Scopophilia

=**Scopophilia**= toc

In psychoanalytic terms, the drive to look and the general pleasure of looking. Freud saw voyeurism ( the pleasure in looking without being seen) and exhibitionism ( the pleasure in being looked at) as the active and passive forms of scopophilia. The concept of Scopophilia has been important to psychoanalytic film theory in its emphasis on the relationship of pleasure and desire to the practice of looking. Scopophilia deals with looking at another as an erotic object, rather than a person. It deals with the male gaze, and how men take away from the woman when looking at her as an object; she loses herself and becomes an object for the male gaze. The male becomes extremely active in this role, where he begins to take away any power than the woman had by objectifying her and making her passive.

see Exhibitionism, Voyeurism

Examples in Visual Culture
Alfred Hitchcock's film " //Rear Window//" (1954)

**Sources**
Sturken, M. and Cartwright, L. (2001). //Practice of looking: an introduction to the visual Culture//. New York & London: Oxford University Press