After reviewing the reading Ways of
Seeing by John Berger and other writers, "male gaze" is
essentially various forms of art of women focused on fulfilling the pleasure
and standards of men. This term is almost like a masculine lens in which women
and works of art involving women are filtered and defined in accordance to male
perspective and it results in women and how they are represented in art to not
be their true authentic selves. In the text Ways of Seeing it
states, "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 ling under such tutelage
within such limited space."(Berger, 46). This quote further develops the
idea of men's standards of women not allowing them to be anything outside of
their "confined space" because a woman's presence can only be defined
by what a man makes of her and her diligence of her "limited space".
This is pervasive in art and popular culture because unfortunately most art and
popular culture is being "managed" by men who do not care about authentic
representation of women and mainly focus of satisfying and encouraging the
sexist desires of other men and even other women who conform to the standards
of the "male gaze". In the film Wonder Woman, there was a lot of criticism towards the hero’s
fighting outfit (armor) because she was defeating evil and fighting battles in a mini-skirt and tight metallic corset top.
Wonder Woman is one of the most powerful beings in the universe according to
the DC World yet she is sexualized to please male viewers and feed their egos.
It’s like her being “sexy” cancels out the fact that she is a woman with an
extreme amount of power. Her outfit could’ve been more suitable to comfort and
aid her when fighting; however, sexualizing her armor was a bigger priority due
to the pleasure laid out by the “male gaze”.
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| This is an image of Wonder Woman in her armor. It is included to show how uncomfortable it must be to fight and defeat evil in a mini-skirt and metal tight-suit. It is relevant to my argument because women of power do not have to be sexualized to satisfied the male audience. |
In
chapter two of the book, The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and
Love, author Bell Hooks expresses that the term "patriarchy"
is a political-social system in which persists in giving males complete
dominance over others considered "weak" (women) by any means
including violence and psychological abuse. One of the main and most concerning
aspects of "patriarchy" is that its practiced in almost every entity
of life. In the text, Hooks uses psychotherapist John Bradshaw's quote which
states, "Patriarchal rules still govern most of the world's religious,
school systems and family systems."(Hooks, 23). This quote demonstrates
how "patriarchy" is in some way or another part of everyone's life
and how this system has been persistent and very much present for many years
(considering how long religion has been around). The author shared how her
own father and religion have shown how oppressive and instilled this is system
was in her life and as I was reading this chapter I got to thinking about my
own experience with the structure of this horrible system and I was honestly
appalled. I grew up with two very open-minded and carefree parents who never
really pushed me to comply to the "rules" in which patriarchy demands
but I truly came to understand what "patriarchy" was when I school
and professional settings. I have always been somewhat passionate when it came
to “graded work” because I like things done correctly and in the best way
possible but when I pushed people to strive and work harder I was considered
“bossy” and “annoying” while my male peers who did the same were considered
“leaders” and “motivational”.
The terms “male gaze”
and “patriarchy” are in some level intertwined because the idea of patriarchy
involves allowing men to act and be the ultimate “superior” being; therefore,
it is “justified” when they interpret women in art in forms that adhere to his
and other men’s desires rather than the true notion of women. Which is why it is
important to talk about how the media represents women in power in television and
films. When I watched The Devil Wear’s Prada and The Wolf of Wall Street, both
films had intense, demanding bosses with ridiculous requests and unusual
business methods and behaviors but only one of them is considered “the B word” and it is not the one who committed a federal crime .
Women in positions of power threaten the idea of men being “superior” and of
them being in “complete dominance”; therefore, labels like “bossy” and “the B
word” discourages and shame women from those positions.
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| This is an image of Miranda, editor-in-Chief of a famous fashion magazine in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. It is included to show how a woman in her position is viewed in society. She is a powerful and professional woman who gets labeled as "mean" and "the B word" when if a man were to act like her he would just be a "determined" and "firm" boss. Works Cited |
Berger, John, and Michael Dibb. Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series Directed by Michael Dibb. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2008.
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