Post #1: Male Gaze & Patriarchy

Ami Shah
Professor Caçoilo
Art & Women
Male Gaze & Patriarchy Post #1
11 February 2020


As seen throughout various existing media outlets, the concept of the male gaze is utilized in order to perpetuate the notion that men are the sole reason behind every decision a woman makes. In “Ways of Seeing”, author John Berger explains, “The ‘ideal’ spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him” (Berger, 64). This clarifies the belief behind the male gaze as it claims that women must actively work to satisfy all men to their liking because their opinion and judgement is more valuable than that of their own. The male gaze essentially holds women to a certain standard that is deemed pleasurable for men, but has no regard for women and the way they would like to be seen.

 

Venus and Musician (1550)

This can be depicted through many forms of art, film, television, and literature where women are illustrated in ways that are oftentimes exaggerated and sexualized. For example, in Titian’s Venus and Musician, Venus is portrayed laying naked on a bed as she is turned away from the musician that is watching her. There is much relevance in the placement of their general direction and position as Venus is turned away from the man while the latter has his attention fixed on her nude body and away from the instrument he is playing. In addition, the nudity in the painting is also important since Venus is the only one who is naked. The musician, on the other hand, is fully clothed in dark colors, completely mute. This disparity represents the power dynamic between men and women as it alludes to the idea that women are submissive and fragile while men are strong and influential. It also advances Berger’s assertion of men being seen as the “ideal spectator” since the musician is looking directly at her body while he is not even in Venus’ direct line of vision.

Berger also goes on to explain how the male gaze has the ability to affect women and the way they perceive themselves and their surroundings as a result of it. He writes, “A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually” (Berger, 46). This describes how women, regardless of the situation they are in, are accustomed to being cautious of the way they act and present themselves. Society has ingrained in them ideologies, such as the male gaze, that ultimately condition women to be aware of how they are viewed by others.

The male gaze also plays a vital role in maintaining patriarchy and its hierarchical system. In “The Will to Change”, author Bell Hooks explains, “Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed 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 fundamentally holds men over women and allows for this system to be implemented and exerted by any means necessary, including violence. This, however, is only exclusive to men because women who express anger or force would be considered “unnatural”, “bitchy”, and “rude”.

Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

An example of such can be seen through the portrayal of women in film and cinema. For instance, in the film The Wolf of Wall Street, Margot Robbie’s character, Naomi, is seen as a sex symbol throughout the entirety of the movie and an accessory to the film’s male protagonist rather than her own character. Almost all of the women in this film are viewed as such and expected to be perceived in a negative way. For instance, even though the main character, Jordan Belfort, continuously abuses and cheats on his wife, the audience is meant to feel bad for him once Naomi leaves. As a result, her character is reduced to phrases such as “sex-crazy” and “gold-digger” despite the fact that the protagonist himself was a horrible person. In the film, he had no regard for the women he used, yet he was still made to be sympathized with. In comparison to the women in the film, their characters were very one-dimensional and were heavily objectified. The women in the film were made to be looked down upon for their jobs and appearance, while the men pitied and supported even though they were abusive and toxic individuals.

The male gaze supports patriarchy by holding the man to a higher degree than women. This essentially allows for men to have a more powerful status compared to women and makes their judgement the basis for how women should view themselves and others. Ultimately, they make women dependent on men and furthers the disparity between how men and women are valued.

Works Cited

1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation, 1972.

2. Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Washington Square Press, 2005.

3. Landau, Erin. “Misogyny in This Month's Hottest Film.” Bustle, Bustle, 17 Dec. 2013, www.bustle.com/articles/10767-the-wolf-of-wall-street-is-the-years-most-misogynist-blockbuster.