Mohan Prasat
Professor Cacilo
Art and Women
2/10/20
Male Gaze and Patriarchy
The influence of the male gaze can be observed throughout literary pieces over the course of centuries to the modern world we live in today. To understand the male gaze requires the understanding of the way women are impacted by its effect; the way it has been used to suppress, control, and sexualize the image of women. The male gaze is used as a tool of control in the way it has used image, one of a woman's "self", and added a sexual connotation that can directly be associated with creating an environment which in turn victimizes women while satisfying the pleasure of a male view of what a woman should be.
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| Marilyn Monroe, River of No Return |
The male gaze can be observed in popular culture across generations. As pictured to the left, many icons such as Marilyn Monroe's roll in movies can be observed as playing into the male gaze. This can be depicted by the men surrounding her are staring at her beauty as she is frolicking yet there's a sexual presence added just by staring in that manner.
Patriarchy is another perspective which oppresses women and can be observed not only in literature but can be seen in the real world as well. Patriarchy focuses on the perspective which men maintain and control power in all aspects of society from control in the household to control over entire societies.
Gloria Jean Watkins is a famous feminist author whose writing portrays that which depicts and reveals the influence of concepts such as the male gaze and patriarchy within a society. She is quoted writing, "Patriarchy has no gender" (Watkins). This is one of her most famous sayings because it attempts to reveal the perspective to the reader that not only are women suppressed and victimized in a patriarchal society but men are affected too. This can be further interpreted to show that men and women have created roles in which they live their lives to fulfill these societal roles whether it undermines their own values in order to satisfy the image they are expected to fulfill.
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| Margot Robbie and Leonardo Dicaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street |
Popular culture depicts the effects of living in a patriarchal society, especially in box office cinemas where movies such as The Wolf of Wall Street have become hits. Margot Robbie plays the role of a blonde bombshell wife who is oversexualized while Leonardo Dicaprio acts as a financial shark which pulls him into an unforeseen mass of riches. Leonardo Dicaprio is played out as a financial shark who spends all his time at work and partying while having little connection to home and Margot Robbie plays the role of a woman who can seemingly do whatever she wants because of her attractive looks and is able to control men through sexual captivation. This can be best observed in the picture above which can be depicted as Margot Robbie's ability to control Leonardo Dicaprio through sexual captivation.
John Berger is another author who reveals and depicts the influence of the male gaze and patriarchy in his works. He is quoted claiming "A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually by her own image of herself" (Berger). An analysis of this would reveal that he is speaking on the fact that women are faced with living to conform to a certain image, an image that has been created by the male gaze. Women are victimized in the way they live in a society and environment which attempts to sexualize and exploit them all for the satisfaction of men.
Hooks, Bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. , 2010. Print
Berger, John, and Michael Dibb. Ways of Seeing. London: BBC Enterprises, 1972.
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