THE MALE GAZE

Mariven Diaz

Male Gaze and Patriarchy  

          The male gaze is the idea in which women are objectified by men and sees that a woman's sole purpose is to pleasure male desire. The role of a woman has always been perceived to be the housewife in which she to tends to her husband and family. John Berger states, "Women are depicted in a quite different way from men - not because the feminine is different from the masculine - but because the "ideal" spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him" (Berger 64). This male perspective can be seen in art throughout the years. Back then in European oil paintings, women were the principal subject and were the subject of the majority of nude paintings. 

The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1767)

          In the painting by Jean-Honore, there is the implication that the subject is aware of being watched by the viewer. It illustrates the male gaze where a woman is on a swing and below her is a man focusing his attention on her. He is also positioned directly below her in a way that he is able to see up her dress. Behind the woman we see a man pushing her and has his eyes locked on her body. Within this painting, we can see two men filled with desire for this woman. Not only can male gaze can be seen within a picture, the male gaze is present for its spectators who are looking at the imagery. 

          Through this type of thinking, it empowers men to objectify women. Overtime, the male gaze continues to be prevalent in today's society. We can see the male gaze in  popular culture through art and media. In the movie, She's All That (1999) it revolves around a teenage girl in high school getting a makeover in order to become popular and win the attention of boys. 

Before & After Makeover in She's All That (1999)

          We can see through this illustration that the main character was covered up and wasn't noticed by males. After the makeover scene, we can see she is showing more skin in order to look attractive and desired. Not only is the main male character attracted to her, the male audience of the movie is drawn to her. This transformation tells women that all that matters is their appearance and smarts and personality never matter. As Berger states, "Thus she turns herself into an object - and most particularly an object of vision: a sight" (Berger 47). The male gaze makes women believe that they are an object to be admired and must look a certain way in order to please. Camera position can also play a big role of the male gaze because it is point towards parts of the female body where the audience can sexualize the woman. These can be seen in teen movies where females are portrayed in a way that is able to pleasure male desire.

Ariana Grande (Top Left)Beyonce (Top Right)Mariah Carey (Bottom)

          Berger says, "The unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that it still structures the consciousness of many women. They do to themselves what men do to them" (Berger 63). We can see that various celebrities feel the need to expose their bodies in performances because it's considered the norm. 

          Patriarchy is the structure in which men dominate women. Bells Hooks states, "Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed week, 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). Patriarchy belittles the capabilities of women and is persistent in oppressing women through violence. Hooks was taught to be weak and discouraged to have a mind of her own to think and " it was clear to us that our behavior had to follow a predetermined, gendered script" (Hooks 19). An example of patriarchy would be when Hooks insisted on playing marbles with her brother and disobeyed her father when he said no. She got a beating from him and her mother comforted her and said, " I tried to warn you. You need to accept that you are just a little girl and girls can't do what boys do" (Hooks 21). Her mother's job was to reinforce what her father had said and to maintain the natural order in the household. Young girls are exposed to patriarchy due to it being observed by not only their father, but by their mother as well. Women are forced to learn that the male role is to lead and females are there to support them. Unfortunately, patriarchy continues to prevail today. Another example we can see is that Donald Trump embodies everything patriarchy stands for. Hilary Clinton stood for the rights of women where she stood for birth control, access to abortions, and the overall empowerment of women. Donald Trump has stripped the rights women have over their bodies through reinstating the Global Gag Rule. We see that men are placed at the top to make decisions about matters that don't concern them. This makes unwanted pregnancies difficult to abort and puts a hold on women's rights. 

Source

        After reading about the male gaze and patriarchy, I can see how this is has been prevalent in my everyday life. From watching shows or reading about the news, I realize that even if it takes shape in many different forms, it all agrees on same matter - males play the dominant role. I can see that in media, women are typically the secondary character and appear to be weaker than the male. I see in commercials women show more skin and act to please the male audience. The male gaze and patriarchy go hand in hand because the male gaze is to objectify women and belittle them and patriarchy is to dominate women and prove that men are rulers. I find myself witnessing men cat calling women as if they are just a sight to see that doesn't need to be respected. Growing up, when my brother would play rough, my mom would say to just stay away since he's just being a boy. I never thought to think that we shouldn't let that be an excuse for them to act the way they do. We can also see that patriarchy pressures males to act a certain way. If they're not aggressive or loud they aren't acting like a man. This type of pressure instills this violence in them to oppress women and allows for them to be right in situations when they're clearly wrong. When we see these things happen, the only way for it to stop is to stand firm and make it known that females shouldn't be known as the weaker gender. 

CITATIONS
Grove, Morgan. "She’s All That…After I Changed Everything She Is." GWSS 3307 Feminist Film Studies. N.p., 17 Feb. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <https://femfilm16.wordpress.com/2016/02/17/shes-all-that-after-i-changed-everything-she-is/>.
Crockett, Emily. "Trump reinstated the global gag rule. It won't stop abortion, but it will make it less safe." Vox. Vox, 25 Jan. 2017. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.vox.com/identities/2017/1/23/14356582/trump-global-gag-rule-abortion>.