Female Gaze and Counter-Gaze Mechanisms in Decision to Leave
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Female Gaze and Counter-Gaze Mechanisms in Decision to Leave

Jinhe Bai 1*
1 Chung-Ang University
*Corresponding author: baijinhe580@163.com
Published on 30 July 2025
Journal Cover
LNEP Vol.113
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-313-0
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-314-7
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Abstract

In recent years, feminist film theory has continued to reflect on the structures of the patriarchal gaze in mainstream cinema. This paper is based on Laura Mulvey’s theory of the "male gaze" and combines it with bell hooks’ concept of the "oppositional gaze". It examines the visual subjectivity and counter-gaze strategies of the female protagonist Song Seo-rae in Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave. Using close reading to analyze camera language, character dynamics and narrative architecture, we reveal how Song Seo-rae negotiates her subjectivity through the act of seeing under the condition of being seen. The research is centered around the following questions: whether women can truly look, and whether Song Seo-rae's gaze constitutes a challenge to the gaze system of patriarchal hierarchy. The findings indicate that her "counter-gaze" operates as performative empowerment. Her scopic sovereignty is consistently obedient to patriarchal narratives. Her scopic sovereignty is consistently obedient to patriarchal narratives. While it satisfies a male’s desires of her, it leads to her self-destructive endings. Decision to Leave thus articulates a complex, paradoxical feminist gaze praxis: one that simultaneously reinscribes patriarchal norms and lightens a female’s awakening and negotiation of gaze sovereignty.

Keywords:

Decision to Leave, Gaze and Counter-Gaze, Feminism

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Bai,J. (2025). Female Gaze and Counter-Gaze Mechanisms in Decision to Leave. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,113,1-7.

References

[1]. Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Screen, 16(3): 6–18.

[2]. Shaofang Zou. (2023). Gaze and counter-gaze: Female narratives in Park Chan-wook’s films. Contemporary Cinema.

[3]. Hooks, B. (2003). The oppositional gaze: Black female spectators. In A. Jones (Ed.) The feminism and visual culture reader. Routledge, pp.94-105.

[4]. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Vintage Books.

[5]. Jie Chen. (2024). Decision to Leave: A contemporary interpretation of Nora’s departure. Film Criticism, (419): 88–91.

[6]. Zhiyun Yang, Zhiqiang Ren. (2024). The ambiguity and its narrative elements in Decision to Leave. Journal of Korean-Chinese Cultural Studies, 84: 441-461.

[7]. Sartre, J.P. (1989). No Exit and Three Other Plays (S. Gilbert, Trans.). Vintage International.

[8]. de Lauretis, T. (1987). Technologies of gender: Essays on theory, film, and fiction. Indiana University Press.

[9]. Kaplan, E. A. (1983). Women and film: Both sides of the camera. Routledge.

[10]. de Beauvoir, S. (1949). The Second Sex. Paris: Gallimard.

[11]. Tania Modleski (2005). The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory. Routledge.

References

[1]. Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Screen, 16(3): 6–18.

[2]. Shaofang Zou. (2023). Gaze and counter-gaze: Female narratives in Park Chan-wook’s films. Contemporary Cinema.

[3]. Hooks, B. (2003). The oppositional gaze: Black female spectators. In A. Jones (Ed.) The feminism and visual culture reader. Routledge, pp.94-105.

[4]. Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). Vintage Books.

[5]. Jie Chen. (2024). Decision to Leave: A contemporary interpretation of Nora’s departure. Film Criticism, (419): 88–91.

[6]. Zhiyun Yang, Zhiqiang Ren. (2024). The ambiguity and its narrative elements in Decision to Leave. Journal of Korean-Chinese Cultural Studies, 84: 441-461.

[7]. Sartre, J.P. (1989). No Exit and Three Other Plays (S. Gilbert, Trans.). Vintage International.

[8]. de Lauretis, T. (1987). Technologies of gender: Essays on theory, film, and fiction. Indiana University Press.

[9]. Kaplan, E. A. (1983). Women and film: Both sides of the camera. Routledge.

[10]. de Beauvoir, S. (1949). The Second Sex. Paris: Gallimard.

[11]. Tania Modleski (2005). The Women Who Knew Too Much: Hitchcock and Feminist Theory. Routledge.

Cite this article

Bai,J. (2025). Female Gaze and Counter-Gaze Mechanisms in Decision to Leave. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,113,1-7.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICILLP 2025 Symposium: Psychological Perspectives on Teacher-Student Relationships in Educational Contexts

ISBN: 978-1-80590-313-0(Print) / 978-1-80590-314-7(Online)
Editor: Renuka Thakore, Abdullah Laghari
Conference website: https://2025.icillp.org/Nawabshah.html
Conference date: 17 October 2025
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.113
ISSN: 2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)

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