Post 1: The Male Gaze in a Patriarchal Society

     According to John Berger, the male gaze is the manipulation of a woman’s social presence through a man’s portrayal of herself, which causes women to associate their appearance with their success. He writes, “Men watch women. Women watch themselves being looked at… The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object- and most particularly an object of vision: a sight” (Berger 47). In this quote, Berger outlines the cultural and social relationship between men and women who are part of a patriarchal society, especially that of European origin. With all of the paintings and portrayals of women's bodies on display, a certain unsaid rule is enforced: the purpose of a woman is to make herself useful to men. She must present herself in an appealing manner, and she is better off focusing on her appearance to gain the approval of men. By defining her identity based off others' approval, she is no longer existing to fulfill her own wants and needs. In exposing women's bodies in this way, women lose ownership of what should be theirs in the first place. As this portrayal has been commonplace for a long time- especially in European paintings during the Renaissance- the male gaze has gone on to become a big part of popular culture.

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, c. 1484-1486
Botticelli's painting is one of many European Renaissance paintings that have contributed to the male gaze. Venus is nude and facing the spectator-owner, which shows that she is using her presence to attract men.

     One place that the male gaze pervades much of is the gaming industry. Many women in video games are hypersexualized, whether they have extremely large chests with exaggerated movement or minimal amounts of clothing that emphasize a sexual appearance. However, men are shown as strong and capable, and they are seen as simply being themselves instead of becoming sexualized. These actions cater to a very specific audience in the gaming community- the straight male. Once again, the woman is turned into an object for the viewing pleasure of men. Everything about her suggests that she knows she is being watched, and therefore acts as a source of entertainment to her true spectator- a man. The educational organization Feminist Frequency explains how the male gaze reveals itself in popular video games, and uses titles such as Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider, among many others, in a video titled "Body Language and the Male Gaze." In it, Anita Sarkeesian points to the movement and appearance of several women in video games and subsequently compares them to their male counterparts.

Bayonetta from her eponymous game series Bayonetta for Xbox. Despite being a powerful witch who is skilled with guns and melee attacks, Bayonetta is one of many female characters who is part of the male gaze culture. She wears skin tight clothing and high heels, and fights in a way that accentuates her figure. For example, as she draws her guns in this GIF, she twirls around, giving the player a chance to look at her whole body, and ends with her backside and guns facing the camera. At the end of each game, Bayonetta is known to say "Let's dance, boys!", which is a direct shout-out to the intended straight male audience. 

     The explanation of the male gaze shows how the patriarchy persists in ways that might not be immediately noticeable to the people who perpetuate it. Another author who elaborates on the harmful effects of patriarchy is bell hooks. bell hooks describes patriarchy as a system that places males in a dominating position, which makes them "superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and [they are] endowed with the right to dominate over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence" (hooks 18). One well known example of a patriarchal society is the idea that a woman's place is in the home, taking care of it and her family, while men are supposed to be in positions of power and providing for their families. Women are caretakers and men are breadwinners. The idea gives way to phrases such as, "a woman's place is in the kitchen" and "boys will be boys." Sayings like these allow men to feel strong and enable them to act as they please while making women feel weak and oppressed. bell hooks describes growing up in her household, where her parents followed the values of the patriarchy strictly: "As their daughter I was taught that it was my role to serve, to be weak... my brother was taught that was his role to be served; to provide; to be strong... Although we were often confused, we knew one fact for certain: we could not be and act the way we wanted to, doing what we felt like" (hooks 19). Unfortunately, her story is not different from much of the children who grow up in similar conditions. Future generations of children are conditioned by their parents, who shape their formative years, and they learn to live in the patriarchy. There are reinforcements through popular culture and the people we interact with on a daily basis. 

     I have come to understand that these structures are long-standing traditions that hurt everyone involved. People are being forced to act in a certain way and exhibit certain behaviors that can end up harming them physically and mentally. Men limit their emotions and many times, it seems like anger is the only acceptable emotion to feel. It means they are dominant, making a valuable effort to secure what is theirs. Those who initially reject the patriarchy can also risk becoming the figures they once disliked, simply because subconsciously, they know they will finally be accepted by their peers and society. Women are limited in the way that they go about their lives. They are expected to take care of others. They need to appear in a way that will attract the male gaze but take away from their worth as human beings. These are ides that I see appearing in much of pop culture, especially in magazines and TV shows. This understanding has helped me look for the deeper meaning behind works of art and what they could mean in a patriarchal society today, as they could be sending subtle messages about men and women that are not as obvious at a first glance. As a result, I am made more aware of my identity role in these structures and how I could be influenced by them by asking myself what the artworks are trying to convey to their audiences. As for my identity, I realize it becomes much more complex and important than simply labeling myself as one thing. There are dimensions to these labels we give ourselves, and we should not confine ourselves to any one thing, as each label comes with its own set of unspoken rules that society determines for us. We also need to figure out what these labels represent to us instead of simply accepting any generic definition.

     One argument that counters the male gaze is the female gaze, whose purpose is to stop objectifying its subjects. It connects the audience to those portrayed in various works rather than distancing them, and allows its viewers to see the subjects as real people. The female gaze does, unfortunately, come with its own set of problems, such as being unable to fully counter the male gaze or address most or all of the harmful aspects of the male gaze that have become so commonplace today; however it is a step in the right direction because it is used in the film industry, where the idea will gain exposure in front of a large audience.


Works Cited:

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2008.

Hooks, Bell. Understanding Patriarchy. Louisville Anarchist Federation Federation, 2010.

Ridgard, Debbie. “The Female Gaze for Dummies.” The Circular, 17 Apr. 2017, thecircular.org/female-gaze-for-dummies/.

Sarkeesian, Anita. "Body Language and the Male Gaze- Tropes vs Women in Video Games." Feminist Frequency, 31 Mar 2016, https://feministfrequency.com/video/body-language-the-male-gaze/