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| "Disrupting the male gaze" Digital Illustration Corey Brickley |
To
See, look, or gaze? At a glance, one might assume these words are just
synonymous to each other. But there are layers ,nuances, and intensity in how
each of them is understood in a contextualized manner. The female body
throughout history has always been a subject of intense unwarranted scrutiny
and judgement as sights. The male gaze, as described by Berger, is the idea or perception
that women are objects for the male sight and pleasure. Which the men feel they
own a natural right to view as it pleases them. As Berger says "One might
simplify this by saying: men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women
watch themselves being looked at." [Berger 47) He further suggests that
the male gaze permeates the psychology of the women being viewed. Reason being
that her beauty or appearance is continuously being viewed, evaluated and
rewarded. It has even gotten to the extent where women submit to the male gaze
to make the viewer in this context men, feel validated, Fulfilled and
important. This understanding or way of seeing permeates popular culture, which
is evident in the images we see every day through the media and the countless
social media platforms. Ideals about the female body and the undeniable
emphasis on the importance of a woman's physical appearance. The apparent prize
for this beauty is to be owned by the spectator, to be reduced to a luxury item
with no interests other than to fulfil her owner's desires. "but because
the 'ideal' spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the is
designed to flatter him". In art it's as though the female body is obliged
to please the viewer. Another intriguing
way Berger describes this is when he distinguishes the difference between being
nude and being naked in art, a nude is to be unclothed for the viewer, a
pleasurable perceived object. Berger quotes; "To be naked is to be
oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not be recognized for
oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become nude. (The
sight of it as an object stimulates the use of it as an object.) Nakedness
reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display." [Berger 54]
Patriarchy, as viewed through bell hooks
lens, is the conditioning of men through their upbringing to assume a specific
essential role of power. In taking on this socio-political role, men have to
possess certain attributes like, “ to provide; to be strong; to think,
strategize, and plan; and to refuse to caretake or nuture others” (Hooks 18)
which her brother was a victim. Again “
he was taught that for a boy, enjoying violence was a good thing(albeit in
appropriate settings). Even though in
his case, he was a peaceful boy. And also not express feelings because it’s
seen as a sense of weakness. This idealized role expected of men is further
reflected in how the male body as an identity is portrayed in art throughout
the history of art. Even though it is perfectly normal/natural, hardly do u see
men portrayed in vulnerable positions in paintings or sculpted works. The
society makes men feel like crying/being compassionate, will be little a man’s
masculinity. Hooks stated, “Patriarchy
as a system has denied males access to full emotional well-being, which is not
the same as feeling rewarded, successful, or powerful because of one’s capacity
to assert control over others.” (Hooks, 31) Although men are painted out to be
tough, there is still a part of them that craves emotional freedom. But it
seems as though that won’t go away until we recognize and give attention to the
effects of patriarchy in the first place. As Hooks said, “Clearly we cannot
dismantle a system as long as we engage in collective denial about its impact
on our lives.” Before we try “fixing” the system, we first need to identify
that there is a problem.
Intersectional feminism, "Why
have there been no great women artist?" Linda Nocklin. In trying to answer
this question, one comes to the realization, that there is no definite root
cause as to why it is so but rather a combine cumulative number reasons. It is
literally an unending web the deeper u dig. Understanding Intersectional
feminism can give insight into this. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines it
as "the complex, cumulative manner in which the effects of different forms
of discrimination combine, overlap or intersect". This means
"discrimination doesn't exist in a bubble", but rather, different
kind of prejudice work together against women in this context. Throughout the
history of art, the white male artist has been the dominant figure steering
conversations in the arts. Little or no attention is paid to women artist or
their works, It is as though the only role women can play is, be peripherals to
their male counterparts' creative endeavours: Thus, pose nude or perhaps serve
as muses for their masterpieces. From this, it is safe to say that Patriarchy
as understood from Bell hook's "Understanding Patriarchy and the male gaze
as described by John Berger's
"Ways of Seeing" is part of the combined cumulative reasons leading
to why there are no great women artist.
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| "An Illustration from International Women's Development Agency" |
Works Cited
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting
Corporation, 2008.
Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and
Love. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
“What Does
Intersectional Feminism Actually Mean?” IWDA, 8 Nov. 2018, https://iwda.org.au/what-does-intersectional-feminism-actually-mean/.
“New Words:
Intersectionality.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/intersectionality-meaning.
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