About

He Is The Female Gaze, also known as Confidence Is Key is a catchphrase used to refer to a series of viral videos featuring TikToker @strangek3vin. The user went viral in November 2022 after several female creators duetted his videos, dubbing their attraction to him as "the female gaze." The series of videos then kicked off a viral debate on TikTok and Twitter about the supposedly incorrect use of the slang term "female gaze" and whether @strangek3vin embodies it.

Origin

The term "male gaze" as coined by film theorist Laura Mulvey is the act of depicting women in a way that panders to a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents women as sexual objects solely for the pleasure of the heterosexual male viewer.^[9] In recent years, the term "female gaze" has also become popularized as a term to describe the depiction of women from a non-cis-heteronormative perspective. ^[10]

On November 10th, 2022, TikToker^[1] @strangek3vin posted a video showing two different styles of acting, gathering over 26 million plays and 3.7 million likes in nearly 18 days (seen below, left). The video received a widely favorable response, with comments commending Kevin for his "unspoken rizz." The video was also duetted by various creators, the earliest known viral instance of which was posted on November 10th by TikToker^[2] @devthebug, gathering over 1 million plays and 100,000 likes in nearly 18 days as well (seen below, right).

Spread

On November 15th, 2022, TikToker^[3] @starsinmyeeyes33 posted a video saying "this man understands the female gaze a little too well," gathering 2.6 million plays and 160,000 likes in nearly two weeks (seen below, left). On November 18th, TikToker^[4] @mrs_pep posted a video where she says, "He is the female gaze." Her video gathered over 2.6 million plays and over 200,000 likes in five days (seen below, right).

The videos soon began to receive criticism from people with detracting opinions, with Twitter^[5] user @gothamshitty posting a screenshot of the aforementioned @mrs_pep TikTok video alongside a caption that read, "I can’t do this anymore god please take me." The post, uploaded on November 20th, gathered over 20,000 likes in over a week (seen below).

Also on November 20th, 2022, Twitter^[6] user @er_ique posted a screen recording of another TikTok complimenting @strangek3vin, alongside a caption that read, "I'm sorry I must not be a woman cuz this is the unsexiest video to me and lord knows I have questionable taste in white men but like….are the cishet girls ok." The post gathered nearly 4,000 likes in over a week (seen below).

I'm sorry I must not be a woman cuz this is the unsexiest video to me and lord knows I have questionable taste in white men but like….are the cishet girls ok pic.twitter.com/ptkdCWGj7n

— Jeanne fan account (@er_ique) November 20, 2022

Various TikTokers began criticizing the videos as well, resurfacing older @strangek3vin videos that were then accused of being misogynistic and homophobic. On November 23rd, TikToker^[7] @2u__4u posted a video of @strangek3vin being cringe on TikTok live, gathering over 200,000 plays and 45,000 likes in five days. On November 28th, TikToker^[8] @dojacatstolemyface posted a screen recording of a @strangek3vin video where he made fun of the LGBTQ+ community. The post gathered over 250,000 plays and 45,000 likes in less than 24 hours (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References