The Male Gaze & Patriarchy

In his book Ways of Seeing, John Berger states,“Women are depicted in quite a different way from men- not because the feminine is different than the masculine- but because the “ideal” spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the women is designed to flatter him”(Berger 64).  He also states that,”According to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome—men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.” Those quotes are describing what is called the male gaze. The male gaze is how men perceive women and then depict them in a light that may be somewhat degrading or revealing. During the Renaissance, majority of the painters and people enjoying the art were men. This was because women were housewives and were not allowed to do certain things like go out by themselves or create art. So when women were painted, usually because of their fathers or husbands wanting to show them off like trophies, their sexuality and femininity were captured.  When unmarried women were painted it was usually in a somewhat sexual and demeaning way. They were sat nude in an intimate setting and that added to the man’s power and the idea of his sexual prowess. Women were painted naked in all kinds of different and odd settings and women painters challenged this by painting other women in aggressive states, reclaiming their power. For example, they would be holding a knife or cutting something. The male gaze is still very pervasive today. This is because unfortunately, men still have a dominant role in society and media is still geared toward them.  For instance, companies will put a almost naked women on their commercials and in their advertisements to sell their products because “sex sells”. Today we see a lot of female artists, still less than men, that try to express just how powerful women can be. Some women artist even paint themselves and other women in the nude to  reclaim the power of the female body in it’s natural state. 

“Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone dreamed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence”(Hooks 18). Patriarchy gives men the power to control a woman’s body and her sexuality. It sets the standard that men always have to be strong and displaying their masculinity and that women always have to be fragile and displaying their femininity. Over the years, patriarchy has changed in the nature of control. The subjugation of women varies from one society to the other because of the differences in class, religion, location and race. In many cultures, women are still not allowed to drive, own or inherit property or receive an education. They are seen as property and are considered inferior to men in many ways. In the past, people believed that women were only suppose have children, then stay home with the children, and cook and clean while the man of the house works and pays all the bills. Today, men still get better jobs with higher pay. Unfortunately, some people still have this way of thinking. “As their daughter I was taught that it was my role to serve and be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake or nurture others. My brother was taught that it was his role to be served; to provide; to be strong; to think, to strategize and plan; and to refuse to caretake or nurture others. I was taught that was not proper for a female to be violent, that it was “unnatural”. My brother was taught that his value would be determined by his will to do violence”(Hooks 19). Little boys are raised that it is not okay to cry or show emotion because it’s not manly and they are ridiculed for not being good at physical activity by being compared to a girl. Little girls are raised to cross their legs, not burp or say vulgar things because it is not ‘lady-like.”

Understanding these structures: the male gaze and patriarchy, have definitely changed my views on art and also on society and my place, as a woman, in it. Now when I look at art, or even advertisements on the TV or in a magazine, I look for the male gaze. A lot of times I find the male gaze. Often, it is so subtle that I could barley tell. Regarding patriarchy, we live in a world dominated by men and women are still to this day struggling to find a place in it.