The Male Gaze and Patriarchy by Ashley Vasquez

Allegory of Time and Love - artwork created to appeal to man

As described by John Berger, the male gaze is the way that in which women are viewed by men. Women are often painted and photographed in ways in which are appealing to men. Berger mentions the way women are posing in certain pictures, which is meant to attract men. For example, when writing about Bronzino’s art piece Allegory of Time and Love, Berger mentions how, “her body is arranged the way it is, to display man looking at the picture. This picture is made to appeal to his sexuality (1972, p. 55). This demonstrates how much value the male opinion has. Instead of trying to please themselves, females are portrayed in a way in which males are the only ones that are satisfied. Their bodies and faces are used to please men.

Victoria's Secret Models

In today’s society, it is not difficult to find examples of the male gaze. One example is the Victoria’s Secret Angels. They are models who take place in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show where they model underwear and lingerie. However, one cannot simply become a Victoria’s Secret model without having the ideal look for it. Berger mentions the Judgment of Paris, which was a theme that showed men looking at naked women. He mentions how “Paris awards the apple to the women he finds most beautiful. Thus beauty becomes competitive. Those who are not judged beautiful are not beautiful. Those who are, are given the prize” (p. 52). In order to become an angel, one has to, first of all, be perceived as beautiful and have a very slim body. Also, in order to be a model overall, there has always been a height requirement of 5’8” or taller. In other words, models are beautiful, skinny, and tall. Although media has begun to change and one sees “plus-sized” models more frequently, they are still put into a different category which is that “plus-sized” category. Until this day, there has not been a plus-sized model to walk the runway in a Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Why may that be? Perhaps because they are not what people may think is sexually appealing to the public. To become an angel, models are judged on their bodies. They have to look good walking down a runway in lingerie. Many of the models post pictures up on social media demonstrating how much they work out to keep that ideal body image. What if they gain 5 or 10 pounds? Does it put their careers at risk? Most likely. The whole idea of being a Victoria’s Secret Model is that one does have to keep that certain body image, or their sex appeal will not be as high.

"Chains of Patriarchy" - T-shirt design

Patriarchy is the idea that men are born with power over women. It is an idea that men are superior to women because they are men. Bell Hooks describes patriarchy as a "political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence" (p. 18).  Men are seen as powerful the moment they are born. There are certain norms that men have to follow such as being strong and violent to show their dominance. Women have to be gentle and sensitive. Patriarchy makes it wrong for a woman to be violent and outspoken. Women are to be obedient and never break the rules of being a girl. There was another part of Hooks’ text that stood out the most which was, “Patriarchy promotes insanity. It is at the root of the psychological ills troubling men in our nation” (p. 30). This stood out to me mainly because it made me think about the abuse towards women. Women are constantly abused, whether it is emotionally, physically, or sexually. This idea of patriarchy made me think about how men cause this type of harm to women because they feel as if their manliness is being downgraded. For example, according to Dr. Susan Hanks, who is the Director of the Family Violence Institute in California, says that “men who batter are seeking a sense of power and control over their partners [...] or because they are tremendously dependent on the woman and are threatened by any moves on her part towards independence” (PBS). When a man’s power is being threatened, he turns to violence. Physically hitting a woman makes them feel powerful again because the woman is seen as weak after she is hit. The effect that this violence has on a woman varies depending on the person. Some women let this violence continue after the first time because they begin to believe that they are inferior to this man and cannot escape from the relationship. Other women realize how they do not deserve that type of punishment and leave the relationship. Sometimes the situation is very complicated and although the woman would like to leave the relationship, she is filled with fear which was implemented on her by the man. 

Learning about the male gaze and patriarchy made me look at the actions of others around me more carefully. As I read more about patriarchy, I began relating it to experiences that I have had with men. One major connection that I made was how some men become angry when you do not show the same type of interest to them as they do to you. For some men, it is difficult for them to hear “no”. They take that response as a threat and do not respond to it in a positive way. However, in no way do I have to let that affect my decision. If I am not interested in that person, then I am simply not interested. I should not feel bad for not feeling the same way towards that person. John Berger and Bell Hooks made me rethink the way women are depicted in media and artwork. They have made me take a closer look and understand why certain pictures are taken the way they are and what their purpose is.

References:

Berger, J. (2012). Ways of seeing: based on the BBC television series with John Berger. London: British Broadcasting Corp.

Hooks, B. (2004). The Will To Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. Simon & Schuster.

(n.d.). Retrieved February 01, 2018, from http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/studyg/domestic.html