The portrait “vanity’ emphasizes how the woman is admiring her beauty and seeing herself as a sight, according to Berger.
The male gaze has become pervasive in art and popular culture because it remained constant since the middle ages till the current day. Women are still perceived as an objects for pleasure through the current media, magazine and television. For example, it’s represented through the encouragement of unnecessary beauty rituals. Women are constantly told that they have to remove their body hair, wear makeup or lose weight to satisfy societal expectations. Further, “She is not naked as she is. She is naked as the spectator sees her.” (Berger, 50). So men enjoy looking at naked women to serve their sense of pleasure and nothing else. Consequently, it encourages women to view their bodies as an instrument to please men.
Male gaze is a form of our patriarchal society. Patriarchy was another issue found in this period. According to Bell Hooks, Patriarchy is defined as “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.”(18). Patriarchy illustrates the societal expectations of how females should be submissive to males. Also indicates that males have the power of authority. Consequently, females are struggling in modifying the gender roles created by not only males but society as a whole. For example, women have been taught to be housewives by obeying male figures, raising the children, and maintaining the household. While men was known to be the breadwinner. Also women were denied the rights to education and the rights to vote. Men were also seen as stronger emotionally, physically and mentally than women. Hooks also stated that, “Although we were often confused, we knew one fact for certain: we could not be and act the way we wanted to, doing what we felt like.” (19). so patriarchy has created a dominant gender roles. It controlled the way men and women should act and behave. For example, men shouldn’t express feelings except anger while women aren’t supposed to express anger.
This illustration is an example of women taking action and claiming they can also be patriotic as men.
Patriarchy and male gaze have changed over time but still exist and affect our current society. We see these structures in our daily life. After discussing this in lectures, I believe this can be applied to my life in some aspects. For example, I have been taught that girls shouldn’t go out at late timing, they should be back home early and they shouldn’t laugh out loud in public. While my brother was able to go out at any time and do anything he wants freely without any restrictions. Further, patriarchy and the male gaze go hand in hand as they created the glass ceiling. It’s the barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the top regardless of their qualifications. For example, the elections in 2016 as many people didn’t agree with Trump but they rejected the idea of a woman being a president and being in charge. Therefore, they elected him. Berger mentioned that they are “brainwashed” into believing theses patriarchal concepts since a young age.
Laura Mulvey introduced the term “female gaze” to challenge the uses of filmmaking known as the male gaze. She emphasized the disparity of power in film controlled by the male gaze. The female gaze represents the female as the viewer along with their desires which empowers women.
Work cited
1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. 1972. Print.
2. Hooks, Bell. "Understanding Patriarchy." The Will to Change. Atria Books: 2004.
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