John Berger Said That in Terms of Representation Men Act and Women Appear; That Men Are Controllers of the Gaze and Women Objects of the Gaze. to What Extent Is This Concept Relevant for an Understanding of the Function
To understand the idea of the male gaze I willl be looking back on the development of the gaze and how it has developed into days society andespacially in the form of music videos. John berger observed that ‘ according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by omeans been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look atowomen. Women watch themselves being looked at’(Berger 1972,45,47) Berger first saw the idea of the male gaze when he arued that in European art form the renaissance onwars women were deoicted as beinf ‘aware of being seen by a male spectator’ (ibid.,49) he advanced his thinking and the idea tht the realistic, ‘highly tactile’ depiction of things on oil paintings and kater in colour photography, in particular where they were they were portrayed as ‘within touching distance, represented a desire to posses the things depicted (ibid.,83)
In later writings from berger , he insisted that women were still ‘depicted in a different way to men - because the ‘‘ideal’’ spectaor is always assume to be a male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him’ (ibid.,64).
To back up bergers theory , in 1996 Jib Fowles still felt able to insit that ‘ in advertising males gaze and females are gazed at’ (Fowles 1996, 204). Also Paul Messaris adds that female models in advertisements addressed to women ‘ treat the lens as a substitute for the eye of an imaginary male onlooker,’ adding also that ‘it could be argued that when women look at theses ads, they ae actually seeing themselves as a man might see them’ (Messaris 1997,41)
Such advetisments ‘ appear to imply a male point of view, even though the intended viewer is often a woman. 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’ (ibid., 44)
The male gaze is the look that asserts dominance and control, that of the male dominance and he control he has over the woman. It has been
In later writings from berger , he insisted that women were still ‘depicted in a different way to men - because the ‘‘ideal’’ spectaor is always assume to be a male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him’ (ibid.,64).
To back up bergers theory , in 1996 Jib Fowles still felt able to insit that ‘ in advertising males gaze and females are gazed at’ (Fowles 1996, 204). Also Paul Messaris adds that female models in advertisements addressed to women ‘ treat the lens as a substitute for the eye of an imaginary male onlooker,’ adding also that ‘it could be argued that when women look at theses ads, they ae actually seeing themselves as a man might see them’ (Messaris 1997,41)
Such advetisments ‘ appear to imply a male point of view, even though the intended viewer is often a woman. 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’ (ibid., 44)
The male gaze is the look that asserts dominance and control, that of the male dominance and he control he has over the woman. It has been