How many keys to your lock?

Slut walk Los Angeles California

The “Male Gaze” as defined by John Berger refers to women being observed as objects by men. This is supported by the ideals taught to us all since childhood that women are meant to bear children and cater to men. Because these concepts are embedded in our minds we do not realize that they are socially constructed and forced upon by social media, art, music, and basically anything that can be used to degrade women. In Ways of Seeing Berger takes us back to an early time in Europe where we can see how women’s naked bodies were used as art for men’s pleasure. Berger begins by recalling art historian Kenneth Clarks explanation of the distinction between a nude and nakedness. According to Clark, “naked is simply to be without clothes, whereas the nude is a form of art” (Berger 53). Without a doubt, the nudes painted by these artists were art, as well as the women in them and their bodies. Yet there was irony in it because, as Berger mentions, in order for them to be considered this beautiful nude they have to give up their bodies to become objects. After becoming objects the male can manipulate this beautiful art into whatever fantasy he likes. Furthermore, the male becomes the surveyor and the woman the surveyed, incidentally creating two separate personalities in the women because she must now watch herself being watched. As the object, she must make sure she looks good for the man so she becomes her own surveyor and she also surveys other women. This reminds of the concept double consciousness founded by civil right activist W.E.B Dubois. Double consciousness is the idea that we are divided into two separate identities; how we see ourselves versus how others see us. We accept the identity assigned to us because popular culture enforces it like the way women have accepted their submissive roles all throughout history because they have been taught that it’s the right thing to do. A more recent example is in popular culture today are the double standards women face in slut-shaming or the popular rape culture in America. Men have always been taught to embrace their sexuality to them the more women they sleep with the more they are respected. On the other hand, if a woman is looked at more purely if she loses her virginity to her husband and women who sleep with several men are considered sluts. It is ironic because men support institutes like strip clubs because to be a “slut” is ok as so long as it is for their pleasure. I remember being in middle school and hearing a phrase where they compared a lock to a vagina stating, “A key that can open many locks is called a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a shitty lock”.  At the age, I agreed with the statement but now looking back I wonder how in the world a vagina can compare to lock and how manipulating popular culture can be. It makes me feel ashamed that society can get away with suppressing women from their sexuality and encourage men to do as they please.  However, today women are fighting back, one example is he slut walk hosted by Amber Rose in Los Angeles California. The slut walk starts with a march and ends with a festival where the women can protest the inequality given by double-standards, rape culture, and sexual violence. It is an extremely empowering event; many celebrities and famous YouTube stars attend. Their attendance is important because it catches a lot of the medias attention as well as encourage their followers to become a part of the movement. By spreading the word people will be able to see slut shaming for what it really is. An important topic they touch in that walk is rape. Americas rape culture allows men to think assume that women are asking for sexual advances according to the clothes they wear. This concept also ties in with slut shaming because of how women are judged based on the wardrobe of their choice therefore men ‘’think” they’re sluts and that they are “asking for it”. 1 in every 6 women are sexually assaulted and that is just in the USA. In many cases women do not get justice and that is why protest like the slut walk are important. They challenge the social norms taught to us since childhood that degrade women and protect men. It is also important to understand that although women are the victims men are affected in this and it is important to educate both genders to beget progress.

Amber Rose holding "Strippers have feelings too" sign. Source : Alamy.com

            Similar to this, corrupting children’s minds, is patriarchy. According to Bell Hooks in The Will to Change Patriarchy is defined as a, “political-social system that insist that male are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, specially 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). While women are victims to this system Hooks admits that this a system that negatively impacts men as much as women.  It causes men to become violent due to their oppressed emotions and women to be victims of these violent acts. Hooks tells a small anecdote about her childhood memory when she got beat by her father for playing with marbles. She got beat because her father felt that she was demonstrating aggressiveness which men are not only allowed to but encouraged to be. Her father also felt that she should not have been playing with marbles because they were also considered a game for boys. Examining this scenario, we realize how familiar they may be to our own experiences about what we could and could not play with as children. As innocent as it seems to assign toys to a certain gender sounds, it is more problematic than it seems. Last summer I took a trip with my professor and other students to a school in Brooklyn. The purpose of the trip was to visit a school where many important people involved in supply chain could meet. The point of this is that I met a young girl that presented a project based on the difference between toys designed for boys and girls. She bought out a Barbie doll and a Lego set, the first thing that I noticed was of course the different colors, Barbie had pink everything and the Legos were blue, gray, black, etc. However, what this girl presented is the Barbie is always expressed as a house wife with special accessories like the Barbie house or the Barbie washing machine while the male toys expressed more challenging look like building, creativity, innovation. When I realized this I was incomplete shock that I did not realize it before. Not only were we as children assigned colors but also roles. How funny is it that people always tell us to grow up to be what ever we want to be yet they manipulate the process. We realize that when someone steps out these gender roles gets terrorized and judged. It is now time to take a step back in realize that we are poisoning our children by encouraging these gender roles. What is worse to know is that if I have not taken a class like this or made it to that conference I would have never learned the truth. For me as woman who is aware I feel it is a duty to raise my children to know better. I am grateful to not be ignorant and to know that one day I will be part of a movement learned about in history books and women will be looking back proudly at how much progress we’ve made as a society.

#metoo , source The Douglas Review

"'A key that can open many locks is called a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a shitty lock.'”http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/a-key-that-can-open-many-locks-is-called-a-master-key-but-a-lock-that-can-be-opened-by-many-keys.453193311/

"Amber Rose slut walk website" http://amberroseslutwalk.com/

"Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics" https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence

"Alamys Amber Rose slut walk pictures" http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/amber-rose-aka-amber-

levonchuck.html

"#Metoo: Spreading The Sexual Assult Discussion Around The World" http://thedouglasreview.com/featured/metoo-spreading-the-sexual-assault-discussion-around-the-world/

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, 2004.