In John Berger’s Ways of Seeing he discusses
a concept we know as Male Gaze. The basic definition would that it consist of the
way us as men view woman. Throughout his article he uses plenty of examples
within contemporary art or real life and connects them with the minds of the
audience. He considers it to be an exchange or vibe of power with the men being
labeled the “surveyor” and the women being labeled as the “surveyed”. It is said that women in way are forced to
know that they are being viewed in a certain aspect, many times women tend to
feel uncomfortable as well while being looked at in a certain way. The shift of tension can be related to a
concept described by Bell Hooks. He in fact also describes patriarchy as “a
political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating,
superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females” (Hooks, 18).
In today’s society, pop culture, and even on social media women are constantly
exposed to the world. On a daily basis female celebrities are in the spotlight,
idolized by young individuals and being hounded by men attracted to the beauty
of this person. Some even display themselves within magazines or videos; the
beauty and star power behind these women is so appealing it does nothing but
just spread more and more making the female the primary object or subject of
attention. Some industry artist such as Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian, or Rihanna are
idolized by the globe by young fans including young men. Why do these young men
idolize them? Because their beauty. One thing about a male is when beauty comes
across our path we become in a mesmerized state where we only focus on that one
thing our eyes are laid on.
John Berger states in “Ways of Seeing” “A woman
must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her
own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is
weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself
walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded
to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and
the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of
her identity as a woman. She has to survey everything she is and everything she
does because how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is
normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in
herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another....”
(Berger,46). Towards the end of this quotation it says how “what is normally
thought as success” meaning women appear to be okay with men staring at them
all day at all times but in reality deep within feel uncomfortable. The
industry knows for a fact that beautiful women are the primary target in ads or
commercials and they take advantage of these methods. They know that men enjoy
looking at women at all times throughout the day which is why in advertisements
companies try as hard as they can to make the females look as sensual or
seductive as they can. It is a great tactic of playing both sides of the field
to attract more potential buyers and consumers. Another factor that has been
described would be that women often receive their confidence by the feedback
they receive and how they are viewed. Depending on how they are judged results
in the way they carry themselves. If you think of it, when cameraman do
photo shoots sometimes they exploit things or say things to the subject to try
and get that perfect picture. Anything industry wise would be considered as
business male gazes. They consider “patriarchy” as basically the one in charge.
The dominant role, but gender roles are also tied in by Bell Hooks as well. A question
is always raised whether women can take on the role of a man if they are not
present, from a personal experience I have seen it happen where women get the
job done even better than male individuals. But the way women are looked at it
confuses the mind into thinking they can’t. In reality, woman have been
degraded in many aspects due to the ongoing judgment that we have that women
cannot do anything for themselves. Even just a simple stare makes women feel
that they are less in power.
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