Remred Falcon
Art and Women 
February 7, 2017

Post 1: Male Gaze 

     A gaze can take on multiple forms depending on the audience's intention. A clear gaze is derived from a visual culture interaction between the eyes of the beholder and the person being presented. A gaze is categorized by who is doing the looking. Growing up I have always been a fascinated by the storylines in the soap operas. From a young age I had always seen the leading ladies of these telesyre's maintain a specific physique. I never put together at a young age that these actresses portraying the leading roles had to go on strict diets to maintain a specific body shape in order to fit the "ideal" (unrealistic) leading lady aesthetic. But who was to say that the spectators who imposed this burden on women were being rational in their expectations. These women were never prized for taking on jobs of high profession, rather they were just pieces of property that the men of the household's held as arm candy. Their voices were rarely heard. 

     Little did I know that the very same television series that pulled on my heart strings could be closely related to art that was so intricately created. What binds the elements in everyday television to art is the "Male Gaze". As described by John Berger the male gaze, transforms women into the objects rather than them being the possessors of the art work. Female models are put on display for men who will assess and judge them as sights. Clothes off are as formal as clothes on.

     In most European art the women are nude. I was highly enlightened by finding that there is a difference between nudeness and nakedness. Join Berger highlights that nude is to be not be recognized as oneself. While to be naked is to be oneself without disguise. In European art the displace surface of one's skin is essentially turned into a disguise. 

     John Berger sees the following images above and sees the inequality in gender relations. There is a distinct inequality of the female image that is present in popular culture. Imagine replacing the women in these advertisements with men. Our culture has been formulated upon the male gaze that the effect on the audience would not have the same effect as women in nude.

     Bell Hooks defines Patriarchy as "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". Bell Hooks does not insinuate that every white male is a patriarch nor does a specific race, gender, or age constitute patriarchal views Hooks describes patriarchy as a way of thinking and a  system. Patriarchy is a way of defining gender roles within society where men are dominant and there is no equal playing field for both men and women. 

     My family immigrated to the United States from the Philippines right after my mother graduated college. My family came to America with the American Dream tattooed on their hearts. Although my mother told me the culture in America was quite different from the old fashioned traditional one she was accustomed to, she quickly learned to assimilate with the fast paced aggressive environment that she had never been exposed to.

     I was born into a very old fashioned traditional household. Although my mom had assimilated with some aspects of Americanization, while she raised my brother and I she still advocated for a more traditional approach in as to our roles in society. While my mother continues to push me to drive towards my career aspirations in terms of job security (which is not an agenda in a patriarchal society), she is a big proponent of me staying home and taking on a domesticated lifestyle. My grandmother stayed home and took care of my mom and uncles while my grandfather had been the bread winner of the family. My grandmother never aspired to be a career women because the patriarchal way of thinking as described by Bell Hooks. 

     I never took the time to really question the way of thinking that had been instilled in me from the very beginning. I never actually thought that these traditions helped to sustain the patriachal system that is still sadly in place during the 21st century. I have always seen it as an issue that there were women who struggled with their own self image. But I never took a moment to digest these inequalities in our social structure. This enlightenment has definitely opened my eyes to realize that even actions that I find simple as judge a women for an "inappropriate" appearance, is way that I too in fact take part in the patriarchal system. However, it is exciting to see that both men and women are proactively taking strides in the direction against patriarchy.