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| My Gaze |
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| Untitled (Facial Hair Transplants), 1972 /1997 |
John Berger Chapter 2 + 3
Quote #1
“To be born a woman has to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The social presence of women has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living unger such tutelage within such a limited space” (pg. 46)
Response #1
Throughout many years, women have been subjected to not only the male gaze, but society’s expectations of women to succumb and adjust to the male gaze. Women must not only accept that the male gaze was the only important perspective in art in the past, but they must also act accordingly. Women are severely limited in the way they act, and in what they can and cannot do, because women’s actions are scrutinized using society’s “rules,” made from males’ perspectives. Society treats and respects women according to how accurately they can conform to society’s boundaries and satisfy the male gaze. Therefore, women are often forced into a male-led society’s confinement.
Quote #2
“This picture is made to appeal to his sexuality. It has nothing to do with her sexuality… Women are there to feed an appetite, not to have any of their own” (pg. 55).
Response #2
John Berger demonstrates that even when women are portrayed in art, they continue to serve heterosexual males. In many paintings, like La Grande Odalisque by Ingres 1780-1867, a nude woman is portrayed with the sole intention of feeding the appetite of the viewer: the hetersexual male. When women were portrayed in art, they were while succumbing to the male gaze. Women, in fact, are rarely portrayed according to their own point of view in comparison to the women portrayed to satisfy the male preference.
Understanding Patriarchy
Quote #1
Embracing patriarchal thinking, like everyone else around them, they taught it to their children because it seemed like a “natural” way to organize life. As their daughter I was taught that it was my role to serve, to be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake and nurture others.”
Response #1
One of the elements of patriarchal thinking, and one of the reasons that patriarchy spreads so rapidly, is that it is enforced from generation to generation. Patriarchy is learned, adopted, and then passed on to the future generation to live according to. Parents who conform to this type of thinking teach their daughters to serve, assist, blindly obey, support, and leave the intelligence to the true leaders of society: men. Bell Hooks accepts and references Psychotherapist John Bradshaw's definition of patriarchy. Bradshaw states, "The dictionary defines 'patriarchy' as a 'social organization marked by the supremacy of the Cather in the clan to family in both domestic and religious function....' patriarchy is characterized my male domination and power.'" Patriarchy's prioritization of males limits women in society and stops them from acting outside of previously set expectations.
Quote #2
“Patriarchy demands of men that they become and remain emotional cripples. Since it is a system that denies men full access to their freedom of will, it is difficult for any man of any class to rebel against patriarchy, to be disloyal to the patriarchal parent, be that parent female or male.”
Response #2
According to Bell Hooks, patriarchy is so normalized and expected, that it prevents even those men who wish to oppose it, from fully going against it. Patriarchy demands that men control their emotions, and causes men who do not fit into patriarchy’s predetermined standards to be exiled from the rest. Patriarchy is such a strong influence, especially since it is instilled from peoples’ birth, that it is almost impossible for people, especially men, to rebel, not just against patriarchy itself, but everything they were brought up believing. According to Psychotherapist John Bradshaw, who Bell Hooks references in her article, "...patriarchal rules still govern most of the world's religious, school systems, and family systems." Patriarchy-based thinking was not only present in people's homes, but it was present in every aspect of one's life, therefore making it a culture, a belief system, and perhaps even an unspoken law that no one, neither male nor female, can challenge.
The Oppositional Gaze
Quote #1
“Even when representations of black women were present in film, our bodies and being were there to serve—to enhance and maintain white womanhood as object of the phallocentric gaze.”
Response #1
The male gaze is the heterosexual and patriarchal male point of view, centered around the idea that everything they view, especially women, is theirs to conquer and control. When black women were finally represented, they were still only included in order to preserve the male gaze. The main role of black women in art was to assist white women in effectively portraying themselves for the male gaze. Instead, they focus on the female gaze–on what women see– when portraying themselves. They also focus on the oppositional gaze, which allows them to rebel against their oppressors, and take the roles they were not allowed to take prior.
Quote #2
“Black female spectators, who refused to identify with hwhite womanhood, who would not take on the phallocentric gaze of desire and possession, created a critical space where the binary opposition Mulvey posits of “woman as image, man as bearer of the look” was continually deconstructed.”
Response #2
Many black females have refused to take part in their assigned roles in art: assisting white women to accurately represent the heterosexual male’s conquest. These women have decided to put a stop to the male gaze, by creating art that does not center around women portraying themselves in a way that would satisfy a male’s point of view.
Female Gaze: Art that Looks at What Women See | NYTIMES
Quote #1
“Today that may not sound so special, but then in those times it was incredibly important,” she said. “They created a shift, a change in perspective, from being the model, the person a painter is looking at, to being the painter herself.”
Response #1
In the past, women were excluded from all forms of art. When women were finally included, they were always portrayed from the male perspective. Men painted women, the way they thought other men would appreciate seeing the women. When women began painting other women, they allowed a new perspective, one that portrayed women from their own perspective and from the perspective of other women.
Mickalene Thomas: Photographed, Collaged and Painted Muses
Quote #1
“By selecting women of color, I am quite literally raising their visibility and inserting their presence into the conversation,” Thomas said in a recent interview. “By portraying real women with their own unique history, beauty and background, I’m working to diversify the representations of black women in art.”
Response #1
Black women are rarely represented in art, and in the instances that they are, they are misrepresented. Although women are now being represented far more in art than in the past decades, black women are still not included. When Mickalene focuses on women of color, she spreads images of women of color in art, demonstrating that each them have their own unique story that deserves to be displayed, expressed, and shared.
Ana Mendieta: Artist Who Pushed Boundaries
Quote #1
“These questions would echo in her work, which explored themes that pushed ethnic, sexual, moral, religious and political boundaries. She urged viewers to disregard their gender, race or other defining societal factors and instead connect with the humanity they share with others.”
Response #1
Through her artwork, Mendieta hoped to inspire viewers to see the people in the painting as humans they have a connection with, and not through the lens of social categorization. Often, people may have been surprised when seeing a person of color represented in art, and I believe Mendieta did so purposefully in order to provide this representation, and also to help society become accustomed to seeing women of color represented in art.
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