Patriarchy and the male gaze go hand in hand. In fact, the male gaze is a subdivision of the different forms that patriarchy come in. Both exclude and negatively impact women. The male gaze in the world of art and media are the visuals of women in the point of view of heterosexual (and usually white men) for the purpose of presenting women as objects and for male pleasure. This empowers men and degrades and objectifies the woman. Her desires and feelings are less important than her frame for the male desire. In other words, woman is the spectacle and man is the viewer. John Berger simply states that "Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at" (Ways of Seeing, 47). It further explains how women are depicted in art. Women are the focus in art specifically when nude. Not only are women the focus but specifically their bodies are and how they appear to the male viewer. Women tend to be naked in art while the men are fully clothed. In the 'Luncheon on the Grass' oil painting, the woman is completely naked in a park with two men as the men engage in a conversation and the woman is just there naked, looking at the viewer as if she is a statement piece in the painting. She is naked solely for the purpose of the male pleasure of looking at her body. There are paintings of women as well where they have a mirror, while being naked of course, and are sometimes looking into the mirror or just holding it and still looking at the male viewer. Below in the 'Vanity' painting by Memling, the title says it all. Berger points out "You painted a naked woman because you enjoyed looking at her. Put a mirror in her hand and call it Vanity, condemning the woman whose nakedness you depicted for your own pleasure" (Ways of Seeing, 51). The nudity is there for the artist's own pleasure yet he's calling the woman vain. And she's not even looking at herself, she's looking at the male viewer instead of the mirror in her hand so how can she be vain when she is still looking away from herself? It is almost as if he puts the blame on the woman to justify his desire. Modern manifestations of the male gaze are ever prevalent in today's media, especially in fashion. Everything from clothing to fragrance ads are sexualized with the woman looking seductively into the camera and or nude or nearly close to it. And the photographer was a male, just a guess. This shows that even today, the male gaze is heavily embedded in western society and that is it still believed that women are objects for the males' pleasure, weather people want to accept and admit it or not. Sadly it is as if society has not progressed as much as it should when it comes to the male gaze.
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| Vanity, Hans Memling c. 1485 |
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| The Luncheon on the Grass, 1862-1863 |
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bell hooks makes understanding patriarchy pretty self explanatory. She says it's a "political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everyone and everything
deemed weal, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak to maintain that dominance". It is the ultimate oppressor of women it limits them from doing what they want . Everything is within the rules that the man makes, what he allows. Patriarchy begins at home and this is important to know because it shapes and molds what little boys and girls believe is expected of them as hooks recalls "My brother was taught that his role was to be served, provide, be strong, think, strategize, plan and refuse to care or nurture others. I was taught it wasn't proper for a female to be violent, it was unnatural" (hooks, 18). Hooks is a feminist but she wasn't taught those ideas as a child. She grew up in a patriarchal household where those things were taught over and over again, instilling her mind with these ideals. And this not only affected her but also her brother. Her brother was not tough and violent but rather on the '"feminine" side of the spectrum (or what society calls feminine). An example of someone who challenges the stereotypes of what a female is capable of is Ronda Rousey. She is a female mixed martial artist who is strong, violent, and has a muscular body. Patriarchal society says that women should delicate and fragile. Rousey is a strong built woman who is muscular and is anything but fragile and dainty.
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| Ronda Rousy |
With this being said, patriarchal ideals are passed down from generations to generations and is not just a 'women's issue' but also a male issue as well. I have personally seen when men are deemed as weak if they show emotion, care for others, and god forbid if a woman gives them rules, they are dubbed as being "whipped". But when a woman followers the rulers of her husband she is seen as obedient and staying in her place. My stepfather gets that said to him all the times and his friends joke about it but it's to say that my mother controls him because he treats her as his equal in terms of power and decision making in the household and everyday life. Remarks like this teach and remind me that it is going to take a long time, hard work, and persistence to change these demeaning and unfair patriarchal ideals.
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