Male Gaze and Patriarchy

The male gaze, described by John Berger in Ways of Seeing, is a certain way men view women in paintings or cinema. In other words, it depicts women from a masculine point of view, which presents them as objects of male pleasure. The women pose while the men spectate. The female characters often feel controlled in these situations, as they should, because it is making them out to look as if they are some kind of toys for men to look at for their own pleasure, but they are much more than that. It is as if all men care about is a women’s body and nothing else. Berger goes on to say that “A man’s presence is dependent upon the promise of power which he embodies. If the promise is large and credible his presence is striking. If it is small or incredible, he is found to have little presence. The promised power may be moral, physical, temperamental, economic, social, sexual—but its object is always exterior to the man” (Berger, 45). Here Berger explains how the social presence of a woman differs from that of a man and how a man’s presence can suggest what he is capable of doing to you or for you. He goes on to explain how a women’s presence is defined by what can and cannot be done to her. This goes to show how men and women were once viewed in the middle ages. Men were viewed as the dominant power while women were viewed as a passive object. In addition, Berger says that “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” (Berger, 47). This quote is the perfect description for how women were portrayed. They would pose for the camera or painting, solely for the purpose to be looked at by men. Berger is basically saying that women appear and try to look beautiful for the pleasure to be looked at by men. Sadly, this is an ongoing issue in society even today, which is why male gaze is still pervasive in art and in popular culture.

In the words of Bell Hooks, Patriarchy is defined as “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 and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence” (Hooks, 18). In other words, patriarchy is when males hold the authority and primary power over females. Sounds familiar, right? That’s because it still exists today! Women are still being disrespected and constantly joked about when in reality they probably do twice as much work as men do while facing ten times as much discrimination in the process. They are still being joked on and said things like “women only belong in the kitchen” when in reality they are starting to take over the world. Bell Hooks goes on and describes her childhood and the things she experienced involving patriarchy. She said “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 others. 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 or nurture others” (Hooks, 18). Girls were looked as the ones who were sweet and caring while the boys would be portrayed as the strong ones who don’t need anyone’s caring. A story that really stood out to me about Hooks childhood was when she would play marbles with her little brother as a kid, and it would really tick off her dad because of how things didn’t go the way he wanted it to. “One evening my brother was given permission by Dad to bring out the tin of marbles. I announced my desire to play and was told by my brother that “girls did not play with marbles,” that it was a boy’s game. This made no sense to my four-or five-year-old mind, and I insisted on my right to play by picking up marbles and sharing them. Dad intervened to tell me to stop. I did not listen. His voice grew louder and louder. Then suddenly he snatched me up, broke a board from our screen door, and began to beat me with it, telling me, “You’re just a little girl. When I tell you something, I mean for you to do it” (Hooks, 20). This scene was really important because it describes patriarchy perfectly. She got beat by her dad for playing marbles because that’s not what girls are “supposed” to do. She was playing aggressive and violent like a boy is supposed to. Girls can’t be aggressive, they have to be sweet and caring in their dads and most dad’s eyes. When I was a kid I would always hang out with my cousin (she was my age and a girl) and we would always play with toys. I was into toy cars and nerf guns, so I would always bring them over to her house and we would always play with them together. She had a Barbie dollhouse that her parents bought her that she barely touched. Her mom would get mad that she wouldn’t play with like all the other girls would. The moral of the story is that we as a society assign gender roles for everything when in we are all humans who could just have their own preferences. It’s like the idea of everyone thinking that girls should play with dolls and boys should wear blue. Everyone doesn’t have to be alike.

                As I’ve gotten older, I have gotten a much better understanding of these structures because growing up I had the mindset too that girls are supposed to play with girls and boys are supposed to play with boys. Later on, I learned that girls can wear boy clothes and it is okay for a guy to cook and clean. Today I have a whole new mindset and understanding of how the male gaze and patriarchy impacted lives, and reading these two articles really made me learn a lot about a subject I didn’t have much knowledge about to begin with.

This shows patriarchy because it shows the man standing alone, who is portrayed as the head of the household on one side, and then the women and children on the other.

This is an ad trying to convince people to go vegetarian, but the main focus is on the girl because it would be appealing to the male eye and get their attention.


Links

https://everydayfeminism.com/2013/05/patriarchy-and-how-it-shows-up-for-everyone/

https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486


Works Cited

Berger, J., & Dibb, M. (2008). Ways of seeing: Based on the BBC television series directed by Michael Dibb. London: British Broadcasting Corporation. 

Hooks, B. (2005). The will to change: Men, masculinity, and love. New York: Washington Square Press.