THE GAZE//
‘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)
Discuss this quote with reference to one work of art and one work from the contemporary media.
Discuss this quote with reference to one work of art and one work from the contemporary media.
THE GAZE/TASK RESPONSE
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'The Gaze' is a psychoanalytical reference to the self-awareness of being
watched, and the role that is played upon this aforementioned awareness for the
suggested audience, most commonly, the "gazed" a woman, an object of
desire, of beauty, and of lust, the "gazer", the man.
Since the beginning of
time the role of the "gazer" and the "gazed" has been
played. Since the evolution of monogamous relationships in
prehistoric man, the idea of "ownership" of women by men has been
enforced- no longer the females playing the matriarchal role, but the male now
the provider, the hunter gather- women often regarded as "the weaker
sex".
From this time, the role
of women has often, particularly through art, has been portrayed as "the
gazed", objectified by males for lust- with
curvaceous, voluptuous bodies that are to be admired and fantasied
about. Though, instead of a preying intimidation, the fundamental effect of
"the gaze" is that "men act and women appear...women watch
themselves being looked at"- therefore suggesting that it is in fact the
women that initiate the gaze; that long for it, that entice and seduce men,
urging themselves to be gazed upon.
Created in 1863, French
painter Alexandre Cabanel’s “academic” style was portrayed in ‘Birth of Venus’, the Goddess of love, often also associated with beauty, sexuality and
fertility. Depicted in a reclined position, a hand slightly raised over her
face, suggesting a playful coyness and sensuality, her eyes covered, allowing
the audience to gaze upon her body without a returned glance- suggesting
innocence and purity. The painting itself is taken up by ¾ of her naked body,
the last quarter with her head and face, the only distinction between the
individuality of the woman herself.
Of course, it is also an
important factor to remember that at this time it was inconceivable for a woman
to be an artist; women having no real “right” or status to receive education or
political empowerment. As males dictated this world, women were painted in the
way they wanted women to be painted, how they wanted to perceive woman. Women were painted in the way in which men felt women themselves wanted to be perceived, a theory which refers to a quote within John Berger's 1972 televised programme and printed publication, 'Ways of Seeing' in which he states
Despite over one hundred
years later, contemporary art shows little difference in regards to “the gaze”
and how women are perceived in the media. One prime contemporary example,
almost a replica for Cabanel’s Venus, was Sophie Dahl’s commissioned photoshoot
(by Tom Ford and Steven Meisel) for Yves Saint- Laurent, in an advertising
campaign for their brand of perfume, Opium. Nude, reclined onto a sheet of
black satin, the image is sexually charged, the model opening caressing her own
body. Unusually, however, in contrast to many advertisements and photoshoots of
models of this same style and nature, the advert was initially unapproved by
the Advertising Standards Authority. Although once the composition of the image
was changed from horizontal to vertical (thus the focus being made upon the
face as opposed to the body) it was approved- though no real edits were made to
the image itself- still the woman portrayed in the same sexually inviting pose
as was first shown in ‘The birth of Venus’- the reclined nude, the objectified
woman. Still the pretence of the woman’s invitation to be gazed upon. Still the
‘gazer’ and ‘the gazed’.
BIBILIOGRAPHY
- Alexandre Cabanel's 'Birth of Venus' http://www.artcyclopedia.org/art/cabanel-birth-of-venus.jpg
- Sophie Dahl for Yves Saint Laurent/Opium (Landscape) http://www.brassagency.com/blog/wp-content/uploads//2010/08/Sophie-Dahl_Opium-300x200.jpg
- Sophie Dahl for Yves Saint Laurent/Opium (Portrait) https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgezyZaq6Qc0Q13tLzp-XYRNibqDbAOdRNT018EPYXExr2gB6nDUtdkd4YM9_nse_ZMZEYyba20IaOqB6iW6jJpYbFL60b5GMh1Zi_EFdQ1NQqWq9aOVDD_n7sAlt5EcnpDw3iOoaYZCcM/s400/3.jpg
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