Female Flânerie and Transition from a Fetishized Object to an Observer-Subject: A Case Study on Cleo from 5 to 7

The perceptual experience of the male stroller (Flâneur), as the paradigm of the perceptual experience of modernity, is often regarded as a model to analyze the perceptual experience of the film's spectator. However, despite the fact that for many years flânerie was considered to be essentially a masculine act, in the late nineteenth century women tried to gain their place as a spectator moving through urban spaces. By referring and rereading texts and artworks of this period, it is possible to retrace the presence of female stroller (Flâneuse) in the modern city. Demonstrating the existence of a type of female flânerie, these rereadings reveal the contrast of perceiving the essence of the modern city by female flânerie with that of masculine flânerie. Exploring the manner of the emergence of women in the modern city and the consequent process of female flânerie, the present study attempts to establish the characteristics of Flâneuse and illustrate its differences with male flânerie. By focusing on Cleo from 5 to 7, a film directed by Agnès Varda, this article tries to recognize the qualitative features of female flânerie and investigate female subjective interaction with urban spaces during the process of flânerie. In Cleo from 5 to 7, this process leads to removal of the Cleo’s gender-oriented image, aids her to achieve a new understanding of her identity, and prepares the ground for her to play a crucial role in reconstruction and reconfiguration of the perceptual experience of urban modernity. This research proposes that the focus on the Flâneuse's perceptual characteristics could be helpful in challenging the dominant attitudes that consider cinematic perception and cinematic look essentially as a masculine act.