Portfolio Task4: The Gaze (Re-Visited)

‘according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but have by no means been overcome - men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ (Berger 1972, 45, 47)

Alexandre Cabanel, ‘Birth of Venus’, 1863

Berger’s above quote is clearly demonstrated through Alexandre Cabanel’s ‘Birth of Venus’ painting, 1863. Berger insinuates that men and women hold different roles within society; he alludes that male figures haves higher social presence than women. Men are valued by the amount of power they hold, whereas a woman’s presence signifies what can or cannot be done to her. Cabanel, a male, has painted the female body in a way that allows the (male) viewer to enjoy looking at it. The body is presented to you surrounded by ideological apparatus to give the notion that she is ‘The Goddess of Love.’ Her hand is raised across her face to cover it; this positioning also suggests that she may have just awaken from sleep or is just about to sleep. The gaze the viewer places upon the woman is not returned by the female figure, this allows the viewer to objectively view the woman without being seen. There is no dialogue apparent. 'The nude reveals how women have been seen and judged as sights.' (Grange, 2005. p5) A sense of being appreciated by men replaces her own sense of being; she acknowledges this role and presents herself as the subject. This gives way for people (men) to look without anyone ever knowing; it is only when a gaze is returned that you are forced to look at someone as a subject not an object. This is a subsequent example of men looking at women and women becoming objectified; the target of someone else's gaze.

 

Sophie Dahl, Opium, 2000

The gaze is concerned with power. At the core is a male fantasy of domination over women, she is there to be taken. 'Her nakedness is not an expression of her own feelings but that of the male viewer.' (Grange, 2005. p5) These social ideologies of men are then played out to society. We live in a culture where these images of women are played out over and over again to the extent where it becomes the norm for men to view these images of woman. It is a visual reminder to men that women always take the submissive role in society and that men are dominant figures. This recent image of Sophie Dahl for the Opium ad campaign illustrates the degree of sexual inequality which is still present within our society today. This unequal relationship allows males to continue to view the woman with power over her. As with the oil painting, the gaze is not returned by the woman and the body is positioned in a suggestive manor.

Common to both these images is the sense of the woman being watched and the gaze not being returned, making it acceptable for the (male) viewer to look upon her as and when they wish. Nevertheless, Berger makes the following distinction:

‘To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself. A naked body has to be seen as an object in order to become a nude.’ (Grange, 2005. p6)

Still today this nude can be seen in the media and is predominately there for the male viewer to enjoy.


References

Ashley la Grange, 2005. Basic Critical Theory for Photographers. 1 Edition. Focal Press.