Patriachy and Male Gaze by Ayo Haruna

Post 1

Patriarchy and The Male Gaze

The article by John Berger and Bell Hooks talked about different topics but together the main theme surrounded around this idea of main dominance and the subjugation of women since early time in history till date. They both elaborate on how society is made up of strict rigid standards based on a system where women are seen lesser to man. Bell Hooks begins by touching upon the concept known as patriarchy. She defines patriarchy as the “single most life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body spirit in our nation” (Hooks 17). She talks about patriarchy as a political-social system that insist that males are inherently dominating and superior. Bell Hooks echoes the everyday life in society, she sheds light on how patriarchy is affecting women and even en to an extent around the world. Countries so hell-bent on patriarchy would rather see their male succeed than females. In some cultures, the boys are to attend school to be educated while the females are subjugated to the role of cleaning the house and learning what it is like to be a good housewife. Hooks draws from her early childhood where her father “beat her violently for playing with marbles” which was meant for her brother (Hooks 20). Reading about her experience was not surprising at all because of how society is structured when it comes to gender roles. The idea of challenging gender roles is always controversial which should not be because you would think we are at a point where this should not be an issue. In today’s society, Hooks sentiments are echoed and understood especially when one looks at a country like Saudi Arabia where women aren’t allowed to drive or cases in the Arab world where women are sometimes stoned to death for what is considered adultery or fornication. She also talks about the idea of feminism and why it is so important in bringing awareness and female empowerment to the society.

John Berger on the other hand focuses on what is known as the male-gaze which revolves around how women in artistic forms are depicted from the masculinity viewer perspective. He focuses on the difference in what is considered being naked and nude and how women are born into “confined spaces” in society. (Berger 46). According to Berger to be naked is to be simply without clothes, whereas the nude is a form of art. “To be naked he says is to be oneself” he says, and to be “nude is to be seen naked by others and not recognized for oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become a nude” (Berger 54). The male gaze objectifies the woman body in the painting or image he is looking at. The male possesses the power and sexualizes the female as if she belonged to him. John Berger also goes on to state that it is often rare that a woman’s attention in a picture is directed straight to her viewer. “She looks away from him or she looks out the picture towards the one who considers himself her true lover - the spectator owner” ( Berger 56). In this case, as she woman in the image looks away from the image, the male viewer feels powerful and inserts himself into the image as the owner of the object. Berger also defines the connection between the surveyor and the surveyed. Men survey women, they become the surveyor and the women in the image that is being objectified becomes the surveyed. He would go on to say men survey women before treating them which means the way a man treats a woman comes down to the way she appears to his taste.

He uses King Charles as a vivid example of how the female body is used to funnel male dominance in an artistic form where Charles and his guest become the surveyor and his naked mistress in the painting is the surveyed Charles the second commissioned a nude portrait of one of his mistresses Neil Gwynne. “It shows her passively looking at the spectator staring at her naked” (Berger 52). This painting was to show off so his guest could envy him and they could all look at her image and objectify her body. Berger would say she is submitted at the mercy of her spectator.

In today’s society we still see examples of the male gaze in the movies we watch or commercials shown on television. The biggest example to me is the controversy that surrounds women feeding their young babies in public. It is very much okay to sexualize the females boobs in images and videos and basically everything else but in the instant where it is used to feed an infant child then it becomes wrong and disgusting. The article by both John Berger and Bell Hooks highlights the double standard that is present when it comes to the female's body and Berger especially highlights that aspect of the female body and how it is perceived in art.

 Breastfeeding & The Sexualization of Boobs

https://goldentone.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/understanding-the-male-gaze-in-a-patriarchal-society/

Work Cited:




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.