Roles of Women

Christine de Pizan "City of Ladies"

During the Middle Ages, women started to slowly break away from the norms and started working.  "Despite biblical teachings against them, they became writers, artists, merchants, and nuns, and ran the kingdom when their husbands were away at war" (Guerilla girls, 19). Some women were starting to become members of the guild where they were allowed to create art if they had a way of getting accepted. However, many women were still excluded from schools so they were unable to be taught to read or write.  "Access to education and the convent, the center of a women's intellectual and artistic life from the sixth to the sixteenth centuries, was often determined by noble birth" (Chadwick, 44-45). If a woman was accepted into a convent then she was able to be educated but could not teach others.  "A woman must be a learner, listening quietly with due submission.  I do not permit a woman to be a teacher, nor must a woman domineer over a man; she should be quiet" (Chadwick, 45).  Everything within the Middle Ages focused on the church and women were told what to do. The picture above is by Christine de Pizan who wrote a book called the "City of Ladies".  The picture shows women doing manual labor which was unusual during the Middle Ages.  Christine de Pizan was trying to get the point across that women can work and be successful too. The Bayeux Tapestry was an embroidered piece that represented the Battle of Hastings.  It tells a story about what happened and William the Conqueror's reasoning behind starting the war.  The embroidery was created by Aelfgyva and the Cleric in 1086.

Artemisia Gentileschi "Judith Slaying Holofernes"

During the Renaissance, if a woman was born into a family of artists then that was her way in.  Most of the women artists of this time period had father's who were artists and allowed their daughters to work in their atelier's alongside them.  If a woman's father was not an artist the only other ways to gain access was to marry an artist, become a nun, or be wealthy. During this time period even though a woman could work in her father's atelier it could lead to risks. For example, Artemisia Gentileschi worked at her father's atelier with some of her father's other colleague's who were males.  Artemisia was alone with a man named Agostino and he pushed her into a room and raped her.  During the Renaissance, "she could salvage her reputation by marrying any man who raped her" (Guerilla girls, 32).  So even though Agostino took advantage of Artemisia she was the one who looked bad and the only way for her to fix herself was to marry the jerk who raped her.  It is said that her painting of Judith Slaying Holofernes was inspired by the anger that Artemisia had towards Agostino for raping her. The painting is posted to the left and shows Judith having no shame in cutting the man's head off.  During the Renaissance no one would have ever thought that a woman would be able to be in charge of something so serious as that.  However, if you do disrespect a woman she will do what she can to protect herself.  From being raped, Artemisia had a lot of anger that resulted in the painting of this portrait and it had a lot to do with the scene that she created. A lot of women's paintings during this time period reflected events that they had gone through.  Women had to go through so many bad life experiences just to be recognized and given the opportunity to do something that they loved.


Coming into the 19th Century, women started really breaking the norms and fighting for their freedom.  The invention of the camera started to come about where it allowed women the right to start figuring out what we call today, photography.  "Until the founding of specialized art schools for women in Britain and American during the second quarter of the century, the teaching of drawing and painting to women was included with skills like embroidery, lace making, dance, and music.  Beginning in the 1840s, schools were founded to provide training in design for women who were forced to support themselves" (Chadwick, 178).  Women were left in charge of their homes in terms of decorating and making sure everything was taken care of for when the man came home.  Also during this period, anything that had to do with wars and soldiers was off limits to women. Two major women artists who made a breakthrough during this time period I believe are Rosa Bonheur and Elizabeth Thompson.  Rosa Bonheur was a lesbian painter who became a cross dresser in order to travel around to do her paintings.  She enjoyed painting animals and was very successful at it.  However, in order for her to be a cross dresser which allowed her easier access she had to get a permit from the police and her doctor.  An interesting quote from Rosa Bonheur is "I have no patience for women who ask permission to think" (Guerilla girls, 48).  I think this is so strong because it is showing how determined she was to make women aware that they are equal to men and are able to think and speak for themselves.  You don't need someone to tell you what to do every second of the day.  Elizabeth Thompson painted war themes which was very controversial because that's something only men were allowed to do since men were the one's involved with war anyway.  She had her father standing by her side because he believed that woman should be educated.  Pictured below is one of Elizabeth Thompson's war themed paintings.  This painting was of the Charge of the Light Brigade. This just shows how successful she ended up becoming of painting different wars even though it wasn't allowed for a woman at the time. During this time period you also start to see women making magnificent sculptures about the abolishment of slavery as well as quilts that tell a story.  Harriet Powers Pictorial Quilt was a magnificent piece of art by a black woman who was illiterate but she understood what she was taught in church about the Bible and she created what she believed the images would have looked like.  This link breaks down each square of the quilt and tells you what Bible story each image represents.

Elizabeth Thompson "Balaclava"

Overall with each new time period little improvements were being made towards women's roles in society.  They had to fight for what they believed in and potentially harm themselves in order for someone to realize they were doing it for a good reason.  Their artwork was a way for them to overcome these challenges and get it out into the public to inform people.

Works Cited:
Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. 4th ed. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.
The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. Print.

Slide List for Midterm Exam

The Gaze and the Guerilla Girls
Guerilla Girls, Advantages of Being a Woman Artist, 1989
Guerilla Girls, Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into The Met?, 2005
bell hooks
John Berger

Middle Ages
Aelfgyva and the Cleric, The Bayeux Tapestry c. 1086
The Beatus Apocalypse of Gerona, 975
Gospel Book of the Abbess Hitda showing the Abbess offering her Gospel Book to the cloister's
patron, St. Walburga, c. 1020
Herrad of Landsberg, Hortus Deliciarum, after 1170
Hildegard of Bingen, Scivas c1142-52
Christine De Pizan, Christine De Pizan in her Study, from The City of Ladies, 1405

Renaissance
Sofonisba Anguissola - Self Portrait, 1561
Queen Anne of Austria, 1570
Boy Bitten By a Crayfish, before 1559
Elisabetta Siriani, Portia Wounding Her Thigh, 1664
Artemisia Gentileschi, Susanna and the Elders, 1610
Tintoretto, Susanna and the Elders, 1555
Orazio Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant, 1610
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and her Maidservant, 1618
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Slaying Holofernes, 1612
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait, 1630

17th & 18th Century Painting
Judith Leyster, A Woman Sewing by Candlelight, 1633
Vermeer, The Lacemaker, 1665-68
Anna Maria Sybilla Merian, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium 1705
Rachel Ruysch, Flowerpiece, after 1700
Angelica Kauffman, Sellers of Love (Vendor of Love), after 1766
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Portrait of Marie Antoinette with Her Children, 1787

Victorian England
Edith Haylar, Feeding the Swans, 1889
Alice Walker, Wounded Feelings, 1861
Anna Blunden, The Seamstress, 1854
Rebecca Solomon, The Governess, 1854
Emily Mary Osborn, Nameless and Friendless, 1857
Rosa Bonheur, Plowing in the Nivernais, 1848
Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair, 1854
Elizabeth Thompson, Calling the Roll After an Engagement, Crimea 1874

19C American Craft
Harriet Powers, Pictorial Quilt 1895
Lilly Martin Spencer, We Both Must Fade, 1869
Lilly Martin Spencer, War Spirit at Home, 1866

Harriet Hosmer, Zenobia in Chains, 1859
Harriet Hosmer, Beatrice Cenci 1857
Edmonia Lewis, Old Arrow Maker, 1866-72
Edmonia Lewis, Forever Free, 1867

Impressionism
Alice Barber Stephens, The Female Life Class, 1879
Susan MacDowel Eakins, Portrait of Thomas Eakins, 1889
Berthe Morisot, Mother and Sister of the Artist,1870
Berthe Morisot, Mother and Sister of the Artist,1870
Eva Gonzales, Pink Morning,1874
Mary Cassat, A Cup of Tea, c 1880
Mary Cassat, Woman in Black at the Opera, 1880
Berthe Morisot, Psyche, 1876

Women In The Middle Ages

Roles of Women in the Middle Age

Today, it seems that there are much to improve in our society, most especially issues regarding gender inequality. Although advancements could still definitely be made, our history books are social artifacts which provide evidence that society has indeed come a long way. 

The roles of women in Europe during the middle ages were the typical expectations; stay at home wife to cook, clean and raise children, or become a nun. As one would expect, the middle ages were predominately controlled by men. They were the breadwinners for the family, which meant that it was the men's responsibility to go out and make money to provide for the family as a whole. As Chadwick explained,  “Women’s social roles remained circumscribed by a Christian ethic that stressed obedience and chastity, by the demands of maternal and domestic responsibility” (Chadwick 44), which restrained women from interacting with society, but rather, stay indoors and what she was told without oppressing. If a woman did not want to be a housewife, she had the option of becoming a nun. The way I see it is that women were deprived of their own rights, which quite frankly everyone was born with. Maybe in the Middle Ages it was more acceptable by society, and even women, because they didn't have the voice that women today now have. 

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary By Diego Velasquez

Another problem that the Middle Ages were faced with was the lack of education in women. Because society’s expectations of women were to be caretakers for family, education was not needed in the eyes of the people. Being uneducated narrowed the options for women; they basically had no choice but to work on what was created and expected of them. Women were so incredibly dependent on the husbands giving them direction. It seems as if women were not treated as wives with respect, but more as objects with specific duties to fulfill. Today, women are becoming independent which has shown through the number of powerful women in the world. This is not to say, however, that there are improvements to be made in society, because there are; but, we have come a long way. 

Judith Slaying Holofernes- Artemisia Gentileschi

Fortunately, times changed and as years passed from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance era, societal norms of women changed slowly but surely. Because some women became nuns who stayed at convents, there was more leniency in being able to express themselves because they weren’t dominated by men; rather, they had the freedom to make decisions for themselves. Thus, women discovered expression through art. According to Chadwick, women produced art in monasteries because they gained access to education during their stay at the convents (Chadwick 44). This was a whole new world for women. Finally, freedom was expressed and their feelings and experiences were depicted through it. In convents, women had some sort of authority, because they are able to free themselves from the societal norms of being a housewife.

After the Middle Ages passed, the Renaissance came. According to the dictionary, renaissance is the "the cultural rebirth that occurred in Europe from roughly the fourteenth through the middle of the seventeenth centuries" (Dictionary).  Because of this 'rebirth', women also felt empowered, allowing them to make contributions politically and economically.  One Renaissance woman whose artwork speaks volumes to a generation is Artemisia Gentileschi. As a young girl, she was abused and raped, which was strongly depicted in her art work. One could look at her paintings and feel pain, grief and a longing for revenge. The biggest achievement for her was becoming the first woman to be inducted into Accademia di Arte del Disegno, which was the academy of fine arts in Florence, Italy. This is influential because during this era, women artists were not wholly accepted. She paved the way for women in the art world and   gave other women confidence to follow in her footsteps. She gave them hope that maybe they, too, can accomplish such a goal.

Judith with the Head of Holofernes- Fede Galizia

Another influential artist during the Renaissance era was Fede Galizia, the daughter of Nunzio Galicia. Luckily for her, she was influenced by her own father's art at a young age, and because of that influence, she was able to flourish as a painter as a teen, usually focusing on religious themes. One of her paintings,  Judith with the Head of Holofernes, is believed to be a self-portrait of herself. Today, Fede Galizia's legacy is celebrated by the presentation of her art in various museums, along with many other famous painters during the Renaissance Era.

Evidently, women were emerging in society and their roles became more meaningful. It was during the Renaissance that women were provided guilds, which "became agencies of communal authority rather than corporate interest groups" (Chadwick 69) and because of this, women felt that they belonged to a like-minded group, thus influenced them to express themselves, especially in the form of art. 

What's extremely beneficial about art is that it really speaks a thousand words. Despite the lack of education in women, they were actually learning through each other's artwork and have inspired one another. Systematic ways of learning through proper education was not practiced, yet women were becoming enlightened because these organizations allowed them to feel important. Visual presentations were heavily relied on in order to convey a message and to understand an artist through the message from their artwork. This type of learning is crucial during the Renaissance because women were deprived of real education, so being able to connect with one another artistically made a huge difference in them mentally and physically. 

Works Cited:

Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.

"Renaissance" Def. 2. Merriam Webster Online, Merriam Webster, n.d. Web. 28 February 2015.

Women: From the Middle Ages to the 19th Century

Up until the nineteenth century a woman was always seen as less than a man in the society she lived in. She was made to serve man, bear children, take the blame and clean up for/after his messes. Females were the underdogs in most, if not all aspects and events in their life. They did not have a say or opportunity to dictate their own lives without their husbands or fathers influencing their every decision. These ideals were heavily enforced in Europe throughout the Middle Ages and recorded through the art pieces that have been preserved in museum and exclusive collections in modern day.

During the Middle Ages women were seen as objects and constantly humiliated, if not belittled. Most women were engaged at the age of twelve and married by fifteen. If the young girl chose a man aside from the one who proposed to her, she could be killed. At all times a woman had to remain faithful to her husband, although he was allowed to cheat (as long as it wasn’t with a married man’s wife). A wife could divorce her husband only if he forced her to sleep with another man but he could easily divorce her if she couldn’t bear him any children. Most women during this time were illiterate because it was believed that attaining an education would interfere with their duties of being a good wife and mother. The women who worked were aware that their wages belonged to their fathers, husbands, and brothers before they received their portion of it. Ultimately, during this time frame a woman's job was to obey her husband, father, and/or nay male figure in their life with the fear of being beaten if they chose otherwise. It was very straightforward to what was expected of a female during this time period which is why, “joining a convent freed women from the demanding roles of being wives and mothers. (Guerilla Girls, 21).” During this time “females were thought to be morally inferior and incapable of reason or logic (Guerilla Girls, 23).” The Middle Ages were heavily Christian faith based where much scrutiny was placed on women who also fought sexism everyday. A woman's social roles was circumscribed by Christianity because she was demanded to be obedient, domestic, maternal, and practice chastity. As we’ve learned, “Women made no contribution to the scholastic philosophy and dominant theology which grew out of these debates. They were excluded from the intellectual life of cathedral schools and universities in which students were legally clerics, a rank not open to women. (Chadwick, 58)” Much of the Middle Ages ranged from practicing your Christian faith to simply working and maintaining one’s household. Within this time frame there wasn’t much room for women to question their living standards because if they did they were aware that, “uppity women always get into trouble (Guerrilla Girls, 23).”

Advertisement of what it feels like to be living in a predominetly male world. 

Although it's filled with satire, during each of these periods life was
lived with a Christian base and so with a witty remark, this images
shows where a woman place was (even in the Bible).

However, this is not to say that during this time we did not have extraordinary female artists paving the way for the ones to come. Although this is a period where male artists have been just as forgotten as female ones there have been a few phenomenal women written in our text books. Christine de Pizan, a famous writer and single mom who “was not afraid to attack well known men who belittled women (Guerilla Girls, 23).” Some of Pizan’s works range from The Romance of the Rose and The City of Ladies that talked about love and how women were taught to be submissive and a man was encouraged to beat women and be aggressive. While the other painting depicted the sexism in schools and women's lack of education. One of her greatest painting was that of Joan of Arc; a female who fought at war as a man and then burnt alive by the same people she fought with because she proved that women were not the weaker link. During that same time, another great artist is Hildegard Von Bingen whose “conception of religious woman derived from a strong sense of female otherness in relation to male authority and a vision of woman as complementary to man. (Chadwick, 59)” As a nun Hildegard did plenty to raise awareness of women’s role in society through God’s word. She empowered people to live holy lives and promoted gender equality. As she says, “I saw a great light from which a heavenly voice said to me: O puny creature, ashes of ashes and dust of dust, tell and write what you see and hear (Chadwick, 59).” She wrote books on medicine, science, sacred music and represented the emotional/non radical side of females through different manuscripts. Although Christine ended in exile and Hildegard’s convent was shut down they were two women who molded history. For a time period where life revolved around your faith in God and the power of the head of the household, these two women did a lot for the Renaissance artist to come. It is clear to see that these two ladies lived a life far from what was expected of women during their time period and gave themselves the privilege of knowledge.

Cover of Christine de Pizan's "City of Ladies" novel. 

Portrait depicting Hildegard Von Bingen as a the "Feminist Nun"

As the Middle Ages went into the Renaissance Era we witnessed a change in the culture. Women were now given more freedom in terms of expressing themselves through art (with certain limitations), but remained being their fathers and husbands property. During this period a woman, “could her husband only if she could prove him impotent. She could salvage her reputation by marrying any man who raped her. She could attend or teach in a university if she moved to Bologna (city in Italy). She could get a legal abortion sanctioned by the Catholic Church but the primitive procedure could kill her. She could wear underwear only if she was an aristocrat, a prostitute, and actress or a window washer. (Guerilla Girls, 32).” When it came to being an artists things were even tougher because plenty doubted you but you would also have to go through an apprenticeship with male painters, could not receive commission for their paintings, and sometimes had to sign as male artists. Although a renaissance woman is best known as one who could achieve the impossible, it was incredibly difficult for women to be awarded and praised for their work. This was the same era where men thought that the best way to settle a dispute was to kill their rival, that women were destructive to the creative process, married a woman for her dowry, and thought the world was flat. For one to understand this time period, they must know that it was the freedom and dignity of man that dominated historical counts of the Renaissance. A woman was instead taught a set of skills that would help her find a husband and maintain a household.

Due to the city of Bologna being created, it allowed women to dive into their artwork with full passion. However the dedication these women had to their art work lead to speculation and talk by citizens outside of Bologna who didn’t think this was right. Therefore these women were “often forced to choose between marriage and learning, a significant number of them entered cloisters or secluded themselves otherwise. (Chadwick, 71)” For those who endured the raft of patriarchal men, we now have women to study such as; Sofonisba Anguissola, Maria Robusti, and Artemisia Gentileschi. Sofonisba Anguissola was fortunate to have a father who believed a woman should be educated and had so much faith in his daughters talent that he sent one of her paintings to the great, Michelangelo. Her work opened up the door of possibilities for women to pursue careers as painters. However, “not until the sixteenth century did a few women manage to turn the new Renaissance emphasis on virtue and gentility into positive attributes for the woman artists. (Chadwick 76)” Maria Robusti, daughter of Jacopo Tintoretto was an incredibly talented artists throughout all of Venice who was one of the few to have many opportunities knocking at her door. Her father educated her in art and music, dressed her as a boy, and made her work in his studio. Robusti was given the opportunity to work for the King of Spain and Emperor of Austria but her father did not allow her to go. Hindsight indicates that after remaining in her father's authority, forced to marry a man that was chosen for her, and dying at childbirth Tintoretto’s number of masterpieces declined. Many historians claim that he lost his drive to paint, but others believed it had been Robusti doing all the work and he was signing off on them as if they were his. Artemisia Gentileschi, was a goddess in every sense of the word in the art world. She took it upon herself to repaint portraits that had been previously painted by males. She did not paint nudes for the male gaze but rather to highlight the inappropriateness behind seeing a woman as an object. Tough her life was filled with many challenges and disappointments, she triumphed as a single mother, traveled all of Italy, and was court painter for the King of England. These three ladies along with others, took full advantage of the liberties they did have to promote a better quality of life for women. They proved that willpower can take you a long way.

Portrait of Maria Robusti 

Artemisia Gentileschi's painting of "Sussana and the Elders" shows a different take on the male gaze. Rather than having the painting look as though the "female is asking for it" as her father did. She depicts the fear a rape victim feels. 

Painting by Sofonisba Anguissola of the Queen of Spain. Her work showed the human side of powerful leaders or everyday images. 

By the nineteenth century, girls were going places and they were causing all the havoc that they could to change the art world. This was the age of lesbians, cross dressers, and political activist among the art world. This was the beginning of a cultural shock that started the modernist world we live in today. As Susan B. Anthony said, “I have such intense pride of sex that the triumphs of women in art, literature, oratory, science, or song rouse my enthusiasm as nothing else can.” The moment that women spent centuries fighting for was finally here, women all around the world were finally putting their foot down altogether and fighting for gender equality. Among the art world we had several power heads aiding this phenomena.

Rosa Bonheur, better known as a “aesthetically-radical-but-socially-bourgeois-Impressionist (Guerilla Girls, 48)” was a painter who loved animals and women. She had the assistance of her father to better herself as he was the director of an all women's art school and believed in a utopian society where women had just as many rights as men. She had a permit to cross-dress in France, she hunted,smoked cigars, and rode her horse as means of transportation. She had a life partner, Nathalie Micas who traveled the world with. She encouraged many other females by saying, “Let women establish their claims by great and good works and not by conventions. (Guerilla Girls, 49)” Edmonia Lewis, a young female artist who was partially white, black, and Chippewa moved to Italy to make her art about slavery. Although at the beginning of her career she faced much tribulation and criticism due to her race, she resulted into making sculptures of abolitionist heroes. She was often seen as an “exotic oddity” did her own marble carving for her sculptures to prove that black women could do it all. She worked with many artists, writers, and intellectuals who were mostly lesbian. This created the very first all female artists movement/girls club. Mary Cassatt was also one of high profile who is worthy of praise. She “depicted women actively at work, at women’s work, not as passive models or objects of the male gaze, as did many of the Impressionists. (Guerilla Girls, 56)” She initiated the collection of modern art through the Havemeyer collection that is now housed at The Metropolitan Museum. She participated in the women’s rights movement in 1915 through exhibitions of her art work. She was one of the early feminist within the United States.

"Hagar" by Edmonia Lewis represented your everyday African American mother and the abuse of African American women as it was depicted in the Bible's Old Testament.

"The Horse Fair" by Rosa Bonheur was supposed to not only raise awareness on animal cruelty but merely represent women as the horses being tired of the male oppression. 

Although there are many female artists who are still fighting against a prejudice culture, we cannot ignore those who have paved the way for the female artists of the twenty first century. "By 1900, feminists were demanding now just voting rights for women, but their right to higher education and the right to earn an income, and the modern woman had appeared. (Chadwick, 251)" With more freedom and opportunity to live our lives on our own terms there has been a rise in female role models. The fight for gender equality still exist, but seeing how far we've come is of great honor for our "ancestors." 

Bibliography: 

1. Girls, Guerrila. "The Middle Ages, The Renaissance, and The 19th Century." The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin, 1998. 18+. Print.
2. Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.

Group Presentation 1 Summary

Our group presented our interpretation of "Male Gaze". We mainly wanted to focus on Laura Mulvey's theory. We thought it was important to share her because she is famous for coining this term "Male Gaze". She is famous for highlighting the sexism that exists in the film industry and highlighted psychological theories such as scopophilia and identification with the image on the screen.

There was a short video pertaining to this idea of the male gaze in Hollywood. Television shows we watch regularly portray this idea, and the video made many recognize the "head to toe" camera technique of depicting the female character on screen. The male gaze is acknowledged in this way.

The presentation also portrayed images from two different time eras that portray the same male gaze that still haunts society and females of today. It's important to recognize that the male gaze still exists in society, in order for us to change it and do something about it.

Finally we posed this question of "Is there a female gaze"? Our group researched online, and through the discussion of the class, the conclusion has been made that the female gaze is the male gaze. Females view men how men view themselves. Or females behave in a way males want them to behave as.

          Through A Different Lens...

Throughout my entire life  I have always been aware of men looking at me, however, it was not  until recently that I realized how much the male gaze affected  so many aspects of myself and my life.  Furthermore, the male gaze is how women are taught to see themselves through the lens of the dominant male sex.  In other words, it is how we as women see ourselves as being surveyed or watched by men who are the surveyors (Berger, 46).  We are seen as objects and mere “sights,” when we are sexually and perversely displayed in the media, paintings and in everyday life.  The constant and ancient practice of the dehumanization of women not only stems from the way we internalize ourselves from the point of view of men, but moreover, it has been perfected by the covert practice of patriarchy.  Patriarchy, according to Bell Hooks, is the political system that shapes and informs male identity and the sense of self from birth until death (Bell Hooks, 17).  This socially constructed system assigns gender and sex roles, oppresses both men and women and is continuously reinforced in everyday life.

Men are coached and shaped into believing that being emotional, equal and anything far from dominant is weak and the role of the woman.  Therefore, from the moment woman are born they are taught to be submissive, passive and to be a damsel in distress.  These roles are reinforced first by the family, then by religion and subsequently by the school systems (Bell Hooks, 24).  Patriarchy is such an ancient system that we are taught to internalize it, and when it is spoken of as an oppressive system it is seen as taboo.  Interestingly enough, Bell Hooks emphasizes that patriarchy also severely affects men just as it affects women.   Both men and women suppress part of themselves when they adhere to the rules and expectations of patriarchy,  they do so by suppressing parts of themselves in order to fit into this unrealistic socially constructed idea.  Men become violent, dominant and aggressive and suppress  their emotions and any signs of weakness.  Women who display any characteristics of aggression or dominance are eventually socially marginalized.  According to Bell Hooks, patriarchy replaces true intimacy with complex, covert layers of dominance and submission, collision and manipulation (Bell Hooks, 33). In other words, whether you are a man or a woman you are never your true self, you are who society shapes you to be with learned beliefs and roles. 

Ad from Spring Breakers the Movie, 2013

Fast Food Ad from Hardee's, 2012

Fast Food Ad from Burger King, 2014  

The male gaze and patriarchy shape how we as human beings see ourselves and make us hyper aware of what we should look like and how we should behave,  For instance, in may of the ads in magazines, on television and billboards, women are sex symbols when representing a brand or product.  In most of these pictures, the women are the main attraction; not the product they are advertising.  Above there are two pictures, the first is one from the movie Spring Breakers that debuted during the summer of 2013.  In this picture the women are seductively looking to the audience, which we have learned is predominantly a male audience.  The movie and picture both subliminally suggest that during spring break, women wear bikinis and are in pursuit of men.  Thus, the role of the submissive is openly expressed in this picture.  In the second photo the woman is supposed to be advertising a burger for the fast food restaurant, Hardee's.  She is wearing provocative clothing with the burger in her hand.  For the most part, women do not eat burgers in the back seat of their cars while looking provocative.  In the third and last picture a woman is advertising a new sandwich Burger King is launching, she has a surprised look and the Ad reads "It'll Blow Your Mind Away." This of course is a sexual connotation which devalues and sexually promotes the woman in the picture.  Not only do such images adhere and strengthen the roles of patriarchy and the male gaze, however, they also set social expectations for other young women who encounter such ad's on a daily basis.  Young women and men begin to believe that in order to be attractive to men or the other sex, they need to be thin, with long hair and look like everyone else does.  In order to challenge these socially created misconceptions, during the last couple of years, Dove has launched a new campaign that promotes self love and beauty.  More importantly, the various videos depict the truth about these ad's and how obsessive people may become when trying to reach these unrealistic depictions of beauty and perfection.  The male gaze and patriarchy has affected and bonded men and women and I agree with Bell Hooks when she states that the only way to eradicate this oppressive system is to change, "we must all change" (Bell Hooks, 33).  

 In this second video launched by the Dove Campaign, women are asked to describe the way they see themselves in vivid detail.  The women are then asked to leave and when they return they are shown the sketch of themselves and then the sketch of how they view themselves.  To their surprise both sketches were completely different.  Because the male gaze and society has set standards to what is and what is not beautiful, we as women and human beings have low self esteem and constantly seek ways to please the male eye.  

Bibliography

Berger, J. (1973). Ways of Seeing (pp. 45-64). London: British Broadcasting Corporation.

Hooks, B. (2004). Understanding Patriarchy. In The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (pp.17-33). New York: Atria Books.

The Male Gaze & Patriarchy

The male gaze arises in the belief/idea that women appear for the consumption of men. 

Scratch that.

The male gaze arises in the belief/idea held by mostly heterosexual white males, that women appear and must always appear for the consumption of men. They must always be seen fulfilling the unrealistic standards of beauty set in place by said men in order to look pleasing to the same men who are gazing at them, because therein lies their worth and station. Men watch, women appear. (Berger, 47).

"She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being in herself is supplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another. Consequently, how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated..." (Berger, 46)

   

I believe that in order to properly understand the male gaze, one must either be an actor, entertainer or performer of some sort; and I say this because this is the best analogy to describe how women are perceived by men. But sadly, since we cannot all be performers or entertainers, I will do the pleasure of explaining this analogy.

Performers….perform. It is their job/role to. They carry out a series of actions or activities that are intended to elicit some form of response, be it anger, excitement, guilt, or just plain sadness. But the point is that they act or pretend to be someone they are not, for the sole purpose of entertainment. Take a play for example. Say a certain gentleman named John Hill is the main actor in a play where he performs as the “perfect” young American man: white, tall, intelligent, wealthy, attractive, fit, funny…I’m talking the whole nine here. Now, say his character’s name is Liam Hunter. So John Hill is performing as the stereotypical perfect man who has all the women in the play (as well as in the audience) drooling over him. The playwright has obviously knowingly portrayed Liam in this way because he is intended to appeal to or appease a certain group whom he is aware are watching him (the audience), but one must remember that John Hill is performing as Liam Hunter, he is not Liam Hunter. Liam Hunter does not exist. If you saw John Hill on the street and wanted to get his autograph, you would not refer to him as Liam Hunter because that was a character he played, not who he is.

Now, since you (hopefully) paid for this play that you are now watching; a play whose preview you probably saw and decided that you would want to go see, you now have the right to critique. You may pass comments on whether or not you found Liam Hunter attractive, you may discuss with your friend how you found the set design to be quite lazy, or whatever else. The preview serves as a sneak peek into what the play will be about etc, and subsequently, determines whether you go to see it or not. If say, the play was not as interesting as you thought it would be or somehow did not advance in the direction you assumed it would upon seeing the preview, you may react in anger or disappointment at the waste of your money, time etc but most importantly, at the fact that the play did not play out in the course you had expected it to. 

The idea here is that you are entitled to your opinions, comments, anger, etc on the actors (and play in general) not only because you paid for the performance, but also because the role or job of the actors was to entertain you, a job which, you feel, they failed to do.       

Now where is the correlation you might ask. The correlation is this: the audience of the play serve as the men, and the performers/actors, or Liam Hunter to be specific, serves as the "women". 
Because patriarchy only allows room for a specific type of beauty which most women do not fit into, many are forced to "perform" it, so they can fit in and finally be beautiful.

Men do not pay ownership fees/rent/tax on women's bodies, therefore they do not reserve the right to pass comments on it. They are not entitled to women's bodies, therefore they do not get to dictate or discuss how women should or should not look and whether or not they fit into the utterly ridiculous and unrealistic structures of beauty they have set in place. In the same vein, women do not exist to please or perform for men. Women do not exist for men, period. They are not performers, thus it is not their role to perform in order to be accepted/respected. You are expected to respect people because they are people, not because they do or do not possess a penis.

It would be unfair to discuss the male gaze without discussing its origin and so I will do just that. Ladies and Gents; I present to you: the father of the male gaze -- Patriarchy!

Patriarchy, as defined by author and social activist Gloria Jean Watkins better known by pen name "bell hooks" is:

"...a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak; especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintain that dominance through various forms of psychological terrorism and violence." (Understanding Patriarchy, 18)

Though it is important to understand that both men and women can be perpetrators of patriarchy and both suffer from its impacts even if men receive more awards from it than women; I will be focusing mainly on patriarchy as it relates to the male gaze as well as its pervasiveness in art and popular culture.

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art reports that less than 5% of the Modern Art Sections are women, but 85% of the nudes are female. To this Brian Reverman asks: "If the predominant view of women in Western Art museums is that they are less worthy of recognition as artists, they are objects to be gazed at for pleasure, and that a certain type of female form and skin tone is seen as more desirable; does this reflect or does it help form the position of women in the culture at large?" Yes. The answer is yes. And the reason for this is best said  by E. Ann Kaplan:

"If the depiction and view of women relates to a subservient status in the culture that they must fight against, then depiction is a method of oppression that effectively benefits those in power."  

"To gaze implies more than to look at; it signifies a psychological relationship of power in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze. As in any relationship, there is give and take, and the distribution is not always equal." (Jonathan Schroeder, Whata U Looking At) 

Patriarchy thrives on the ideal of entitlement. Because men are seen as superior to women, consequently, they are entitled to the policing of women's bodies such that actions like cat-calling and thinking that a woman owes you something for buying her a drink at the club or for "being a nice guy" are seen as normal.

The problem with patriarchy (aside from male domination of course) is that it belittles men and women. It hurts us by demanding that we reduce our complex selves into one small part which is then magnified, so that this small part is then used to define us as a whole. Women and men are both sexual beings. They are both capable of strength, weakness, anger, rape, abuse etc, but it is because patriarchy insists that males are inherently superior to women that many people believe that it is impossible for a woman to rape a man. But I digress. 

In the case of women, patriarchy reduces women to sexual beings and allows for them to always be depicted in this way, be it in film or in something as non-related as a car ad.

A big part of how patriarchy thrives is embedded in the mode in which women are represented, and because of the male gaze, they are represented in a manner most suitable and palatable for the consumption of men. Take this Sports Illustrated cover for example. I mean....come on. 

Swimsuit 2015. Sports Illustrated. http://www.si.com/swimsuit/2015/assets/images/2015/cm-mag-ipad.jpg

As CNN so eloquently put it: "This year though, Sports Illustrated has gone too far. In the photo, the cover model Hannah Davis eagerly pulls down her bikini bottom and thrusts forward her pelvis in a way that's clearly meant to draw the eye to that very spot between her legs -- far more so than her eyes, or even her breasts. It's an invitation to picture her naked, and more. And in case there was any ambiguity of what the image is supposed to evoke, there's the clever cover line that begins: "Hannah Davis Goes Down South" ...The ultra-revealing cover shows Davis pulling down her already-minuscule bikini bottoms to within a millimeter of an area typically reserved for intimate partners and gynecologists. She's been waxed, it is evident, to bald perfection. One wrong breath, and she'd expose actual labia (how's that for news-stand appropriate?) It is explicitly explicit, and as such impossible not to view it as intending to reduce women to billboards and sex objects. Claiming to portray Davis in this way in the name of "celebrating the female form" is a lie balder than her nether region."

Exhibit B and C are hamburger ads....apparently. 

Burger King Singapore Ad https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3616/3675588942_be0d91c51e.jpg

Burger King Singapore Ad http://www.adweek.com/files/imagecache/news-slide/bk_blow_ad.png

Really Burger King? Really?

I will be honest in admitting that I was not always aware of the way women were and are still portrayed in art and media; though I have always been aware of the male gaze and patriarchy, I just didn't know that was the name for it. I have always "watched myself being watched" (to quote John Berger), and tried to mold myself to fit patriarchal beauty; a beauty which does not accommodate black women to start with, because patriarchal beauty or femininity is fundamentally white, slim and long straight-haired, to name a few. But because we are socialized into this system, one hardly ever fights back against it. We just accept it because we assume it is the way things are supposed to be. I have learned and I am still learning about the damaging effects of patriarchy, but in the meantime, I have reassured myself that we are all of different skin-tones, sizes and hair types because beauty accommodates all skin-tones, sizes and hair types. There couldn't possibly be just one form of beauty. That's boring. And stupid. 

I  know I am expected to "perform" patriarchal femininity {which involves (amongst many other things) looking good and keeping fit not for myself but for men because they are watching and I won't find a husband if I don't and if I don't find a husband, I am apparently, not even a real woman. Because you know, never mind that you've won several accolades from your excellence in your field of interest....none of that matters if you're still single. Marriage is the greatest accomplishment in a woman's life. Duh.} but I don't because I don't have to. Now, I know that I don't have to, and let me tell you something: It feels so. damn. good.  

Works Cited.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdV1F4f7jSo
bell hooks, Understanding Patriarchy
The Guerrilla Girls, The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion To The History of Western Art
John Berger, Ways of Seeing
http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/05/changing-male-gaze/

Frida Kahlo

Frida  Kahlo , was an Mexican artist born in July,6,1907 and die July,13,1954. Her painter include self portraits in which the artist express emotional features such as sadness and suffering. Also her painter show a lot of symbolism and surrealism en her style.

The Male Gaze Today

The male gaze in art/pop culture, is the male point of view of what many men gaze at when a woman is involved. It is the way in which male think without even noticing that they are thinking in such a manner. A manner that isn’t taught but yet learned as young adults grow up, learning such customs from older friends, family, and society. The male gaze has become an issue that all commercial, movie, shows, or bill board, take advantage of. Being that the beautiful features of any woman attract most men, men will give their undivided attention to art and the pop culture whenever they use woman to do so. Men, from their childhood are raised to be strong, masculine, impassive, and hard working. But the male gaze is one of the many weaknesses that unfortunately take over the male gender. However, the male gaze isn't specifically about the male gender, it can also refer to women seeing and judging another female because of the difference between the two, and the jealousy, which bothers her the most.

This is a picture of a famous actress, Megan Fox. She is known for her attractive body and looks. This specific picture is from the movie Transformers, where she is trying to figure out what is wrong with the car, but the movie producers portray this scene as attractive as they can with the lack of clothing and the way she bending over.

As Bell Hooks stated, “They were taught God was male. These teachings were reinforced in every institution they encountered- schools, courthouses, clubs, sports arenas, as well as churches. Embracing patriarchal thinking, like everyone else around them, they taught it to their children because it seemed like a “natural” way to organize life”(Hooks 18). Hooks makes a valid point here, men all around the world have been taught from day one that they will be raised to do the important things while woman stand behind them cook, feed, clean, and pleasure them. They are raised to stand behind them and do as they ask, how they ask. She uses how churches use God as one of the main reason, that he is a male, so male are the more dominant gender, which isn’t very accurate. However, using God as the male example, the world has realized that world is too far past gone to change how women are portrayed through today’s art and culture.

This is a commercial poster of a Calvin Klein cologne. This ad does a wonderful job of making a fragrance a need, as opposed to a want, a tool rather than an accessory.   

Women approving of doing this shows that a great percentage of the worlds women, have set their piece with it to be a part of the society. I have noticed in many movies after speaking and learning of the male gaze, how the world uses ideology over so many things through the attractions of women. Hooks states, “The recollection of this brutal whipping of a little-girl daughter by the strong man, served as more than just a reminder to me of my gendered place, it was a reminder to everyone watching/remembering, to all my siblings, male and female, and to our own grown-woman mother that our patriarchal father was the ruler in our household. We were to remember that if we did not obey his rules, we would be punished even unto death. This is the way we were experientially schooled in the art of patriarchy” (Hooks 21). This quote has so much true meaning behind it, mainly where she talks about how the family has to follow the rules of the strong man to live under his roof and if you don’t, he can punish you. The male gaze has just not caused men to look at women differently, but to also treat them different because of the lack of power women show. Men assume, without them, women are nothing, where we know how strong women really are than men, if not physically, than intelligence for sure.

This is a life Savers from two different time periods but by the same person. Both by Mel Ramos, the one on the left was "Life Savers" from 1965 and the one on the right was "Lifesaver Lil" from 2009.

Coming from a Middle Eastern family, our point of view of men in society are marginally different. Woman still to this day are strictly raised to cook, clean and serve for their men in every way possible. The only women to be sent to school are the families that have a little more money and whom can afford sending their children to school. But yet there aren’t many grad schools for woman, because these Middle Easter counties don’t believe in women being educated. The male gaze isn’t only male looking at the female due to attraction but also, the male gender treating them unequally. Judging their ability to make any difference in the world. The male gaze has been proving to take great affect on the women gender and as of now all we can do to fix it, is little by little show that the woman gender is a lot smarter and intelligent than the male gender can imagine.

For more information:
 On the term male gaze and how/where used, you can visit the website below.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MaleGaze


Male Gaze Video Links:
This Link is a video of the scene from transformer portraying the male gaze in it. You will see what the camera focuses on second my second, which is different parts of Megan's body.
Another example of the male gaze can be seen through pressing on the link on your left which views what attracts males and kind of an over exaggeration but it will get the point across. 

Work Cited:

Berger, J. (1973). Ways of Seeing (pp. 45-64). London: British Broadcasting Corporation.

Hooks, B. (2004). Understanding Patriarchy. In The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love (pp.17-33). New York: Atria Books.