This document discusses Bell Hooks' concept of the "oppositional gaze". It summarizes that for Hooks, the gaze has historically been a site of political resistance for black women. As black women were objectified under white supremacist standards of beauty, developing an oppositional gaze allowed for black women to look back and assert their own subjecthood and agency. The document also reviews how independent black cinema has helped establish new representations that resist stereotypical portrayals and instead provide points of identification for black women.