The Male Gaze and Patriarchy by Leslie M. Fontanez

Male Gaze and Patriarchy

“Bacchus Ceres and Cupid” by Von Aachen

The male gaze as depicted by John Berger is how a man depicts the world and women through his perspective especially woman as objects of pleasure. Berger states “women are depicted differently from men--- not because of feminine is different from masculine but because the ideal spectator is assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him” (64). The male gaze is used to make women more conscious of their appearance and how it relates to a man. As stated before the “ideal” spectator is always men, and how woman appear to him and his sexuality, it is never about a woman’s sexuality. In the painting “Bacchus Ceres and Cupid” by Von Aachen the woman is depicted in the painting with a male, and even though he is there, she is still looking outward; which Berger says she is looking “towards the one who considers himself her true lover--- the spectator-owner (Berger, 56). So we see she is structured to please the person who is looking at her. We can also look at another painting in Berger’s reading on page 55

“La Grande Odalisque” by Ingres. On this page the art is put beside another picture of a woman who both seem to have the same expression. These women are looking out towards the person viewing them. Berger states “the expression of a woman responding with a calculated charm to the man who she imagines looking at her” (55). These two women are, in my opinion, looking seductively towards the spectator (mostly males) to give them this “pleasure” they have come use to known because of the male gaze.

“La Grande Odalisque” by Ingres

The male gaze is very pervasive in art and in popular culture. Why? It is all over the place in earlier art and today. Men were always the ones in higher places in relation to women. Women are taught that their possible success in life is important on how men see them in society. I believe that the male gaze so entangled in art because it shows men to be the ones in charge. Since they were almost always the one who made these arts they kept women in lower places then them. The more they displayed women as sex objects for their pleasure and desire the more it kept them in the places they should be. Berger states, “the essential of seeing women, the essential use to which their images are put, has not changed” (pg. 64). Today, art is depicted by men and women and changes the conversation of the male gaze, and brings us to the female gaze. The female gaze looks to bring empowerment back to women in their nakedness and to move them away from being just pleasure for men. However, the male gaze will never completely go away until it is realized that it puts women into a predetermined place in society.

Pulled from article by Arushi Kapoor
"8 ways patriarchy is equally harmful to men"

I wanted to define patriarchy as described by Bell Hooks by using a direct quote, on page 18 “patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything, and every 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 tells the story about her being a little girl and learning what patriarchy is through growing up with her brother. She states she was “taught that it was her role to serve, to be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake and nurture others” (19); Where her brother’s role was to “be served, to provide, to be strong, to think, strategize, and plan; and to refuse to caretake or nurture others” (19). She was also taught that certain emotions she depicts were wrong, like anger, where he brother was taught anger could be beneficial to him. The ways in which Bell Hooks was taught her place through patriarchy we also see how it can be damaging to our men. This system makes them to believe only certain ways of acting is acceptable for men. As put by author Arushi Kapoor "They need to be the sole breadwinners, protector of woman, have stable careers, be manly and show no emotions." If they do not follow these ways. they can be labeled "unmanly or weak," which no man wants. So it puts them into this space where they can only act one way or be judged.

"Smash Patriarchy" fighting to end it in our society

I came to understand these structures through my home life. My mother was also the nurturing one, who cooked, ironed clothes, did laundry and served my father; whereas my father was the disciplinary one, who was strict, not emotional and never did housework unless it was to fix something. These views have made me view art and media in a certain way. When I see a woman in media, such as an artist or talk show host, it shows me that the views I was taught through patriarchy can be challenged. If woman are becoming as successful as men, and are not being pushed out, then I feel as though what I was taught as a child should not define my life. This helps me because I have never felt I could never fit into a role that a woman must be in. Being homosexual I feel I relate to both male and female roles. As I grew up my father moved away from traditional patriarchal roles and showed me ways to survive today. He became my boxing and jujitsu coach and helped me learn how to defend myself. He showed me how to change a tire and to make my presence powerful at interviews. It could be that media and art is depicting women differently changed the way he raised his children. However, I do understand that he still has his “male dominance” taught to him no doubt by patriarchy because of how he treats my mother.


By: Leslie M. Fontanez

Sources used:
        Berger, John. Ways of Seeing; a Book Made by John Berger. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books, 1972.
        Hooks, Bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Simon & Schuster, 2005