Male Gaze and Patriarchy

Rupi Kuar poem from her book Milk and Honey

The male gaze is more than heterosexual men viewing women for their pleasure and sexual desires, it is the destructive behavior that enforces the female gender to undergo unrealistic awareness and  perceptions of their own self. John Berger discusses the social presence of man vs. woman in his book, Ways of Seeing. For centuries and in modern time, men have been expected to have an overwhelming powerful presence that attributes to their physical, sexual and social power they hold among the genders. And while being an all powerful being seems to be an advantage, the male presence overshadows the importance of the presence of women, and subduing them to being “taught and persuaded to survey herself continually.” (Berger 46).  This mentality can be also simply be understood by this line, “men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.” (Berger 47). In all forms of media, women are almost always the center of the piece posed sexually, possibly nude for the pleasure to the male eyes. This ancient way of thinking is pervasive in our art and popular culture, simply because of how long it has been implemented into societies globally. The overwhelming amount of societies which unintentionally and without reason, place men in a higher power will not see the issue of the male gaze and its effects on women. 

Defined in bell hooks’ book,  The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love, Patriarchy is said to be “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 ruler over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence” (Hooks 18). Many males and females do not realize the issue of inequality among the gender, and prefer to adhere to the standards of society and continue judging women based on their appearance versus their intelligence, capability and emotional/physical strength. My presence online exposed me to sexist media and as well as medias that fight for equality among men and women. Actress, Ellen Page, became a person I admired when she came out at a Human Rights conference as she gave a speech. Her presence on social is focused on informing her followers about the struggle women have against men and especially men in Hollywood. http://time.com/5015204/harvey-weinstein-scandal/ Rupi Kaur, an Indian born Canadian poet, is also another woman that has taught me that women’s bodies are not for the male gaze. Her poems and artwork are based on love, heartbreak, and the beauty of women. The messages to women she writes and draws about is very similar to the mindset of Berger who believes women are not just for the male gaze. The mindset I have on the sexualization of women and patriarchy has changed since women such as Ellen Page and Rupi Kaur fight for a difference and to bring awareness to women that we should not stand for the entitlement men believe they have. In recent experiences, informing men about my sexual orientation, bisexual, result in their questioning about my sexual experiences with both men and women and my willingness to take part in “bisexual” activities. I have even been told that I have not had proper sexual experiences with men, which lead me to finding women attractive. After being educated on the topic and becoming aware and empowered, being a victim to street harassment, as many women are, puts the issue women are dealing with into a different perspective.

Rupi Kuar poem from her book Milk and Honey

Rupi Kuar poem from her book Milk and Honey

                                                                        Works Cited

Berger, John, Sven Blomberg, Chris Fox, Michael Dibb, and Richard Hollis. Ways of Seeing., 1973. Print.

Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Washington Square Press, 2005.