In John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, the male gaze is
described as the surveying of women. Men are perceived as dominate figures,
while women are seen as objects for men. Berger explains this by describing the
roles genders play in presence. A man’s presence in art usually suggests his
power and what he is capable of (Berger, 46). On the other hand, a woman’s
presence conveys the complete opposite. A woman’s presence in art expresses
what can and cannot be done to her (Berger, 46). To summarize his idea, Berger
states:
“One might simplify
this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women
watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations
between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The
surveyor of women in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns
herself into an object – and most particularly an object of vision: a sight”
(Berger, 47).
Here Berger is
expressing that men are always the intended audience. A man’s presence is not
intended for the opposite sex, like a woman’s. A woman’s presence only serves
as a form of entertainment for men. Male gaze has had such an influence that
even when women look at themselves they consider the gaze. They look at themselves
through the eyes of a male viewer. In essence, they tend to objectify
themselves because the male gaze holds so much weight. This is pervasive in art
and in popular culture because women are used as sexual objects to gain the
attention of the male viewer. With the use of social media, it is more evident
today more than ever. The male gaze has dictated how women are portrayed. As a
male, I see advertisements, posts, pictures, etc. using woman as a tool to grab
a male’s attention. It can be an ad for male jeans and there would still be an
attractive woman somewhere in the picture. This is because a male would much
rather view an attractive woman in the advertisement accompanied by the jeans
than just a male model posing with the jeans on. They would also be more likely
to buy the jeans because they would associate the jeans with being able to get
an attractive woman like the advertisement displayed. Another example, a social
media account with sexy, raunchy photographs of a woman will tend to have more
followers than an account belonging to a very conservative dressing woman. Why
is this? This is because of the male gaze. The sexier photos are more appealing
to the male viewer. This also leads to women posting more of these sexy photos
in an effort to receive more likes and followers. Each post is meant to appeal
to the male gaze.
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| Guess Jeans Summer 2010 |
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| Kim Kardashian West Instagram Selfie |
Patriarchy as described by Bell
Hooks in Understanding Patriarchy, is
the social disease that suggests males are born with the expectations to be
dominant and superior to females. To express the severity of patriarchy, the
text states: “the single most
life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body spirit in our nation”
(Hooks, 17).
In an effort to
describe this, Hooks uses the childhood experiences of her and her brother
being raised by parents who believe in patriarchy. Due to patriarchy, they were
raised with a “predetermined gendered script” (Hooks, 19). This was the idea
and belief that boys were to do certain things that only boys were supposed to
do, and girls were to do certain things that only girls were supposed to do. Hooks
goes on to provide multiple examples of how she wanted to do things like play
with marbles, but gets punished by her father because “girls don’t play with
marbles” (Hook, 20). Patriarchy predetermines what a child is allowed and not
allowed to do because of their gender. The self-interest of the child does not
matter when patriarchy is in place. Hooks described the idea of patriarchy in a
unique way. One would assume that she would write in about patriarchy and it’s
negative effect on women because she is a woman, but she decided to write about
the harm it causes to men. After reading about her experiences as a child,
Hooks suggests that patriarchy is physiologically harmful to a young boy’s
development. This is because the boy is forced to suppress emotions, unlike a
girl. The boy is taught to be strong and aggressive, so this forces them to
suppress any feelings that do not compliment these traits. By doing so they are
forcing pain upon themselves, which leads to traumatization (Hooks, 22). Using
herself and her brother as an example, Hooks goes on to prove that the two both
desired to do things that patriarchy did not allow them to do because of their
genders. Their parents forced the children to do certain activities even though
the children wanted to do the opposite. Due to patriarchy, children can be
traumatized during their developmental stages, which can lead to identity
issues later on in life. I would personally agree with Hooks. From birth I was
always taught and suggested the “proper” gender roles. It starts from the day
you are born. If you are a boy, everything you are given is blue. If you are a
girl, everything you are given is pink. The preference of the child is not
considered. What if a young boy prefers the color pink? This boy would
immediately be told that is not a color for a boy; pink is girl’s color.
Teasing and punishment could even follow this. Patriarchy does not go away
either as one matures. As a male I am expected to be the man of the house, the
provider for my family, and the protector as well. The woman is expected to be
nurturer, chef, and maid of the household. The forced pressure can damage
someone physiologically. What if the man wants to take care of the children and
do laundry while the woman works doing construction during the day? Patriarchy
takes away one’s preference and desires by forcing one to live up to society’s
expectations solely based on gender. People should be able to do what they
please, no matter what gender.
With
my new understanding of male gaze and patriarchy, I see that various art and
media are heavily influenced by these structures. It is not obvious until one
understands these structures. The idea that “sex sells” is a product of the
male gaze. When men are the intended audience, men are powerful figures, and
women are placed as weak objects to be dominated by the male imagination. Women
simply do not hold the same presence as men in art and media. Why not? This is
because of patriarchy, the structure that society has created. Men are superior
and women are objects placed there for entertainment. Each gender is assigned
certain roles and it is always expected that they are to follow these roles. I
feel somewhat guilty because I expect these things too. From birth I was always
taught to stay within the confined space of my gender role and to do what “boys
do” all the time. When looking at various art and media I look at everything
with a male gaze because it is the only gaze I know. This is what “boys do.” I
believe these structures should be discussed and taught more to the youth.
Maybe with more awareness, these structures will promote a change in popular
culture. As a society we objectify women on multiple levels of media, and
rarely ever objectify men. This unequal treatment needs to be brought up more
often and popular culture needs to shift away from patriarchy and objectify
both genders equally if need be.
Article on patriarchy
Work Cited:
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. 1972.
Hooks, Bell. "Understanding Patriarchy." 2004. The Will to Change. New York: Atria Books. 2004.
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