Quote:
"Against mainstream cinema's positioning of women as passive objects of an aggressive male gaze, I've Heard the Mermaids Singing is a film that places female 'looking' at its centre."
-- Brenda Austin-Smith

Source:
Austin-Smith, Brenda. "Gender Is Irrelevant: I've Heard the Mermaids Singing as Women's Cinema." In Canada's Best Features: Critical Essays on 15 Canadian Films, edited by Eugene P. Walz. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2002. (pp. 224-225)