This summer, I got cultural whiplash.

As a child of the ’90s and early 2000s, I grew up with my mother’s and grandmother’s generations’ fight for legal and workplace equality helping shed social misogyny.

In the past decade in particular, I saw the evidence of progress in my media diet. The movies, shows, books and advertisements I consumed were increasingly giving women a seat at the table. Heroin chic fell away, and body positivity entered the fashion world. Stories about a woman stealing your man were traded for celebration of the “girl’s girl” who resisted the competition for men’s attention.

And when my husband and I got married earlier this year, our vision of what our life could be included wide-ranging possibilities, influenced in part by the movies and shows we grew up with. We saw, read and listened to stories of involved fathers, successful mothers and well-matched partners who supported one another.

It seemed like women were taking a deeper breath without such heavy cultural restrictions.

Then there was a shift.

Was it around the 2024 presidential election? Or since the overturn of Roe v. Wade? Maybe when men’s rights activists pushed back against #MeToo? Whatever the catalyst, a change in the political environment seemed to connect with a social change that brought back narrow, and at times constrictive, ideas of womanhood depicted in media.

The recent rise of weight loss medications coincided with social media influencers sharing ways to get smaller and no longer celebrating bodies of all sizes. Advertisements followed suit, making men’s desire once again a dominating factor in how stories are told, and how women are portrayed.

How had these discarded ideas made their way back into circulation? Didn’t we all agree we were through with them?

The culprit, I have learned, is the male gaze. It was always there, but now it has stepped back into the spotlight.

Flapper fashion of the 1920s transitions to accentuated waists and feminine shapes of the ’30s. Photo Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN/Getty Images

Back to the male perspective

The male gaze came roaring back this summer.

American Eagle –– whose partner brand Aerie has been known for marketing underwear to women with imagery that celebrated stretch marks, cellulite and a range of body sizes –– ran a controversial ad campaign starting in July. The ads sell jeans to women featuring actor Sydney Sweeney, who many men see as a sex symbol, insinuating the clothing would make men find them more attractive.

Then there was e.l.f. Beauty’s campaign led by a comedian infamous for domestic violence jokes and disdain of a primarily female audience.