The male gaze is how women have come to be viewed in society as sexualized and objectified. John Berger explains the concept in his 1972 article "Ways of Seeing." It assumes that the main audience for the media are white males. The idea forces women to be subject to scrutiny in everyday life, and it forces the mainstream media to create images of women that are highly sexualized and unrealistic. The toll this often takes on little girls to grown women is lowering their self esteem and forcing them to feel as though they need to look just like the women they see on television, movies, magazines etc. Berger says "...the essential way of seeing women, the essential use to which their images are put, has not changed... the 'ideal' spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him" (Berger 64).
You are made to feel you should look like THIS. And your body, even if you workout and diet, looks like THIS.
The oppositional gaze, as explained by Bell Hooks in chapter 7 of her book "Black Looks: Race and Representation," comes charging in like a knight on a horse to defeat the evil male gaze. It allows us to open our minds and understand how media affects us. Men, women, black white, whatever. Anyone can realize what is going on with our impossibly glamorized media products and people. And ultimately: people that become products. Hooks describes it as rebellious, courageous and a method of agency in the face of societal white male domination (Hooks 116).
I think we have made some strides toward equality in several ways. In earlier decades, at least from seeing television and picture portrayals, people seemed to care how they looked in a more uncomfortable way. Men wore suits that were stuffy and hot and layers upon layers of clothing while women wore dresses and coats and corsets etc. that were extremely uncomfortable. Nowadays, if you feel like you don't want to comb your hair or wear something other than a t shirt and jeans, you don't have to. And no one will think you look absolutely horrible. The ways in which we haven't made any progress, however, is in the media's portrayal of women as sexual objects. It happens with men too though. Sadly, male models are scrutinized similarly to how female models are. Some friends of mine are models and the girls are always trying to lose weight and the guys are always trying to simultaneously bulk up and slim down. Because of the media, no one has a mind of their own.
I think we have made some strides toward equality in several ways. In earlier decades, at least from seeing television and picture portrayals, people seemed to care how they looked in a more uncomfortable way. Men wore suits that were stuffy and hot and layers upon layers of clothing while women wore dresses and coats and corsets etc. that were extremely uncomfortable. Nowadays, if you feel like you don't want to comb your hair or wear something other than a t shirt and jeans, you don't have to. And no one will think you look absolutely horrible. The ways in which we haven't made any progress, however, is in the media's portrayal of women as sexual objects. It happens with men too though. Sadly, male models are scrutinized similarly to how female models are. Some friends of mine are models and the girls are always trying to lose weight and the guys are always trying to simultaneously bulk up and slim down. Because of the media, no one has a mind of their own.
Let's take the sex symbol Jessica Rabbit for instance. She was debuted to the world in the 1988 movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." A children's movie (albeit with adult inuendos). I remember wanting to look like her when I grew up. But she embodied all of the fake, unattainable features that the male gaze and the media have created.
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| Yet another form of media that Ms. Rabbit has invaded that makes us feel inadequite: here is a fashion model made up to look like her. |
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| As if the images weren't enough, pop star Katie Perry dressed up as Jessica Rabbit and performed a show. |
An advertisement by Sisley, a high fashion clothing company. Really?
As much as it pains me to say it, I can give some insights about the modeling world because I used to be a model. When I arrived on set at shoots I looked absolutely haggard (in this sense, like a real person). The makeup artist would recommend some product or another for my acne but shrug it off with a "they'll edit it out later, no biggie." When I would see the final products, they were flawless. 'I don't look like that. But wow are those sure going to look good in my book.' I would think. The money was blinding. It made me not really realize how self-esteem damaging it was to me and other girls. It seemed at castings that a lot of the girls were unhappy and I now realize that it was most likely because they were not eating enough. Not to mention they were sitting in a room full of other beauty contestants in the pageant. Because ultimately that is what it is. You are being judged by your looks for money. Thankfully, I was never told to lose weight or anything, (I was naturally very thin in those days) and I never suffered from an eating disorder. But it sickens me that only now am I realizing that something I saw as a great accomplishment (a spread in Teen Vogue) was seen by however many teen girls who, based on the photoshopped and highly stylized picture of myself thought, subconsciously or not, that they were fat or ugly or just not good enough. Not enough of these girls- probably not any of them, if they are still purchasing magazines like that, are able to see through the bullshit (excuse my language) and view any of the images with an oppositional gaze.
This skewed image of women (and men too in some cases) needs to change. And the only way it will get done is through people deciding to open their eyes and accept themselves for who they are. The problem is that modeling and advertising are businesses. In our capitalist system, they are going to keep making girls think they are fat and making them anorexic or bulimic similarly to how McDonald's is going to keep making people unhealthy. Big business owns all, and it is hard to break away from their influence.
Berger, John. “Ways of Seeing”, Penguin, 1972
Hooks, Bell. “The Oppositional Gaze.” Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press, 1992.
I do agree with you that now we as women are more liberated and have more freedom in choosing what to wear yet I still can’t wrap my mind around men in some court cases will use a woman’s wardrobe as an excuse to rape her often cited saying that it was the female’s wrongdoing for provoking him. I really like the fact that you gave some insight of the industry when you were a model because it shows us the hierarchies that go into big business corporations and how much influence they have over what image they want to project to the public.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it is a big business, advertising and media in general. Everyone is out to make money, even models. Not many will turn down a shoot and why should they, it is a job and a well paying one. People in general need to be able to see themselves through their own eyes and not through the eyes that media has given them. When we can truly see ourselves we can learn to look past the images that are plastered all over the place and not compare ourselves to them or we can educate others and keep educating them until things change. See advertising wasn't always sexualized. It used to be geared to the woman consumer though if a woman was in the ad I am sure she fit some role women were expected to be like homemaker but I feel that would be easier to get past and change than these sexualized images.
ReplyDeleteI do hope one day the industry will change, but until then we can educate and you as a model can educate others as well.
I really liked your post, Gail. It was definitely more interesting to read. I have to say that I do agree with what most people are saying. The media has heavily influenced our culture, the way we see ourselves and the way others see us. It has objectified women and turned them into mindless, pretty shells with big boobs and a tiny waist.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I wouldn't say that this problem is ALL MEDIA'S fault or that none of us have a mind of our own. Our discussions in class definitely prove that we are aware of the issues at hand. I think being able to identify the problem shows that we are actually thinking and by doing that, we are lessening the influence of the media in our lives.
You have made a great point about young girls wanting to look like the girls in the television and magazines. Young girls nowadays are very concerned with the way they look, they apply make-ups to look "sexy and attractive", and they are very much conscious about their weight. If some girls are over weight, these girls are being picked on. When these over-weight girls grow up, they have a very low self-esteem, it psychologically effects them.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you and I can relate to your modeling story. I used to model but now I only do it when I have the time. My friends who are models used to tell me I should get into it because it's a great way to learn more about the fashion industry. I figured why not because I'm already a size 0 plus all I had to do was pose or walk and get paid for it. Yeah, well I didn't know theres more to modeling then what I had thought. But modeling, for the most part was exciting and new for me so I enjoyed every moment of it. However, I remember for one of my castings, I didn't get the gig because they said I was "too healthy looking." Of course that confused me because I've been told all my life that I was either too thin or I look bulimic. So after that, I was frustrated with myself for not feeling wanted or accepted in the modeling industry because I wasn't thin enough. On top of that I was battling my own personal body image problem because I couldn't gain weight. After reading your post, it reminded me how women are constantly having body image problems because society have a mind set on what an ideal woman is instead of what a woman should want to be.
ReplyDeleteYou've made a good point on how dominating the male gaze can be to the point that cartoon characters like Mrs. Rabbit can be created to show the "ideal." The big corporations definitely have an impact on society's views on gender. However, if we try and do what bell hooks says, which is to look at things in the media with a critical lens, the images may not affect us in this way. With critical lens people can oppose and question media instead of being inspired by it. This will cause tension between the media and the people. With tension the media might slowly change in response to the critics.
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