The Unwill to Change: The System of Patriarchy

John Berger addressed the subject of female objectification in the arts, noting that "men look at women and women watch themselves being looked at...The surveyor of woman in herself is male...Thus she turns herself into an object-and most particularly an object of vision: a sight." (Berger 47). In virtually every form of the female nude, women watch themselves being looked at; between seeing one's self and seeing an ideal version of one's self. The male gaze is an unspoken topic in popular culture and many, if not all women are victims to it whether they chose to be or not. A comical, but still relevant example of the male gaze in contemporary culture is Cate Blanchett calling out the "Glam Cam" (which puts women’s bodies on display, to be dissected and analyzed) while on the red carpet of the Screen Actors Guild Awards back in 2014. Blanchett calls out the E! camera for its unnecessarily close, slow pan up her body. Her response reveals how invasive these emerging red carpet technologies have become, and many actresses are understandably, refusing to participate. Critics of awards shows argue that reporters ask women superficial questions about their clothes, makeup, and personal lives, whereas male actors are given more opportunity to answer “serious” questions about their craft. Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Hanks were not seen in outfit scanning shots and instead addressed by their foremost talents and achievements. Cate Blanchett is a recipient of three SAG Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTAS, and an Academy Award, however, many media outlets still honor her for her appearance first and talents second. This is the male gaze of the 21st century.

Cate Blanchett at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, 2014

Patriarchy, as described by Bell Hooks, in The Will To Change is "a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence." (Hooks 18). An ideal example of this is how men harass women on the street, also known as catcalling. It is an action that asserts male dominance and superiority that often results in violence, shaming or a verbal insult when the victim retorts back to the offender, chooses to disengage or attempts to avoid the person entirely. It's no wonder why women feel fear or hesitation when walking past a group of men, even in broad daylight. "Women’s walking is often construed as performance rather than transport, with the implication that women walk not to see – but to be seen – not for their own experience, but for that of a male audience. Which means that they are asking for whatever attention they receive." (Solnit 234). To reject a man's advances that he feels the need to make a comment on your appearance usually goes south if the woman says no, because of their egos, which are so, so fragile.

Suddenly you're the whore. You're the bitch. You're the slut.

"Avísame cuando llegues a casa" - "Let me know when you get home"
(artist unknown)

Some women have lost their lives because they acted upon themselves as adults and have vocalized that the offender's actions are unwelcome. A woman says no, I don't want to go to prom with you and gets stabbed to death. A woman says no, I will not sleep with you and a man goes on a shooting spree. A woman says no, I will not give you my number and is shot outside the club. When we say she was murdered because she said no, we set up the following argument that she should have “just said yes” instead of the idea that we have to attack male supremacist ideology which makes violence against women okay. This further places the impression that women have to be passive, vulnerable and at the will of men. You want us to start telling you no? You don’t want us to play games? 

Teach your fellow men to stop murdering us for it. 

I grew up in a very conservative, religious household and for a long time, I was really convinced that this is simply the way the world is; that there are things men can do that women cannot do. I fell into the inevitable social constructs of gender roles and sexism, and so did my mother; I don't blame her for raising me the way she did. We are often blind to our own faults, as Bell Hooks states: "In service to patriarchy, her task was to reinforce that Dad had done the right thing by putting me in my place, by restoring the natural social order." (Hooks 21).  We have the power to change our society; we solely reserve the ability to put an end to injustice and bigotry. 

Works Cited:

Berger, John. (2008). Ways of seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation.

     Exhibit-E.com. (n.d.). The Female Gaze - Women Look at Women - Exhibitions - Cheim Read. Retrieved from https://www.cheimread.com/exhibitions/the-female-gaze

     Hooks, Bell. (2005). The will to change: men, masculinity, and love. New York: Simon & Schuster.

     Solnit, Rebecca. Wanderlust: a History of Walking. Granta, 2014.