The Male Gaze and Patriarchy

Judgment of Paris by Ruben

Paris gives the prize to Venus, whom he judged to be the most beautiful of the three.  

         Throughout history one can observe how women were used in visual arts as an object to transmit the role that both women, and men had to fulfill in society. The Male Gaze as depicted by John Berger reflects the idea of how women is seen by men trough these different paintings but also the message of submission, and weakness that the painter wants to transmit in order to please the spectator, which in this case is always though to be men.  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” (Berger, 64). This transmits how man has the power, and control over women and everything around them. He also analyzes the idea of how the essence that identifies each woman is not for herself but to meet the expectations of the viewer, the man, who has to observe and analyze the characteristics, beauty, and the value that transmits to him. Berger states that, “She (woman) 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 of her life”(Berger, 46). For instance, women need to compete with each other in order to be considered attractive or beautiful enough to be chosen by men. Seeing the painting of The Judgment of Paris by Rubens clearly shows how this essence and beauty, mentioned above, is put in competition and how these men can judge women with the objective of "rewarding" the winner and how others envy him for being now the "owner" of who will meet all their demands, but at the same time transmits this appealing sense of satisfaction and victory of the woman who is chosen. Although this painting was created a long time ago, in today's society, this same behavior can be observed in games, advertisement, and beauty contests around the world. In these contests, hundreds of women compete with each other to be selected and get the crown (the prize). In these competitions you can see the frustration and sadness of women who are not considered as beautiful as the winner, transmitting once again this erroneous message that the woman has to work and demonstrate not to herself but to others that deserves to be chosen and accepted, and of course influencing women to have the "perfect" body at any cost. The male gaze is very pervasive in popular culture because woman is still treated as an object to be used, and projected towards men in order to make more appealing a certain product, which fuels this idea that man dominates women and can abuse them physically, psychologically or sexually.

Patriarcal Society by Malte Mueller / Getty Images

         Patriarchy is a social problem that has been transmitted from generation to generation. Bell Hooks gives the meaning of this problem that even nowadays is unknown to many people. She defines patriarchy as 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” (Hooks, 18). She shows how her family inculcated in her, the idea that the woman has to be weak, caring, be dominated and how she suffered from patriarchal violence for showing actions that were not according to the role her parents imposed on her. On the other hand, his brother is taught not to show feelings, to be dominant and show strength and power to society. She said how her brother was taught that, “ rage was permitted and that allowing rage to provoke him violence would help him protect home and nation” (Hooks, 19) This type of behavior creates this idea that men have to be aggressive, insensitive, and strong and that although this leads to violence, it is accepted by society. 

         Through the story that Hooks reveals with her family, I can realize how my family follows these same standards, and how difficult it is for them to change this way of thinking. My mom (a single mother) always taught me that I do not need a man to succeed. However, my mom’s family, who lived and were very close to me, always tried to remind me of the roles that both men and women have to fulfill in this society. It is very frustrating for them to see that my profession is more important than getting married. In addition to this, the few times that I talk to my dad, he never says he loves me but he asks me why I do not say that to him, which is quite ironic; he also reminds me how important it is for a woman to be caring, careful, and efficient when getting married; but on the other hand he "teaches" my little brother that he has to go out with many girls, enjoy, and experiment because that is what men do. Reading this paper made me realize how much our society today needs to work to change this problem. This way of thinking can be very difficult to change in people who grew up, and lived their whole lives under these standards, however, it is our duty to teach new generations about gender equality, that men also cry, that they can also be and show affection to others, because although this seems insignificant, in the future this will benefit men and women.

                       Sylvia Walby’s Six Structures of Patiarchy: Sexuality

                    Males condemn women who are sexually active as slags,  

                        males with many sexual conquests are admired.

By: Katherine Vega

Work cited:

1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing; a Book Made by John Berger. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books, 1972.

2. Hooks, bell. The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Simon & Schuster, 2005.