The Male Gaze & Patriarchy Post

In John Berger's Way of Seeing, he dedicated pages 36 to 43 to the male gaze by filling the pages with numerous nude pictures of women. The images date back to old renaissance ages to more modern times. Berger opens chapter 3 by talking about the concept of presence and how it affects each gender. For the male gender, their presence demonstrates great power and capability. For the female gender, their presence flickers like a lingering flame, barely showing any potential at all. Berger defines the male gaze perfectly in the following passage:
        "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 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).
The male gaze aims to please its viewer. In most cases back then and still today, the viewer is male. This means many artworks displaying women will contain the male gaze. Why is this? It's because "sex sells". On the bottom left corner of page 41 in Berger's novel, there is a small image of a beautiful woman taking her top clothing off. Of course the woman's physical appearance is enough to interest the male viewer, but the photographer added even more of the male gaze if one pays attention to the details. Her stance is very important to the male gaze. The woman's bottom is facing more towards the camera indicating a somewhat submissive pose to the "gazer". To make matters worse, the way her eyes look encourages it as well. The photographer could have made her smile, look angry, look at herself, but instead, he made her look at something (most likely someone) which displays an attempt to be pleasing (to someone and not herself).

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie_53JapIwDsFZyThI0BVdqlaMfIlhLiMKJ5F-E5C1MDtVEWOZBemnJ6OfwI1P6PB-ibKgNSNy0RxSaJUVqbTNmPb4yLjVPw2qa2-MohgVtnjHtkYFAQ2hJemweAYugdqamle3LcqCDAs/s1600/kanye-west-amber-rose-vuitton.jpg

Exploitation of women's social standing and role still takes part today. For example, here is an image of popular icon Kanye West and his ex-girlfriend, Amber Rose. Despite Kanye's philosophies and "genius" ideas, this image clearly shows his views on gender roles. His look/pose shows a sense of ownership and pride while Amber's eyes are shut and submissive while she rests on Kanye. Of course there is the blatant obvious detail where Amber's head is (literally or almost) leaning on which screams out the existence of the male gaze.
For the most part, patriarchy is a system in which the male gender takes the leading role in a family/group. Bellhooks' definition goes into further details and implications. These implications include males being superior above all others and the right to dominate by numerous means, especially to women. One of Bellhooks' examples of patriarchy is one of her own.
"As their daughter I was taught that it was my role to serve, to be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake and nurture. My brother was taught that it was his role to be served; to provide;to be strong; to think, strategize, and plan; and to refuse to caretake and nurture others" (Bellhooks 18)                                                                                                                                          

http://i0.wp.com/www.avoiceformen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2013/11/Politics1.jpg?resize=750%2C420

Above, is an image of patriarchy. There are at least two women in this picture (one in the audience and one on the stage). The first obvious sign is that the majority are men. The second is the all the business figures on the "stage" except for the woman is wearing a tie. Although this is the current fashion for business women, the image clearly wants to separate her from the others (not to mention the fashion idea of women not wearing ties can be linked to possible patriarchy). The third and last sign to note is the business woman's stance. All the men have some kind of stance displaying authority and give a kind of "vibe" hinting they're contributing while the woman is slightly slouching and has her hands at her side or in her pockets more passively.
As a student in his early twenties, I frequently use the media multiple times a day whether it's television or the computer. I don't need to go over the numerous advertisements that appeal to the male gender or the numerous television shows/movies in which a woman needs to be rescued or helped. What is more current to me regarding patriarchy and the male gaze, is the internet. As someone who goes on Facebook everyday, I see numerous pictures being uploaded and shown on my newsfeed. I see the same male gaze and patriarchy in the images I see in my Art & Women class as I see in my newsfeed. While men take pictures of themselves showing how successful and powerful they are, women are taking pictures of themselves being "sexy" by showing off their best seductive smiles and bodies. The reason why both of these things still exist is because we still have the same general definition of what being "sexy" is. The world still feeds off of physical appearances (for centuries) and strongly believes that there's nothing wrong with it. When we finally change our views on it, only then can we tear down the walls of patriarchy and the male gaze.