There are many arguments still applicable to today’s society that suggest we still live in a man’s world so to speak. Although there have been strides made for women’s rights, there are still very obvious yet almost normalized ways in our society that caters to the patriarchal structure that has been put in place for generations. In John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing”, he discusses the male gaze historically in art which means that women were painted to appeal to men and to the painter, rather than as a woman herself. There were many statements he made using the images (‘Bacchus, Ceres and Cupid’ and ‘Nell Gwyne’) to express “This nakedness is not, however, an expression of her own feelings; it is a sign of her submission to the owner’s feelings or demands” (Berger 52). He used words such as ‘owner’ to express the painter’s position, and the people the paintings of naked women were made for were clearly men. The images of women laid out, naked, white, staring outside of the image regardless of the surroundings in it as discussed by Berger can very much be translated to how women are ‘represented’ in media today.
The male gaze is to say women are put in place for the pleasure of men, as if women’s bodies do not belong to them, rather to the spectator. Media is a huge platform of art and speech that reflects the ways of society. Focusing on American films in particular, this type of media showcases the ideology behind the male gaze so obviously it is almost normal. A quite recent film “The Wolf of Wall Street” plays on all aspects of hyper masculinity since the main character Leonardo Dicaprio uses money and wealth to gain power and women, yet it also caters to the male gaze. Scenes of fully clothed men having sex with completely naked women and Dicaprio’s trophy wife in the film being a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, thin white woman (Margot Robbie) caters to the white, male audience almost exclusively. Berger explains how the naked women in the images were also seen as most beautiful, most pleasurable to look at, and in films this is still prevalent in the way characters are made up with makeup and hair, the way they speak and ways they are dressed, or lack thereof.
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| Even in a scene of perceived submissiveness of the man (only to her legs wide open), she is made up to appeal to the male eye with her sultry gaze, stiletto heels, and overall oozing 'femininity'. https://thedissolve.com/features/one-year-later/855-one-year-later-the-wolf-of-wall-street/ |
Depending on genre, film depicts aspects of reality and fantasy rather universally since actresses and actors are selected to play these characters. The male gaze and the foundation of patriarchy it is based on is not only alive onscreen, but behind the scenes as well. From leading roles to directors, filmmakers, and even film reviewers are still areas that have more male than female positions. Upon looking for more information regarding women in film, an article from the Hollywood Reporter said, “Women comprised just 7 percent of all directors working on the top 250 domestic grossing films in 2016. That figure represents a decline of two percentage points from 2015’s 9 percent” which is less than 10% regardless! This was in 2016, just two years ago, which can also explain why the male gaze is still so prominent in onscreen images today. Our alive and well patriarchal society can explain this imbalance in women in film and art. Patriarchy can be defined as the institutionalized male dominance that has continuously been taught for generations, just as gender is has been taught. In Bell Hooks’ “Understanding Patriarchy”, she reflects on how her childhood allowed her to understand what patriarchy is, and states “Most of us learned patriarchal attitudes in our family of origin, and they were reinforced in schools and religious institutions” (Hooks 23) which can add to the discussion of intersectional ostracization of women in society, particularly women of color. As much as it is taught since childhood, media uses its images to teach as well which only reinforces institutionalized ideas of patriarchy. We discussed advertisements in class for male gaze, but this really goes hand in hand with patriarchy in that women are positioned for the pleasure of men, rather than as individuals. This is certainly not in all art spaces and media outlets, but there is still an overwhelming amount, particularly in film and on screen appearances.
To further the discussion of on film depictions of the male gaze catering to our patriarchal society, there are several examples that can be made. Aside from Wolf of Wall Street, Transformers can be seen as a ‘hyper masculine’ film because of the main premise is cars turning into robots! And violence! And explosions!, but we must not forget Megan Fox, a hyper sexualized woman in the industry, as the leading lady. This film could even be catered to young boys because of the plot, and it is showing that a half naked woman fixing cars and fighting robots still has to be “sexy”. It is just interesting that she cannot be one thing, a mechanic, without the other, her alluding to the sexual audience. This is just a role she played and is not a reflection of herself as an individual though, which is exactly what Berger explains as the male gaze premise. (Might I add Megan Fox is awesome and lets her children dress however they want). With that being said, there are so many examples that can be made from today’s media that still reflect ideas from 30, 40 years ago, from images of women far older than that.
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| Megan Fox played the main character's girlfriend and she was a mechanic, fixing cars, while appearing very sexy with little clothing on, as to say she could not possibly be doing what is still seen as a predominantly "manly" job without pleasuring the male eye. https://clarissappronto.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/male-gaze-theory/ |
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.
- Kilday, G. (2017, January 12). Study: Female Filmmakers Lost Ground in 2016. Retrieved from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/women-filmmakers-2016-statistics-show-female-directors-declined-number-963729
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