Blog Post #2: Ways of Seeing/Viewing

John Berger sums up the definition of the male gaze in his book, Ways of Seeing, by simply stating, “One might simplify this by saying: men act and women appear” (Berger, 47). What the male gaze implies, is that women appear in various types of media imagery, for the sole purpose of providing visual pleasure to the spectator, the man. The male gaze is arguably perpetuated within various outlets of mass media today, either by employing the all too familiar usage of women appearing as limp objects or sexual decoration. What's more, is that if an advertisement or film character is supposed to possess powerful or intelligent qualities, but still happens to be a woman, it cannot be done without the patriarchal undertones of eroticism, exoticism, conventional beauty, or overt sexuality. After all, why would a woman dare to appear in any mainstream media, if she weren’t conventionally good looking and sexy? The answer is, females do not even make it through casting if they do not meet certain criteria based on their appearance. Clearly, it is not the women of the audience or the female actors that are benefiting from this conundrum. For example, NBC's new television series, “The Blacklist,” (2013) is a show about an ex-government agent, Raymond Reddington, who also happens to be an insane criminal and is subsequently wanted by FBI. He makes a deal to help the FBI seek out criminals on his “black list” to avoid jail time, but only under the condition that he only solely speaks to a female FBI agent named Elizabeth Keen, who is the other main character of the show. Elizabeth is different than what we are used to seeing on mainstream network television, but not so much at the same time. She is a great FBI agent, she knows how to  shoot her gun at the bad guys, she’s very serious, melancholy at times, and emotionless in times of duress, just like a man is supposed to be. With her white skin and shoulder length brown hair, she is not overtly sexual, but she is still conventionally pretty. Further, the relationship she forms with Reddington is riddled with sexual innuendo, and Elizabeth is bound under the manipulation of Reddington throughout the series. It is not a coincidence that Reddington calls her by her diminutive childhood nickname "Lizzie," which channels his subordination toward her, and leads her on to believe that he genuinely cares for her. Television just cannot seem to give an “ugly” woman a leading role, and cannot seem to escape the cliche story lines that portray the subordination of women.

Getting back to the male gaze, the woman in said imagery not only appears and is surveyed by the male gaze, she is forced to live in a double entendre of also having to survey herself. Berger explains that, “She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to me, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as success for her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another” (Berger, 46). More or less, the constant surveillance of oneself (a woman) is the unfortunate result of the male gaze, and it is exemplified in mainstream media when a woman holds a mirror to view her own reflection. All of this is a problem because a woman is looking at her self in an effort to look perfect for her surveyor. In whatever way, this act of self surveillance ultimately labels her as vain. The matter of one having to survey oneself in order to please the male gaze and condemned as vain for doing so creates quite the hypocritical circumstance.

Now, what would happen if we made a female oriented version of The Wolf of Wall Street?  Would men would be afraid of her? Would men assume that she would castrate them? Or worse, would men even go see the movie? Laura Mulvey helps us understand this insanity in her essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Mulvey states, “Nevertheless, as this article has argued, the structure of looking in narrative fiction film contains a contradiction in its own premises: the female image as a castration threat constantly endangers the unity of the diegesis and bursts through the world of illusion as an intrusive, static, one-dimensional fetish. Thus the two looks materially present in time and space are obsessively subordinated to the neurotic needs of the male ego” (Mulvey, 843). There are too many films that are great examples of what Mulvey is trying to convey here, but what if the female in the film was not even visible? For example, the movie “Her” (2013) is about Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and Samantha’s (Scarlett Johansson) relationship, except Samantha is actually generated by computer software. That’s right, she is only accessible through Theodore’s phone or computer, leaving us with an entire film with a man speaking to her through his devices. It almost goes without saying that Samantha’s voice is sexy, she often “breathes” (even though she is software on a computer that requires no oxygen,) she giggles and is very intelligent, and she claims that she not only has human emotions but that she loves Theodore. She even convinces another woman to be a human medium for the couple so that they can have sex through her. As time goes on, she admits to talking to millions of other men and software men at the same time as Theodore. Theodore is heart broken but tries to stay with Samantha because he is in love with the idea of her. Ultimately, she ends up leaving her human boyfriend for other software boyfriends and Theodore is left in ruins. In other words, even the sound of a voice emulated by software on a computer that is structured to be female threatens male castration and caters to the neurotic tendencies of a man. 

Evidently, the male gaze is a pervasive view in the history of popular culture and mainstream media. Whats more, is that today women that appear nude in magazine spreads or high fashion photographs that appearing nude gives them the freedom to be in their own skin and put it all out there carelessly. However, Berger argues against this notion quite convincingly, “She is not naked as she is. She is naked as the spectator sees her” (Berger, 50). Is the story of Adam and Eve one to reflect upon as the justification for women having the right to pose nude with absolutely no remorse today? Indeed, Eve ate the apple first, and that resulted in the couple becoming aware and insecure of their naked bodies and therefore were banished to wear clothing and women were deemed forever subordinate. Whether or not present day women claim that posing nude is liberating, almost none of them will pass the test because of their manufactured seductive looks and perfect bodies that obviously appeal to the male gaze. After all, there are many people behind the making of a magazine cover or film who are well aware of who their audience is. Are these women to blame for the perpetuation of the male gaze, or are men? Both parties are guilty. Many critics argue that Kim Kardashian is only relevant today because of her infamous sex tape with her ex boyfriend Ray J. Ray J claims that he cannot take credit for her stardom and Kim is not proud of this moment. However, Kim continues to appear nude like a broken record on magazine covers, her TV show and social media. On her show, “Keeping up with the Kardashians” she said, “"As soon as I pop this thing out -- as soon as I get in shape -- the first thing I want to do is Playboy or some nude shoot. I just wanna walk down the street fully naked. I’m gonna be the sexy hot mom.” It sounds like she is stripping down for her own liberation of finally giving birth to her child and getting back into her ideal shape, but her expression in the cover photo really begs to differ. With that look on her face, the professionals behind the scenes of GQ are clearly using her to please the male gaze.

  With all of that being said, it is only within the last 30 to 40 years that African American women have materialized in mainstream media, albeit the “mammy” or slave character littered throughout pre civil rights mainstream films, that most Americans would rather die than talk about. Presently, black women are now depicted in the same way that white women have always been portrayed in. African American women are undeniably aware that a reflection of themselves on the big screen has been absent for so long, but are not necessarily being portrayed accurately whatsoever. Bell Hooks sheds some light on this subject, stating that many black women rightfully choose to boycott media in which they see no reflection of themselves in or they may choose to ignore the absence of black women and to consume regardless. Bell Hooks’ The Oppositional Gaze, extends an invitation to end this madness, and encourages black women to view media with an “oppositional gaze,” or critical eye while viewing these injustices on the screen and to speak out in an effort to to claim their own role and image within cinema and mainstream media as a whole. “Spaces of agency exist for black people, wherein we can both interrogate the gaze of the Other but also look back, and at one another, naming what we see” (Hooks, 116). Hooks is spot on in calling out African American women to step up to the plate and make their voices be heard. Without the contribution of the black female community, it is hard to imagine that any change will occur.

Works Cited:

1. Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin, 1972. Print.
2. Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP, 1999: 833-44. Print.
3. Hooks, Bell. “The Oppositional Gaze.” Black Looks: Race and Representation. Boston: South End Press, 1992: 115-31. Print.

All required links are embedded within my blog post. 

Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore is showing us his gaze as if he could actually see his software girlfriend.

Theodore expresses his happiness as if he was actually walking with his software girlfriend.

An emotional Theodore looks threatened here as if his software girlfriend is about to leave him.

Kim Kardashian gives a perfect example of entertaining the male gaze on the cover of GQ, a men's magazine.

Since GQ's audience is men aged 18-49, there is no doubt that she puts herself on display for a man's sexual appetite.