In the patriarchal society we live in
today, the male gaze is a view point that is nearly inescapable in
the media we enjoy and take in from day in to day out. We see it in
magazines, billboards, films, television shows and advertisements;
the use of the female body as nothing more than an object for male
eyes to consume, to leer at and stroke the male libido to the point
that it is shocking the female population at large is not waving
their fists in disgust and outrage. On a daily basis, young women are
stripped away of their humanity and used as a selling force for Coors
brand beer or the new Honda Civic, parts of their nude bodies super
imposed into the product they're trying to promote as if they are
the products themselves.
 |
| Well, ain't that refreshing. |
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| Two for the price of one deal? Maybe? |
How
are women or even growing girls meant to feel when they see members
of their own gender be used as nothing more than selling vehicles and
objects to the sexual satisfaction of men? Their bodies spliced and
transformed into a mishmash of lewd images and body parts to get the
boys' gears rolling? It's an insane concept that dehumanizes the
female sex in such a way that many young women grow to glorify this
hyper sexual imagery and internalize it themselves. They agree that
yes, they do desire to attract the attention of men by amplifying
their sexual allure and availability to them...even when they are
hardly the age for that to be even the slightest bit appropriate.
According
to John Berger, it has become that a woman must always be conscious
of themselves and how they are viewed externally by men. That they
must look from beyond themselves and act accordingly to make
themselves more desirable to the male gaze. “A woman must
continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by
her own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or
whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely
avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood,
she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually.” A
female must always, without a doubt be available to be an object of
desire for her male colleagues...and why wouldn't any woman doubt
that when we are given a slew of imagery in our every day lives that
confirm this ridiculous belief. A woman can't even go to the cinema
without being bombarded by imagery of buxom barely clad babes
gallivanting across the screen with their seductive eyes focused on
their boyfriends, fathers, husbands and sons. Their testosterone
pumping love interest playing as a simple tradeoff for what the
attractive beauty really wants.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982
Really
imagine how audiences would have reacted if the genders were swapped.
I mean, really...imagine it.
Now
the above clip was censored, but all you were really missing was a
young Phoebe Cates baring her breasts to the love sick (and
fully clothed) protagonist and capturing him in an erotic kiss before we are brought back to reality and the main guy's apparently intense masturbation session.
This
is a perfect example of what the media does to women every single day
with their raunchy advertising and hyper sexualizing of young bodies.
They've transformed women into walking self pleasure tools for the
male eye. Though, of course, it's natural for boys to have fantasies
such as the one depicted in this film as they go through their
teenage years, I'm not a complete tyrant...but how often do we have
quirky raunchy romantic comedies about young girls and their sexual
needs and frustrations growing up? Almost never and that's exactly
the problem. How is a young woman supposed to relate to media like
this that forces them to view themselves through lenses made for men
and by men? How can someone even comprehend creating an identity
beyond something that is so well accepted that it's become the
ultimate standard? It isn't an easy task and it's hard to blame girls
that go along with the grain instead of against it since doing the
latter tends to get them ostracized by their peers in the most
outrageous fashion.
Sources:
Text: Berger, John. “Ways of Seeing”, Penguin, 1972
Video Clip: Fast Times At Ridgemont High, 1982
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ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct in that women are indeed objectified and shown as objects and need to be shown as something more. One reason why this continues to happen could be because as Mulvey explains, is that strong women could indeed be seen as a threat to males (Mulvey 840). I get angry when I see women portrayed in that manner because they are indeed something more than a product. One idea that went through my mind was that perhaps if women were shown as positive intellectual figures, with supportive males counterparts/costars, in the media, and not have men as the main person in charge (as Mulvey notices they are in film) perhaps that could begin to make a change (Mulvey 839). While Mulvey discusses the portrayal of women in film, her ideas as women being secondary to men are still shown in other forms of media. Perhaps if there was a petition going around that there should be shows, as you stated, about the struggles of young girls as they grew up, maybe that could help in showing the male audience that there is more to women than they see.
ReplyDeleteIn the video that you showed I see Berger’s idea that women are unequal to men in photographs, have the same idea as in this video (Berger 53). I agree that the video is directed for the male viewer. In addition Bell Hooks discuses how other females feel that in the media, they do not think they could say anything valuable because it seemed that no one would listen (Hooks 125). However I feel that it is important to not give up trying to make a change because making a difference could be achieved. Even if the road to it is difficult.
Lastly I also notice that the age group for wanting to attract male attention is growing younger which is a problem that needs to stop. No child should ever feel that they need to be sexualized. One idea to help stop that could be posters that say “your seven go outside and play four square, do not worry about dating”.
That is a good point, we don't really have any comedies that focuses on young women's sexual frustration. I agree we should definitely should have some movies that focuses from the female point of view, one that will put value on her from something other then her looks.
ReplyDelete"They agree that yes, they do desire to attract the attention of men by amplifying their sexual allure and availability to them...even when they are hardly the age for that to be even the slightest bit appropriate."
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that the male gaze can prevent young girls from developing into healthy individuals, but how do we know when is appropriate for them to start expressing their sexualities? Girls are reaching puberty at increasingly faster rates [shown here: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/99/4/505.short]- how can we know that they are not supposed to be in the primitive phases of learning to attract men?
I would guess that the main reason there aren't many female teen lust movies, aside from the obvious not enough women writers in the biz argument, is that as the media sees it right now, women aren't supposed to have a sex drive. We live in a largely slut-shaming society where a women isn't really supposed to want to have sex: that's a privilege, (and according to some media, a burden) that men alone have to bear. In this universe women exist only to be the gatekeeper of the prize of sexual conquest.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your take on the male gaze and I see your point. The video was very true of what actually goes on in our society today. Women are simply being objectified with an agenda by the media. I believe it is by design, the big players want to make money and sex sells therefore they will continue to hunt for the never ending greed at the expense of women. What is disturbing is that they have so much control that women who are in these types videos and pictures are also in it to make money. As we discussed in class some of these women have convinced themselves of the fictitious "normal".
ReplyDeleteI hate to have to agree that sadly it is a scheme to make money. Apparently along the way businesses realized that sex sells and that using the female body as an object was just a fine. I mean it's not like women haven't been treated less than human since the set up of western civilization, and the some! It's horrible, as you mentioned, to see women and especially young girls feel like they have to act and dress in a certain, provocative way to be accepted in society. Forget them being smart, autonomous individuals, they won't be listening if they dared to open their mouths, but let her show some skin and all jaws will drop. Although no one can really say if they'll be listening. Now though this phenomena also applies to men, and again one must reiterate that two wrongs do not and will never make a right.
ReplyDelete