The Male and Gaze and Patriarchal Culture

     For decades, the topic of women's equality has always been an argument circling the world. Society has created a certain way on how women are placed into society, and only a small indent of change has occurred to fix this everlasting problem. A system has been created where women lower than a man. Women are always overruled due to societies patriarchal culture and the male gaze.
 
     All kids as children have the concept embedded in their head that men should be the ones who show power, that men should be the head of the household. On the contrary, women should be the only ones who show weakness and to nurture others. Bell Hooks, The author of the passage The will to change she emphasizes that Patriarchy has become apart of a male's everyday life. The concept goes as deep as religion and has become the natural way of teaching children. As stated, "At church they had learned that God created man to rule the world and everything in it and was the work of the women to help men perform these tasks, to obey, and to always assume a subordinate role in relation to a powerful man." In this quote, it explains how SInce god was a man than a man is who should be head of the household. It made it easy for one to abide by this concept because it began to appear everywhere, such as schools, clubs, sports arenas, etc. Women were told to show weakness and be under the man's orders. Bell hooks tell us a story of her growing up under a patriarchal household and the rules she had to abide. She states," As their daughter, I was taught that it was my role to show to serve, to be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake and nurture others." (Hookes, pg 18). In this quote, she explained that she was taught her gender role since she was young. As it is not made fully clear, she was taught her gender role since she was young and this ties to the fact that females are overruled by men with a patriarchal culture.

   

Vanity by Membling

This image explains how the male gets to lay back and wear nice suits while there is a woman in the background at their service and nude women next to the men resembling weakness and vulnerability. 

      This everlasting problem of Women equality does not only start in their household, but it remains consistent everywhere they go. The male gaze is a huge factor in why Females are perceived in such away. John Berger, The author of the novel entitled Ways of Seeing, tells us that women are viewed more as objects instead of human beings. The women's main aspect of manifesting was how she appeared. As stated, "The presence is manifest in her gestures, voice, opinions, expressions, clothes, chosen surroundings,taste-indeed there is nothing she can do which does not contribute to her presence." (Berger 46)This quote explains that a woman always has to worry about how they look because that's how men will perceive them. Also, a woman's actions can define who she is. Women should not express rage because it is not feminine like, unlike men. As stated," If a woman throws a glass on the floor, this is an example of how she treats her own emotions of anger and so how she would wish it to be treated by others. If a man does the same, his action is only read as an expression of his anger" (Berger 47). This quote further explains that a woman had a burden on her at all times due to the fact that they are being judged at all times. The male gaze remains till this day an obstacle that a woman is expected to abide.

Manet’s le Déjeuner sur l’herbe

This image shows a woman looking at herself into a mirror which represented vanity and lust to a man. The reason being was because a woman's nude body should be for a man's pleasure and the private meditation meant she was viewed as a sexual matter.

The male gaze and patriarchal culture not only has it been affecting women internally, but it has affected them to be fully accepted in society. For example, in art, Females average less than Fifty percent in all art museums. Also, it has affected a woman's pay because their capabilities are questioned. As stated in an article by business insider, "The median full-time female worker makes just 80.7 cents for every dollar her male counterpart makes." These concepts have changed my view on art and other media to where I view everything with an open mind. In the 20th century, enough was proven where gender roles should not be justified anymore. We need to stop teaching children that a male overruled a woman's power.

works cited:

https://www.businessinsider.com/gender-wage-pay-gap-charts-2017-3

John Bergers Ways of Seeing
 Bell Hookes Will to change