The male Gaze expresses how women have been portrayed through photography. The male gaze is the male’s ability to exercise control over women by looking at women and viewing women as objects rather than an actual person. Men have been portrayed as the authoritative figures for centuries, and although women can provide for themselves more nowadays, women still do not have much authority compared to men. John Berger in Chapter 3 of “Ways of Seeing,” distinguishes the difference between men and women’s presence and how each is portrayed differently. He states that a man’s presence is of what he expects to do or what he can do, while a women’s presence is only of what she expects to be done to her and how she expects to be treated. Although women have expectations of how they want to be treated, women do not necessarily get treated that way. Berger asserts, “ She is not naked as she is. She is naked as the spectator sees her”(Bergers 50). Men misinterpret women based upon their own their own beliefs of what women how women should look like. Berger notes, “ The mirror was often used as a symbol of the vanity for women. The moralizing, however, was mostly hypocritical.”(Berger 51). The idea of a women looking at herself in the mirror takes away the guilt of a male looking at her because she is looking first.
In particular, women in the media are gazed and looked upon based on their looks and are characterized as sexual beings. What is even more disturbing is that in the media this idea has been encouraged early upon children. For example, Disney movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Aladdin, the princesses are all created to satisfy the male eye. In Aladdin, one of the main character Jasmine has very long hair and dresses in a small bandeau showing off her chest and stomach with a very slim waist. Encouraging unrealistic goals that this is what children should wish to look like. The most popular well known Disney female characters have similar looks with their white skin, thin bodies, long hair, wearing dresses which may easily create insecurities in children's heads if they do not look similar to their favorite characters. To continue, the plot of these Disney’s movies are all consistent with the main female character falling in love with a man insinuating that is how every story must end: that women will only be happy when they have fallen in love. Which again shows that men are in power and are the key to a Women’s life. These movies also have the heroic storyline of saving the trapped princesses from a Tower. It gives children little to no hope that at they are no capable of doing things on their own without a male figure.
In contrast, in the article “Patriarchy” by Bell Hooks shares with readers her beliefs of patriarchy and describes how patriarchy is a learned behavior of both genders. Hooks plays Devil’s advocate giving a unique perspective of how men are not as invested in the idea of always being the dominant character and the idea that patriarchy does not only impact women but affect men as well. It is engraved in society that male and females are expected to follow certain characteristics and traits.
In the quote above Hook shares an interesting message about how if we cannot address the pain on both sides then there is nothing to talk about. Men are not the “enemy” and there are faults on both sides...until that is acknowledged nothing will ever change. Men and women uphold patriarchy; men and women are hurt by patriarchy, though in uneven ways. Growing up boys were raised to not cry nor show emotion that would make them look weak yet are encourage to express their emotion through anger. Girls were always taught that showing emotion is normal and that they must behave themselves are all times. When society automatically decides how you should act based upon your gender life it leaves you with little to no choice but to follow. Yet I felt as though Hooks brought up a valid point she asserts, “The crisis facing men is not the crisis of masculinity, it is the crisis of patriarchal masculinity. Until we make this distinction clear, men will continue to fear that any critique of patriarchy represents a threat (Hooks 32). Masculinity is different for every male since it is influenced by their upbringing, experience, and social environment. However, patriarchal masculinity is an automatic ranking for males that categorizes them in certain traits of what is acceptable and not acceptable being a male which is why I believe patriarchy represents a threat for any male. Yet it may seem like women are the only one who struggles Hook has brought attention to the struggles that men endure while trying to live up to expectations that are set for them.
References
Berger, John, and Michael Dibb. Ways of Seeing. London: BBC Enterprises, 1972.
Bell Hooks (2004) Understanding Patriarchy. Published as Chapter 2 of Hooks (2004) The Will to change. Washington Square Press, 2004.
Two links:
Male gaze in the media:
Male Gaze in Disney shows:
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