Jonathan Rico
09/27/2017
The male gaze. It has been around since the middle ages and continues to lurk even today in everyday life. Generally speaking, the male gaze refers to the depicting of women from a masculine point of view, as to objectify them. John Berger, however, in his novel “Ways of seeing,” he breaks it down as, “Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at” (47). Berger argues that we live in a society where looking and objectifying women has become the norm. Even though this book was written over 40 years ago, we can still see that it has not changed much in our society. In fact, some may argue that it has become even worse. This is evident when Berger states, “You painted a women because you enjoyed looking at her…..first and foremost, a sight” (51). This is evident in many paintings that were made during the renaissance. Many of the women were painted nude because the men gained pleasure from it. They would be objectified and be in positions that made them look exposed and almost vulnerable. It also shows how men made the women in the paintings look at themselves almost to demoralize, or show them that they are objects.
In modern times, the male gaze is apparent in everyday life and is used in almost every industry. For example, there are billboards with half naked women on almost every main highway and usually they are used to advertise a service or company. It is persuasive in art today because it appeals to the masses. When women are depicted in art our society views them as “beautiful,” or “classy.” These are labels that are given so the people just go with it. When it comes to popular culture, the male gaze is present in almost everything. For example, on television all commercials feature women who are deemed as attractive. They do this so men will find the female attractive and associate them with the product they are advertising. An example of this would be in the movie industry. Almost all movies have a lead actress who is very attractive so it appeals to men to go and see it. Another example would be companies such as Victoria's Secret, which depicts attractive women with revealing clothes on. They appeal to women by making them lust how they look and want to be just like them. It attracts males because when they see these women they “want” them, as to objectify them.
Patriarchy can be defined as a society or government in which men hold the power, while the women are largely excluded. According to bell, patriarcy is a, “political-social system that insists that men are inherently dominating, and superior to everyone and everything deemed weak, especially women”(18). This is seen in our past as well as our modern times that we live in today. For example, our country was founded on the principles that men had all of the power while the women listened and did not hold any of it. The purpose of the women was to stay home and watch the house and kids while the man does all of the work. In modern times, patriarchy still occurs when it comes to leaders of countries. The majority of leaders are males due to the fact that people do not want a women in charge because they believe they won’t be seen as “powerful.” Berger also thinks society teaches kids to, “believe that their dominator of women”(27). This shows how the male gaze isn’t inherently in men, but that it is taught at a young age and it develops as they get older.
I have come to learn about the male gaze after reading the definitions as well as seeing examples of it in everyday life. From billboards to movies, it is apparent and continues to show in most of advertising. When I used to see commercials on tv I would not think anything of it, but now that I understand the male gaze I can see the strategies they use to try and entice people to use their products by displaying attractive women. When I look at various artworks I now have a new perspective on what the meaning or underlying message was. I have also come to see how patriarchal the world is by how little women there are in power. Most of the time it is not because they are under qualified it is because the people do not want to be seen as “weak.” These patriarchal ideas are subtly taught to children at a young age and according to Berger, are “brainwashed” into believing it.
Links:
http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486
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