Male Gaze

During the late 1900s there was much talk about the male gaze. Many writers, sculptures, and painters have done some type of work rearguing women and their role in the male dominating world. In a nut shell, the male gaze is basically men portraying women as only objects of pleasure. As stated in "Ways of seeing", by John Berger, "Thus she turns herself into an object- and most particularly an object of vision: a sight." (Berger, 47) This comes to show how belittled women were back then, and how even after all these years with feminism erupting, the male gaze is still strong. We say that we have feminism, and how women have equal rights, yet when it comes down to important roles that require leadership, the women are laughed at. Through all the years women have come to empower each other, and prove themselves worthy, they are still not taken seriously. The men, on the other side of the spectrum, have no desire in trying to fight on the women's side because they enjoy their dominance. Why are women not capable of doing anything? Because from the beginning of time men have declared that they can not, and it stuck to the next generation to the next. It is not fair that women get treated this way before they even have a chance to show their worth. There are women out there who are brilliant than many men, but because they are women they are not taken into consideration. "Presence for a woman is so intrinsic to her person that men tend to think of it as an almost physical emanation." (Berger, 46) Men have grown accustom to women that they barely even notice they are there, especially when they are fully clothed. They can take care of themselves and that is the only thing that matters to them, and just see women for pleasure.

Patriarchy, as stated by Bell Hooks, "is the single most life threatening social disease." (Hooks, 17) Which basically describes everything that comes with patriarchy. The idea that men have dominance, and how women should not be educated or have any leadership roles is completely irrational. Do men have much small confidence in themselves that they can not let women challenge them? Are men really threatened by women for them to act this way for many years? On a feminist point of view, yes  to both questions. On the male side, they view it as how the world is supposed to work; men view patriarchy as the law. Through readings from John Berger, and Bell Hooks, I have come to the realization that art has a double standard. Due to all the talk about how women should not be taken seriously, when a serious woman artist comes around they take her for granted; therefore, her work is not appreciated- hence no female artists. On the other hand, sometimes we should not blame society for women being inferior, because maybe there are no great women artists because in fact, there are no great women artists. "Feminist movement is the only struggle for justice that emphasizes the need to end patriarchy." (Hook, 27) After all these years not many people are trying to end the idea of patriarchy. In Bell Hook's, Understanding Patriarchy, she stated, "As their daughter I was taught that it was my role to serve, to be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake and nurture others." (Hook, 18) Which speaks volumes, because that is in fact how many children were raised, and sadly, are still being raised. There are many countries even in the 21st Century, who still have patriarchy as their law. After slavery, everyone who was against it tried to not bring it up, and gave everyone an equal chance. But when it came down to patriarchy, not many stood up. Between 4500 and 2000 BCE, signs of patriarchy erupted. It all started in the Neolithic era, when men and women realized they could produce offsprings. Men became defensive over their families, and women just had to worry about barring children. This is when the issue started to rise. Women back then were content with men doing all the work because all they had to do was sit home all day and take care of their family, but in 1848 things took a turn. Technology started increasing, more jobs opened up, and women became tired of sitting at home all day. They wanted change, and the best way to get this change was to fight to have the same rights as men. They deemed it unfair for men to vote, work, and take on leadership roles, while women sat home all day. So that is when the feminist movement began. Maybe years from now when men say women have qual rights as them, they will eventually mean it.