The Male Gaze Interrupts a Lingerie Fashion Shoot

While filming a new video in Rome for lingerie brand Isosceles, filmmaker Amy Gwatkin—who was heading up a small, all-female team—noticed a man watching them from a distance, changing position, returning. "When he came too close we asked him, politely, to please move along," the London-based director explains. "Even without speaking much Italian, it was clear how his protests, which started out defensive, became petulant; then very quickly outright abusive." Gwatkin made a record of his unsolicited comments––"Don't worry girls, I won't do anything to you", was one––and you can read a full transcript below. The encounter sheds a harsh light on the male gaze and on masculine entitlement concerning the female body—demonstrating the risks that women face in authoring and protecting themselves amid a potentially dangerous world. "It left us all a bit shaken and angry," Gwatkin says, "But I was very pleased to appropriate and re-record his words with Camilila Lacobotti, our make-up artist, who had the perfect voice for it. "We didn't let this derail the rest of the day," she continues, "but there was a certain irony in this encounter. Among the first images I exchanged with Cicely (the designer and creative force behind Isosceles Lingerie) were one of a girl flashing her pants in a fountain in Paris by Roy Stuart. Something about the joyful interplay between exhibitionist and voyeur in his work seemed ideal for the shoot in Rome. But this incident brought into focus the differe