Throughout history, it is evident that males in society have
always been looked upon as leaders, the most intellectual beings, powerful, and
more. Therefore, they have been prominent figures who have exerted power over females
by objectifying and sexualizing them. This is not just a statement being made,
it is a fact, people have been exposed to these beliefs of male authority/
power all their life. Evidence can be found through media, art, music, film/cinema,
literature, even in our daily lives; in society. This ideology has such an impact
in history that terms such as male gaze and patriarchy have been coined to depict
this male behavior in society. Authors such
as John Berger and Bell Hooks have taken their time to educate individuals on the
terms “Male Gaze” and “Patriarchy”, in order to educate people on inappropriate
behaviors/views and how they have been normalized in the past. The theory of “Male
Gaze” was introduced in 1975, by a feminist named Laura Mulvey, to analyze how
women were portrayed as an object and were sexualized in the film industry by male
directors/ producers. These females are written as a character to give pleasure
to the male observer due to the phallocentric societal views. Laura Mulvey
expresses, “in their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked
as and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic
impact”, which represents the theory that men play the part of looking and
women are to be looked at.
English
painter, writer, and poet, John Berger like Laura Mulvey, specifically expresses
this theory of “Male Gaze” in his work Ways of Seeing published 1972, however,
he applies it to historical Fine Arts paintings rather than film. Berger
states, “Men act, and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves
being looked at” (Berger, 47), like Mulvey, Berger describes the women to be
sight. She is viewed as an object rather than a person with her own beliefs,
which one can compare to treatment of women in classical Greece, mentioned in
the Guerrilla Girls, “Greece was a rigidly stratified society, consisting of
citizens, freemen, dependents... only men could be citizens… even wives of
citizens were not important enough to be counted in censuses in most of ancient
world”, in a sense for men they women were not looked upon as a individual human
being, rather they were just an object used to stay at home and clean. They were
not relevant enough to be considered part of the population. Berger uses his
writing to induce the theory of male gaze from art to the real world. He defines
“Male Gaze” as men objectifying and sexualizing women through nude paintings to
pleas themselves.
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| Rokevy Venus, Diego Velazquez, c.1964-51 |
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| Vanity, Memling, 1435-1439 |
In, Ways
of Seeing, John Berger emphasis the idea that male objectifying women has
come from the European culture. In most European oil paintings women were
painted looking into a mirror, in a sense depicting the painting as a way of the
women admiring her beauty by looking at herself, calling this painting a
Vanity. When is reality Berger stresses, “ Painted a naked woman because you
enjoyed looking at her, you put a mirror in her hand and you called the
painting Vanity, thus morally condemning the woman whose nakedness you
had depicted for your own pleasure” (Berger, 51). Theses paintings in European
tradition were purposely used for “Male Gaze”, using a woman as a object to be
looked as dehumanizing her by painting her naked so men can find pleasure by
looking at her and many other women at the time as a object. The emphasis is
seen on European culture through paintings only, because Berger describes that
non-European art works like Mochica Pottery represent sexuality for both parties,
male and female, the women as active as the man, both working together as one while
being naked (Berger, 53). John Berger makes it evident the European Traditions
downgraded women, and made men look superior to them in every shape and form. Rather
women are to be gazed upon through a masculine point of view (male perspective)
which is why paintings focused on the curves and female parts of a feminine
body which depicts women as eye candy for male viewers.
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| Mochica Pottery, Peru |
Furthermore,
although male gaze depicts women as being gazed at in a male perspective
through art and film, one can does not assume it is right for these things to
be done. The idea that male artists and producers are portraying women in such
a manner, fortifies the concept of a patriarchal society. This concept of patriarchy
works together with the theory of Male Gaze to strengthen male power over
women. It portrays men as the leader who should not be questioned. American feminist
author, Gloria Jean Watkins, known as Bell Hooks, is well known for describing
this concept and its impact on society throughout time. In her work, The Will
to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love, she defines Patriarchy as a “political-social
system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to
everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females” (Hooks, 18). The role
of women in this type of society, men were made to rule everything on earth, women
are just to assist men on what they need, they are to listen to his guidelines
and follow them, becoming a subordinate to the man. This idea has been presented
to children as of a young age, through their family culture, literature, education
in which male figures are always the heroes, conquerors, explorers, etc., and
most importantly religion. Throughout time, human beings have looked upon
religion to show them the way to a successful life. The readings of the Bible are
one of the major indications which represent men as the most powerful beings,
women are to care for children and serve. Through this society men are entitled
to dominate women; it represents women as weak and submissive.
However,
the patriarchy not only affects women, but people of any gender: men, trans, non-binary,
etc. because it forces beings to follow the social norms that if you are born a
man you are to act like one and dress like one and same goes for women. This idea
that someone’s gender makes you seem as less powerful or credible comes from
the ideas placed from the Patriarchal concept, which leads to discrimination
and harassment towards these individuals. Bell Hooks, goes as far as to say “Patriarchy
demands of men that they become and remain emotional cripples. Since it is a
system that denies men full access to their freedom of will, it is difficult for
a male of any class to rebel against patriarchy” (Hooks, 27). Men are also
being restrained from living the life they want because if they do not want to
conform to those ideals they are looked upon as weak, which is associated with femininity.
Even if a male tries to be kind, not only men bring them down, but women as
well. Many women in today's society view a man as weak if they show their
emotions, they don’t associate them as being masculine enough.
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| Magic Mike, Film, 2012 |
Furthermore,
due to all these invasive concepts/theories, there has been a great change in
today's society to try and end this way of thinking. In art and media, the perception
of female gaze has sprung up to represent a female’s perspective. Unlike male
gaze being used in a way to objectify women through their views, the “Female
Gaze’ is a way for women to show the world how women see something which does
not necessarily involve objectifying/ sexualizing a male. Many might argue that
it is a way for women to find pleasure, for instance movies like Magic Mike,
viewing a male’s body to satisfy themselves, however it doesn’t directly focus
on those ideas. Most films that represent males shirtless are actually produced
or directed by males themselves. The majority of the time the male’s physical
aspects represents strength and power. Female gaze is about showing the world
how women see themselves through other people. It is to show the world other
views that are true other than that of a male perspective which has been
embedded in societies brains from childbirth. A great representation would be
in Mad Men, Season 1 Episode 2, “Ladies Room”, from the time 39:40 to 40:12 we
see the character of a women, Peggy Olson watching male staff from the job looking
at her through her eyes (in a female lens). We see that she is not looked upon
as colleague, but rather as a sexual feminine body, a desire for men. Throughout,
the show we see Peggy face many obstacles, but never backs down from fighting
off these male barriers in the workplace.
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| Peggy Olsen, Mad Men, 2007 |
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| Mad Men, Series, 2007 |
Cites
Berger, John. Ways of
Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation, 1972.
Hooks, Bell. The Will
to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Washington Square Press, 2005.
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Print.
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Print.
Links:
https://www.asu.edu/courses/fms504/total-readings/mulvey-visualpleasure.pdf
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