Post #2 The male gaze and the opposing gaze

    The male gaze is the way in which the audience views all types of media - images, literature, art, and cinema. The audience is considered to be male in every aspect and women are merely portrayed the way in which men want to view the women.

In Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" Grace Kelly's portrayal in the movie was primarily to be viewed for the male audience's pleasure

     The male gaze is a pervasive form of vision in popular culture because historically men have had the power in art, film, the workplace, and politics. Men were the most important audience category because they were the consumers buying tickets to films, buying the books, and commissioning the paintings that objectified the women. Since men controlled all aspects of society throughout past centuries, it is no surprise that media created an atmosphere where the male audience was able to view the female art form. The male gaze became ubiquitous because the female art form lost her identity, and “…becomes his property, los[t] her outward glamorous characteristics… her eroticism [was] subjected to the male star alone.” (Mulvey, pg 840). This example demonstrates how the male gaze replaced any kind of identifiable characteristics the female character once had, making her act the way she wanted the male to see her. The important characteristic of the male gaze was the male’s right of judgement where the male is the judge and the female is the one to be judged. “Paris awards the apple to the woman he finds most beautiful. Thus beauty becomes competitive” (Berger page 52). The male’s right to judge transforms the female into a submissive role where she loses all of her power. This submissiveness also creates a competitive atmosphere among other females to be viewed as the most beautiful female. Therefore the female’s only purpose was to gain the approval of the male judging her beauty.

An example of a woman portrayed only as a man's possession.

     The oppositional Gaze is a form of silent rebellion; a silent weapon where black people could have a voice in a world that strictly forbade their participation. The oppositional gaze’s roots began during slavery where black people had no voice and were severely punished for opposing any form of white society’s persecution of them. “The politics of slavery, of racialized power relations, were such that the slaves were denied their right to gaze”. (Hooks, pg 115). Opposing glances were the only weapon that these slaves had in many cases and it is understandable that slaves mastered the subtlety of the opposing gaze. Any slave who met his master’s eye with a hint of hostility could easily be killed, therefore, it was imperative to conceal the gaze from white detection. The oppositional gaze in the days of slavery was constantly monitored, so the ability to disguise it was very important. Blacks throughout slavery and the racially charged atmosphere of the early 20th century were constantly punished for opposing white society and therefore developed a strong urge to have their voices heard in a way that did not result in a form of punishment. Television and film viewers’ ability to judge forms of media was crucial in the development and growth of the opposing gaze throughout the 20th century. After slavery and during the Civil Rights Movement, black people were increasingly able to consume television, books, and films in a relatively safe environment. These forms of media were viewed usually in the home or the darkness of a theatre where the viewer was unhindered in his ability to express his disapproval of what was seen on the screen. “Given the real life public circumstances wherein black men were murdered/lynched for looking at white womanhood, where the black male gaze was always subject to control and or punishment by the powerful white other, the private realm of the television screen or dark theaters could unleash the repressed gaze.” (Bell Hooks, pg 118). Black culture was not accurately represented in early forms of media. Therefore, the ability for black viewers to recognize this form of white supremacy while expressing their displeasure in safe places, allowed the oppositional gaze to continue to grow.

1970's picture showing black women expressing rebellion against racial inequality


     Since I now know that “Women watch themselves being looked at… The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female” (Berger, pg 74), some of my views about various media have certainly changed. I now look at female characters with more of a keen eye; I recognize the main purpose and positioning in many forms of media is to be viewed and judged by the male audience. I see when she exudes sexuality, she is probably doing it for my pleasure and for the male audience. I also think that how a viewer absorbs media in all its forms will depend on that particular viewer’s past experience and his or her background. How a viewer responds to media will differ according to race, age, gender, background and family upbringing. These varying factors that exist in all of us will ultimately decide how we view and judge media. Our life experiences play a major part in how we perceive media in all its forms.

http://theodysseyonline.com/nebraska/media--men-how-we-can-change-their-view-of-women/36368

Works Cited:
• Berger, John (1972). Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books
• hooks, bell (1992) Black Looks: Race and Representation, Chapter 7 “The Oppositional Gaze”
• Mulvey, Laura (1975) “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism