The male gaze has been a controversial topic that has touched populations every where. It is not a gaze that can be escaped, it is a gaze that is found at every door, around every corner, and every turn. Women, in the eyes of society, have succumbed to no longer being regarded as a person but rather as an object; an object to be viewed, gawked at, and judged.
Women have been molded into delivering pleasure, “she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman,” (Berger, 46). In saying this Bergen implies to his audience that women serve one purpose, and that is to please the surveyor. She must know who is surveying her that way she can then mold herself to be the best version of herself for that surveyor.
Berger goes on to describe the new meaning that ‘nudes’ have taken on. Nudes no longer just depict naked bodies, but rather depict sexuality, and seductiveness. The first introduction to nudity was through Adam and Eve; however, Adam and Eve portrayed nakedness at that time, not nudity. It was after eating the forbidden apple, “they became aware of being naked because, as a result…each saw the other differently. Nakedness was created in the mind of the beholder,” (Berger 48). From that point forward, seeing the female body held a different connotation. Her nakedness no longer illustrated nakedness but rather nudity, a picture made for the male gaze, a picture made to be awed at, gawked at, and admired. The woman from then on, was always aware that she was being watched, and ogled at. When illustrated she is always depicted looking at the spectator, even if there is a man in the illustration with her, her purpose is to please her audience, and the surveyor, not the man along side her in the illustration.
As we can see in the above image, what Berger says comes to life, where the woman in the portrait pays no attention to her surroundings tin the painting but rather focuses all of her attention on the surveyor, the male gazing at her.
In the picture to right we see the depiction of Adam and Eve; the start of the nude revelation.
Without art the male gaze would have never become as pervasive as it is today. Art has created the male gaze, it has created the female body to be molded into what the male spectator wants to see. It is artists, directors, producers, etc that have made the male gaze as prominent as it is today.
Furthermore, not only has the idea of the male gaze given a prominent take on art, but so has patriarchy. Although the word patriarchy is not thrown around as much as say ‘feminism,’ it is a word that holds a lot of meaning in the world we live in today. Our man based society, is the reason why women are belittled and thought less of, “psychological patriarchy is the dynamic between those qualities deemed “masculine” and “feminine” in which half of our human traits are exalted while the other half is devalued,” (Hooks, 32,33). In this quote Hooks is bringing to his audience’s attention the issue that patriarchy brings to not only a society but to the psychological level of that society, in which patriarchy cannot be escaped, for it is within the mind that we humans predetermine what is masculine and what is feminine and what should be elevated and praised versus what should be detracted. The idea of patriarchy has taken over not only art but media as well; movies, dramas, reality shows, all center around the male dominance, and female compliance. The article puts into one’s perspective the role patriarchy plays in one’s own life. Personally, in my household, my father holds all the dominance, what he says, goes…and that is how it has always been, nor has it been questioned. Quite frankly, our household runs relatively smoothly through this lifestyle, therefore we have never questioned it. It is the fact that we have become so accustomed to this type of patriarchal lifestyle that anything else is “weird” to us; we just aren't used to it and anything different makes us feel uncomfortable.
The important role of patriarchy is what has driven the male gaze to being as substantial as it is today. The value we give to men, men’s opinions, men’s approval is what drives our everyday actions. We can see movies nowadays such as Fifty Shades of Grey, how Anastasia Steele is objectified by Christian Grey. The movie portrays Anna as an object, a beautiful object, with an outstanding body. There are a million scenes that just emphasize her body, because this is what the audience wants to see; whether that audience be male dominant or female dominant, the woman’s body drags the most attention. Christian Grey treats Anna as an object first, rather than a woman; an object he can do what he must with. It isn't till he overcome his demons that he finally sees Anastasia as a woman he can love, not just use.
Although the male gaze does seem to be an idea that our society of 2018 has evolved from, we have yet to come too far from it.
Works Cited:
http://waysofseeingwaysofseeing.com/ways-of-seeing-john-berger-5.7.pdf
Berger, John, and Michael Dibb. Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series Directed by Michael Dibb. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2008.
https://imaginenoborders.org/pdf/zines/UnderstandingPatriarchy.pdf
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