Discuss this quote with reference to one work of art and one work from the contemporary media.
Berger writes about how the gaze and how it is about being watched and being aware of yourself; how men look at survey women before they determine how to treat them and because of this women had to make sure they were seen in a way they want to be appear. He talks about how men and women have a different social presence in society, men are seen as more powerful and dominant to women, whereas women are to be looked at by men. Women turn themselves into object in order for me to 'gaze' at them and see them in a certain way. Furthermore women should express themselves through how they look; their tastes, their surrounds and what they wear. Women should be aware of them being watched and hence be aware of how they are seen. "An so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a women."
‘Birth of Venus’ - Alexandre Cabanel’ (1863)
This painting is a good example of the gaze and how women have been percieved. The figure takes up two thirds of the whole composition and she depicted in a slightly seductive, reclining position where showing off the female form. While one arm is stretched behind her, the right partially covers her eyes; she is not looking directly at the viewer, removing the 'intimacy' of her gaze and allowing us to look at an objectify her without her seeing or knowing. 'To be on display is to have the surface of one's own skin, the hairs on one's own body, turned into a disguise, which, in that situation, can never be discarded. The huge is condemned to never be naked. Nudity is a form of dress." Many art pieces were created for a male dominated audience, this quote talks about how nudity is now a form of dress; therefore making it socially acceptable for men to gaze and naked / nude paintings of women.
Sophia Dahl, Yves Saint Laurent advert,
The photograph on the left was the original orientation but changed to the portrait orientation for the actual advert as the original was too suggestive. This advert has been banned in the UK after receiving 730 complained and deemed 'offensive and degrading.', The original horizontal orientation was not allowed to be used because of the suggestive sexual nature of the female form, and hence not suitable to be placed in public. Just like the 'Birth of Venus', the figure of Sophia Dalh is not looking at the viewer, allowing us (male dominated society) to look at the picture and objectify her. However, it is the suggestive and erotic post of the female form that invites men to objectify this, a women using her sexuality to attract public attention. This is something that has become very accepted in our society today from films, posters to even music video where female artists are wearing very little and dancing in a seductive manner; exploiting their sexuality to gain attention, sell records and hence become a success. It could be argued that this painting is no less suggestive or artistic than a classic painting of a female nude; another reason why the photograph was turned so that she was not lying on her back in that position; an attempt to be slightly less seductive.
MAIN POINTS
he examins the ideas by looking at nude images of women - women carry around the idea that they are being looked at
KEY QUOTES
Writing in 1972, Berger insisted that women were still ‘depicted in a different way to men - because the "ideal" spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him’
‘it could be argued that when women look at these ads, they are actually seeing themselves as a man might see them’ (Messaris 1997, 41).
So the women who look at these ads are being invited to identify both with the person being viewed and with an implicit, opposite-sex viewer’
Sources
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze08.html
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/histart/DOCS/ways_of_seeing_CH3.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1077818.stm
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