Meaning:

Short for “男性凝视” (nánxìng níngshì), this term is translated from its English equivalent “male gaze.” British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey described the concept of the “male gaze” in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” In the article, Mulvey explained the way that mainstream media objectifies women, showing the female body through a heterosexual male lens as a passive non-actor secondary to the active male characters. This concept extends from film to any medium in which women are portrayed as well as, generally, to their experience in real life. Essentially, the male gaze sees the female body as something for the heterosexual male (or patriarchal society as a whole) to watch, conquer, and possess and use to further their goals.

Example:

A: 你在泰国玩得开心吗？

Nǐ zài tàiguó wán de kāixīn ma？

Did you enjoy your time in Thailand?

B: 还行吧，就是男凝挺严重的，穿着泳装在海边总感觉到被盯着看。

Háixíng ba，jiùshì nánníng tǐng yánzhòng de，chuān zhe yǒngzhuāng zài hǎibiān zǒng gǎnjué dào bèi dīng zhe kàn。

It was alright, although the issue of the male gaze was prominent. I frequently felt uncomfortable being stared at in my swimsuit while at the seaside.