Quote:
"What is the female gaze? And why is it that I don't like differentiating myself as a woman? Could it be that over the years I have been told time and time again in convoluted ways that I needed to 'fit in' and suppress my female essence while on set with more than 200 men? Have I been cutting myself and my female voice short in order to succeed in this very male-dominated industry? For the first time I will openly admit, I believe for many years I have been dimming my female qualities while financing, writing, shooting, editing and even releasing films, because I wanted to keep making movies and thought being female might be seen as a weakness. I now, however, see it as a strength. This might have come with experience and age, but it might have also come with all the support I feel around the current celebration of women in film. [...] The female gaze offers a unique perspective on human beings. Women see the world differently than men. How exciting is that?"
-- April Mullen

Source:
Mullen, April. "How being called a 'female filmmaker' helped me understand the future of cinema: The director of the forthcoming Below Her Mouth on how the press' recent focus on her gender made her newly consider the female gaze." Talkhouse, April 26, 2017.