The Gaze & The Media

The Media & The Gaze

Stylistic similarity in features of patriarchy & that women are presented in a certain way throughout history.

Stylist Lines:
Exposure
Women
Naked

• 
  
• Women to lend to be represented that sexualises tham in a way of sexual objectification.
• Making acceptable the social norm & the scrutiny of women's bodies.
• "Men act, women appear, women look at themselves been looked at." - Society is patricahial & have dominiance.
• Visual Culture - men are in charge of visual images & in which the arts & visual culture ideas of beauty are bias.

"Birth of Venus" 
This is great art.
This is more popular that the "Olympia"
Naked women

"Olympia"
This is scandalize and loaved due to it been a prostitute which is been painted.
So compared to the "Birth of Venus" it is not art due to it been a hooker and not a normal representation of a woman, due to her wanting the sexual exploitation.

Although both are naked & painted by men. The Prostitute makes it scandal & the other is a goddess & therefore it makes it unacceptable.

Men painted pictures what men wanting to look at.

This has a sexual function due to:

• It is a tradition of men producing images of female bodies without them been looked at therefore never been challenged.
• This is about beauty - gets normalised within society & says that female bodies are more philosophical & important.
• 'Vanity' - this a image painted by a man for a man. So that the female doesn't meet the male gaze do he doesn't challenge it. And therefore, also looking at herself in the mirror. It's not a painting about ogling women but actually that women like to look at themselves.
• 'Olympia' - this woman is wanting you to want to have sex with her unlike a real women painting. This is an attempt to bring representation of women back to normality.
• Titan Venus of Urbino - the women is looking back more flirtatious than 'Olympia' been more aggressive. Although the hand is creating a barrier over her lady parts.
• In Olympia the cat had taken place of the dog - this difference is due to dogs been loyal. A males fantasy - waiting for you to return home. The dog is also more relaxed than the edgy cat.
• "Le Grande O'dalisque" - Can still see old representations to day within the media.

The consumer system has our identity.

John Berger - 'Ways of seeing' CLIP

• Constant visible reminder of how they should look.
• Both works on male & females although in different ways - promises you a better life.
• Make women dissatisfied with the way they look for them to be loved.

The Gaze

The nude is different to be naked.
NAKED VS NUDE

Naked is to be yourself
Nude is to be objectified by someone else & own sense self.
SUBJECT VS OBJECT.

Then we analysed a small section of Reading Images by Rosalynd Coward.

This was Chapter 4, The Look: