Male Gaze and the influence of Patriarchy

John Berger is a artist that acknowledges the theory of male gaze, which is a heterosexual perspective that represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of male viewers. The male gaze presence influences women to constantly look at themselves in the mirror to make sure their appearance will satisfy male viewers opinion on their beauty. The way a women looks in art is emotionless, their feelings, attitude, and opinions don't matter unless her presence is desired. Berger asserts, "To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men"(46). This quote by Berger presents women as a possession controlled by men, instead of a human being with equal rights and opportunity. The identity of a women is developed within the confines of her father or male partner, because the presence or beauty of women is the most important way to demonstrate relevance. Another important belief by Berger is how male gaze illustrates," One might simplify this by saying: Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determination not only most relations between men and women but also the relations of women to themselves. The surveyors of women in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object and most particularly an object of vision, a sight"(47). These stereotypes reflect all women as sex objects that need to be desired by men and give them no real identity other than ways they appear nude. The judgement of the male gaze features nudity, because many artist were painting or photographing women nude. The nudity of women gives off more sex appeal to male viewers and a sight of pleasure. Most artist at this time were male and women nude was more popular than other styles of art. Although nudity is considered art, this creates insecurities for other women, because they might not look or appear like the women in the art that are considered beautiful. The male gaze believes only white woman are beautiful and never features any female of color as desirable.

https://norabyrne.com/blog/2013/03/16/my-male-gaze




 Understanding patriarchy

Patriarchy is the system in society that the father or eldest male is the leader or in charge of the family and has more authority over the other members in the family. This idea believes that men hold more power over women, because the male is superior in physical strength. In a patriarchal society the father is the breadwinner, who works and provides for his family and the wife is the housewife that take care of their children. Patriarchy is present in other aspects of life, gender roles are assigned to society for women to fulfill the needs of men. The objectification of women in art is first the reflection, and then a continuation of the male gaze. In this text "Understanding Patriarchy," the author illustrates," Men who have heard and know the word usually associate it with women's liberation, with feminism, and therefore dismiss it as irrelevant to their own experiences. This quote explains how a males perspective on patriarchy is seen as extraneous, because women  want to feel the satisfaction of equality in society. Patriarchy impacts the male gaze which invokes sexual objects for women that gives men the ability to be in control. The male gaze objectifies women and empowers men to treat females as objects or less than human.