific to nature and the inhuman; it represents how viewers tend to portray most concepts.

When exploiting women for pleasure on screen; people often call it the male gaze. Many believe that media is consumed with representing masculinity and exploiting women for their sexuality. Many believe that media is centralized around the enjoyment of the 'typical' man; which in itself is offensive to both genders. This concept made me think about how this concept could be broadened to include other categories as well. That our literature and media is tailored for the enjoyment of the human audience. A silly concept; but interesting when considering how he limit our selves intellectually. Perhaps by considering this as writers we can learn to think of our subjects in terms of what they are instead of how we enjoy them.