In typical adults, face inversion impairs sensitivity to the direction of gaze, as indicated by higher thresholds for discriminating between leftward and rightward gaze for inverted faces than for upright faces. This effect appears to be driven primarily by the inversion of the eyes. When the orientation of the eye region (including eyebrows, eyelids, and part of the bridge of the nose) and that of the outer face context are manipulated independently, inversion of the eye region impairs sensitivity to the direction of gaze to a similar extent whether the face context is upright or inverted. Also, typical adults’ ability to discriminate small differences in the direction of gaze is equal for full faces and for eyes isolated by occluding all but the visible surface of the eyeball (the palpebral fissure) and the lower eyelid, and is equally impaired when these stimuli are inverted. These results suggest the importance of visual cues in and around the palpebral fissure, as viewed in an upright orientation.