Seminar// The Gaze

Men looking at women and women being objectified. Being objectified is being the target of someone else's gaze. In our lives we are the subjects. We categorise people as objects.

'men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at'
Berger (1972)

Panopticon: You are looked at but you don't look at anything.
Our society is one big panopticon for women. Women are looked at, men have the power to change.

Hans Memling, 'Vanity' (1485)

We are looking at her, she isn't looking back at us. There is no dialogue.
Our gaze is never challenged ...we are always allowed to look without anyone ever knowing that you are looking. When a gaze is returned you are forced to look at someone as a subject not an object.

The painting is called vanity. Jokes that she is so vain she is looking at herself. Lets us then look at her in the same way.

The only people who brought art when this was produced is men. Men dominated: own property, businesses, farm, run army, Kings etc. Dominant in base ...produce superstructural forms.

Culture emerges than naturally reflects dominant men. Excuses/legitimises behaviour.

Pseudo/pornographic function. Allows other men to view them in their own homes.

More and more of these nude paintings emerge (copy copy copy) people see all the time so become justified as a study of beauty. Original meaning lost.

Self-perpertuating

Visual culture has always been dominated by men.
400 years later, same images being produced...

Alexandre Cabanel, 'Birth of Venus' 1863
Manet, 'Olympia' 1863

Cabanel: gaze is one way. Surrounded by cupids. Fantasy scene. Body presented to you. Surrounded by ideological apparatus. The Goddess of love.

Manet: caused a scandal, seen as shocking. Returns the gaze ...unimpressed. A challenged gaze returned. body language. Reality of above. Prostitute. Body on display. On available at a price. Body more guarded. Forced to confront the reality that the nearest you come to the fantasy women is that you  have to pay for her. Real sexual relationships.

Both: naked.

Manet takes composition of Titan's Venus of Urbino, 1538 and copied it. Titan's gaze is met, there is an intimacy. More laid back/inviting position. Less assertive. Dog on bed rather than cat: dog more dependant. Maid looking after children in background awaiting the return of the mother.

The gaze is about power, the core is a male fantasy of domination over women. A reminder to men that they should be dominating women. She is there to be taken. A fantasy. Not a reality.

Social ideologies of men played out. Culture where this is played out over and over where it becomes the norm.

Women always take the submissive role.  Men are dominant.

Marx: things produced because men rule society. Super-structual form.
Situation where these images become acceptable/institutionalised. The same relationships played out. Creates situation where women are given constant instructions on how to behave... a self-regulatory nature (a huge panopticon) the gaze of an entire culture onto the woman. Images then become hyper-real.