Male Gaze & Patriarchy

            The prevalence of the male gaze has tenured itself as a fixture in society for centuries. As it stands and has stood, men rule society. Women are valued as they pertain to men; their appearance, actions, and even thoughts of themselves inherently revolve around how it will appear to their male counterparts.

            “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The social presence of women has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living under such tutelage within such a limited space. A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself,” says Jon Berger.

            Regarding the topic of the male gaze in art and media, if the subject is a woman, then the surveyor is the man. The work is meant to appeal to the man, and it will always be meant to appeal to the man intentionally or unintentionally. Therefore, the surveyor of the art or object is male and the subject, a woman, is the surveyed and is in turn, objectified.

                        It is human nature to look deeper into why women act the way they do. Maybe that is why they are so self conscious of their public image. Berger writes, “She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately 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,” (46) Hence, a woman’s self value is based on how she appears to men.

            This notion is the underlying theme found in nearly every work of art. Specifically, when talking about works of nudity we find the biggest sect between male and female. When a male is presented as the subject of a nude work, he is usually unassuming or confident and completely unaware that he is being surveyed. There is an innate confidence in the male physique.

            The woman, however, is much more aware of the presumably male surveyor. “To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself. In the average European oil painting of the nude the principal protagonist is never painted. He is the spectator in front of the picture and he is presumed to be a man.” (Berger, 54)

            He continues, “Everything is addressed to him. Everything must appear to be the result of his being there. It is for him that the figures have assumed their nudity. But he, by definition is a stranger with his clothes still on,” (54).

2003 Gucci Advertisement Shot by Mario Testino

           Tom Ford and Mario Testino teamed up for a highly controversial 2003 Gucci ad which epitomizes the presence of the male gaze. In the ad, a man is pulling down a female's underwear, only to reveal her pubic hair in the shape of a "G." The viewer could vicariously imagine himself as the man pulling down the woman's underwear, pleasantly surprised that his woman shaved herself to his liking.

          Another controversial ad is Alexander Wang's 2014 denim ad. In the photo, a woman is pictured pleasing herself with her brand new Wang jeans hanging off her waist. The photo puts the viewer in a voyeuristic position, getting a bird's eye view of a woman masturbating. One could even argue that the cropping suggests it could be anyone's hand down this woman's pants.

             

            

         

          Hip hop has become the universal popular music of choice. However, it is also a genre that is notorious for degrading women through music and its videos. 2 Chainz's "Birthday Song" is a video which exemplifies the patriarchal views in our society. In short, the video follows the rapper through his house. The song is all about men only wanting a big booty ho for their birthday, and the video is filled with big booty women in spandex shaking it for the rapper. A man shouldn't want anything but a well-endowed woman to shake it for them on his birthday.

      

           The patriarchy is not limited to male rappers. Although an affirmative feminist, Nicki Minaj has always found a way to contradict her feminist movement with songs and videos like "Anaconda." The song is all about her butt, but more importantly it's about using her butt to please the male species.

            The idea of the male gaze is only a subtopic in the grand scheme of inequality between men and women. This grand scheme is defined by the institution of patriarchy, embedded into the human race from the very beginning of time. In short, patriarchy is the belief that men are superior in every facet, and women are weak. Bell Hooks has a much more comprehensive definition of patriarchy.

            “Patriarchy is 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 through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence.” (Hooks, 18)

            Furthermore, she cites psychotherapist John Bradshaw who says “patriarchal rules still govern most of the world’s religious, school systems, and family systems…blind obedience – the foundation upon which patriarchy stands; the repression of all emotions except fear; the destruction of individual will power; and the repression of all emotions except fear; the destruction of individual willpower; and the repression of thinking whenever it departs from the authority figure’s way of thinking.” (23)

            The ideals of patriarchy coincide with the male gaze. As a male living in 2016, I find these readings to have an immense impact on the way I view things in daily life, social media in particular. I find the objectification of women to be incredibly easy when it comes to Instagram. I have certainly been around friends, scrolled explore page and found myself salivating over beautiful women, and scouring over unattractive ones.

            That inherent objectification is inevitable, because Instagram is the ultimate form of vanity. Women on Instagram more often than not use it as a tool to take pictures of themselves: when they wake up, when they pick their outfit, when they’re hanging with their friends, when they’ve just finished bathing and are in nothing but a towel, in their undergarments. This constant oversharing subjects the woman to objectification, whether it is art or not. And whether they know it or not, they are looking for gratification via likes, likely from men. They base their self-value on the amount of likes and equate that to their success in today’s society. 

Bibliography

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books. 1972. 

Print.

Hooks, Bell. "Understanding Patriarchy." 2004. The Will to Change. New York: Atria Books, 2004. 17-33. Print.