Male Gaze/ Patriarchy

 

The Male gaze as described by John Berger is all about the power of men over women. In the words of Berger “ men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at…..she turns herself into an object - and most particularly an object of vision [to men]: a sight. (Berger, 47) Women are not allowed to dress sexy or show skin, yet the Renaissance paintings are full of naked women. Another negative double standard issue is that women could not paint during the Renaissance but men painted women. Berger states that “ In the art - form of the Europeans nude the painters and spectator-owners were usually men and the persons treated as objects, usually women. (Berger, 63) It is awful to see how men held the power in the art world of how women would appear in paintings and they judged it but women were just objects without a say, (another double standard), to think that a woman has no say so in her painting is sick. That is the male gaze to me and that is the male gaze beyond fantasizing woman as the object. The male gaze is extremely pervasive in art because it treats women as objects more than something that is to be glorified. Men painted women to be glorified, they were seen as objects but women couldn't be painters. Women had to be modest, but men drew them to be glorified, or for their selfish needs. Men have a lot of effect and power, but the lives of women have no effect. There is a power play that has nothing to do with women because of power play. There will always be a  vicious cycle, always accompanied by the site of herself. For example, in Susanna and the Elders painting by Tintoretto the woman is painted to be ashamed of herself, but her body is nakedly painted in a way that is appealing to the eye. The mirror is there for her to look at herself in a shameful manner, yet in the real story, she is the actual victim. 
According to Bell Hooks patriarchy is the 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) Hooks goes deeper and discusses the gender roles in her household and how patriarchy is derogatory for both men and women. Hooks explains that patriarchy was the system that left the rout of things. In service to patriarchy. We subconsciously play a patriarchal system. The issue of a patriarchal system has developed due to modern-day awareness. In the book Brave not Perfect the author states “Boys are taught to be brave, girls are taught to be perfect. “ brave not perfect- Reshma Saujani. This attitude of patriarchy is what has caused a disaster in society, especially in romantic relationships. However, I love how Hooks expresses how patriarchy cripples men, therefore her argument shows how feminism is not you vs. us thing but it's an issue that we all are all apart of. Some contemporary arguments would be how women play a part in patriarchy, they dress for men and would like to alter themselves for men. Now move producers would be challenged, because black woman superheroes are the end of cinemas.

The study of the male gaze has positioned me to be more open-minded, and it has expanded my level for art on a deeper level. As an African woman I used to just see Renaissance art everywhere and think of the catholic church and I just saw white pale skin, no woman that looked like me. All I saw was aesthetics and I did not really care.  For me to now understand the male gaze and the patriarchy behind Renaissance art has caused me to look at the paintings with a closer eye especially when I go to the Metropolitan Museum. I love learning about Mickalene Thomas and her drawing of black women. Learning about Tintoretto to Mickalene has allowed seeing the art profession in two completely different worlds which is blind blowing. 

Susanna and the Elders Tintoretto 1555

Mickalene Thomas: The Origin of the Universe

References:

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

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

I have included these art pieces to depict how far the oppression of women has come. We still have a long way to go, but we have come far. I wanted to see the timeline from the colors and aesthetics behind these images to show the growth.