The Male Gaze is pervasive both in art and in popular culture. According to John Berger in Ways of Seeing, the male gaze is described as the way men view women. Berger asserts that “to be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men” (Berger, 46). Berger expounds on the relationship between the “surveyor” and the “surveyed” - men are the former and women are the latter. Berger expounds on such statements by stating that “men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at … The surveyor of woman 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). Men view women and as a result, act as surveyors objectifying the surveyed.
The Male Gaze is pervasive in art and popular culture because “the ‘ideal’ spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him” (Berger, 64). Berger references the presence of nude women in European oil paintings and the state of the women as nude is what allows them to be judged as sights. American Apparel advertisements serve as a testament to the objectification of women for men’s pleasure.
In a back to school campaign, an image of a woman dressed in a skirt bears a resemblance to a girl who wears a uniform. Many argued that American Apparel’s ad alluded to a Lolita complex as the photographed woman is made to appear young and hyper-sexualized.
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| American Apparel Back to School Ad, 2014 |
In another ad, a woman is dressed in a bodysuit and thigh highs and is photographed in numerous compromising positions. The poses are suggestive and are intended to attract attention from an assumed male spectator.
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| American Apparel Bodysuits and Thigh-Highs Ad, 2013 |
A third ad captures a woman wearing only leggings who is in bed staring seductively at the surveyor who is assumed to be male. Berger shares a sentiment in regard to certain paintings and photographs that is incredibly apropos when considering American Apparel's ads, "It is the expression of a woman responding with calculated charm to the man whom she imagines looking at her ... She is offering up her femininity as the surveyed" (Berger, 55).
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| American Apparel Legging Ad, 2012 |
The Male Gaze is as ubiquitous as it is, in part, due to our Patriarchal society. Bell Hooks, in The Will to Change, defines Patriarchy as “a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females …” (Hooks, 18). Moreover, patriarchy relates to males assuming control over females. Hooks recounts being drawn to playing marbles as a child - she exhibited more masculine qualities, aggression and competitiveness, qualities her brother “lacked” according to assumed gender norms. Because of this, she was consequently corrected by her father. Hooks contends that both females and males alike are affected by such stringent sex roles; an article titled “Patriarchy and How It Shows Up for Everyone” heightens on this.
An example of a patriarchal society is on the show Mad Men - the show is centered around Madison Avenue advertisement firms and the powerful men that head them. Males dominate females and women are to be subservient to their male counterparts. Patriarchy and its presence at work are evident in this clip from an episode; as the two female characters attempt to present a pantyhose product to a male audience, they are met with a lack of seriousness and belittled with sexual innuendo in regard to the product. In doing so, the men asserted dominion further over the women.
Men are able to assert dominion over women today by catcalling - almost all women have experiences with such unwanted attention. I remember an instance from when I went to Catholic school and wore a uniform. There was an instance in which a man said something inappropriate about me in my uniform; after I did not acknowledge what the man said, he became irritated and said something to the effect of all women being the same. I remember feeling embarrassed and violated because of the interaction and realizing that most individuals who cat-call don't consider how such attention affects females.
The Male Gaze and Patriarchy are structures that are so ever-present in society that I did not think about it until discussing it in class. Becoming familiar with it now, it seems difficult to come across advertisements or media that fails to include certain aspects of either the male gaze or patriarchy. This understanding has changed my views about various art and media examples; the objectification of women has always been apparent but it seems to take a different form in conjunction with the notion of a patriarchal society that actively seeks to treat women as second-class citizens. These notions make one consider how we are actively contributing to the perpetuation of such structures, sometimes without realizing it.
The Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Perfume commercial truly illustrates both notions of the Male Gaze and Patriarchy as the commercial delineates the world being “a man’s world”. I remember seeing this commercial a few years ago and not thinking much of it beyond Keira Knightley looking beautiful and her power over the man in it. Being exposed to readings about the Male Gaze and Patriarchy redefine what the commercial is about to me; although Keira holds power over the male, her power is questioned as she is still viewed as an object to the man and the song stating that it’s a man’s world further emphasizes this.
Works 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 (17-33). Atria Books: 2004.
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