Post 1: The Male Gaze & Patriarchy

The male gaze is when women around the world are looked at as pieces of objects rather than humans and the sole purpose of viewing women this way is for the enjoyment of men. The male gaze has increasingly become a part of the last few centuries as women and men have been involved, both intentionally and unintentionally. People in our current age do not speak much about the male gaze, however it is still very much a part of lives everywhere. There has not been much talk about the male gaze and the effects that it has had in popular culture and the arts. Due to a lack of conversation in our society, many people usually push the topic aside when it is brought up. The male gaze is pervasive in the arts and popular culture because it highlights how men are empowered through their gaze and how women are deprived of how they are supposed to view themselves. One author who chose to address the male gaze was John Berger in one of his books.In chapters two and three of John Berger's book, Ways of Seeing, he talks about the male gaze. He first states the male gaze when he states that men act and women appear. " She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success in her life." (Berger, 46). This quote is explaining how a woman must think about how she looks to everyone around her, but the most important person is any man around her. Also, this quote is saying how a woman looks to a man is going to one of the most important successes in their life.

He explains how there are several factors involved in male gazing, including the male spectator who is looking and the female who is being looked at.  He explains how women are not looked at as humans but as objects, who are brought on to this earth for the pleasure of all men. "Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." (Berger, 47). This quote is one example of how male gazing would make women uncomfortable but they would usually not say anything to the man looking at them. Through this quote, Berger is focusing on how when a man looks at a woman, that woman already has an idea that the man is looking at her. Also, this quote is describing how the woman is probably not going to say anything to the man because they could have already faced a similar situation in their life before. In the painting below by Titian, it illustrates how the male is so distracted by the woman's body that he is looking at her more like an object than a person and how the male gaze is overtaking the male's actions.

"Venus with an Organist and Cupid" by Titian, ca.1555.
The man is so focused on the woman's body while the women is not paying any attention to the man.

In relation to the male gaze, patriarchy is one topic that is closely related to it. Patriarchy is when men hold the most power either in families, political positions, etc, over women. Patriarchy is still around now and one author who speaks about it with her own experiences is bell hooks.  In chapter 2 of bell hooks book, The Will to Change, she talks about patriarchy and how it became a part of her life.  "Patriarchy is the single most life-threatening social disease assaulting the male body and spirit in our nation." (hooks, 17). This particular quote is significant in this chapter because it is literally the first sentence in the chapter about patriarchy. bell hooks talks about patriarchy because she wanted to explain to the readers how it affected her life. For example, she would want to take part in particular games or activities and her father would not let her participate saying that it was a man's game. "Patriarchy 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). This quote is saying that patriarchy provided men with another way that they could exert their power. For example, bell hooks would want to take part in particular games or activities, her father refused, she argued with him and he beat her up saying that the game was a man's game. The patriarchal structure has influenced art and other media outlets because of the fact that it is still around today. For example, when people talk about great artists, they usually name a male artist, such as Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo, people usually do not name a women artist. This happens because of the fact that men are used to being on the top because of patriarchy. The painting below depicts a family portrait, however the most interesting part of the painting is the father. While most of his family members are sitting down, the father is standing, this could be interpreted as a sign of power from the father and a sign of patriarchy within this family.

Family Portrait of the Janssen Family by Clemens Bewer, 1843.

In contrast to the male gaze, the female gaze is the gaze of the female viewer and it has been used by feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey. Like the male gaze, this is focused on one gender, however the females are the ones who are the spectators and the males are the ones who are being looked at. The female gaze is used to represent the view of the female and their feelings. The male gaze and patriarchy has given me an understanding of how differently men and women are treated. This has also provided me with an understanding of how the male gaze and patriarchy have empowered men and how these have basically belittled women as the inferior gender.

Works Cited:

1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation, 2008.
2. Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
3. Loreck, Janice, and School of Media. “Explainer: What Does the 'Male Gaze' Mean, and What about a Female Gaze?” The Conversation, Janice Loreck, 5 Jan. 2016, http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-the-male-gaze-mean-and-what-about-a-female-gaze-52486.