ways of seeing

The male gaze is a way of viewing females through the male's perspective and the connection made between the viewer and the female subject. This gaze is a very powerful look that objectifies the female being viewed. John Berger describes the male's role in this relationship as the "spectator-owner". The women who are portrayed in artistic outlets such as paintings and advertisements, are often structured to please the male gaze. This gives the male a chance to indulge in a socially-acceptable voyeurism.

The male gave is a pervasive form in popular culture because sexuality sells. For some time now there has been an increase in female objectivity for the purpose of gaining widespread attention from males. Advertising agencies use this approach very often. When I was a child, my father started his own wine and liquor business. At an early age I was able to see the use of females by advertising campaigns. In various ads for liquors such as Absolut Vodka and Bacardi rum I have seen beautiful women wearing little clothing and staring seductively into my eyes. Berger explains that in such pieces, the woman is "responding with calculated charm to the man she imagines looking at her" and "offering up her femininity as the surveyed".

The oppositional gaze refers to the view of the woman who acknowledges her genders misinterpretation in society and in the mass media. Bell Hooks speaks about this gaze through the eyes of the black woman, a species that has been poorly interpreted by white people for many years. She explains that the oppositional gaze is a very powerful look of much criticism and resistance.

I feel that the male gaze will always be sought after by the media in order to promote or advertise. Because gender roles have such a strong presence in our society, many women conform to such ideologies as to how the media portrays their gender. I find find this rather upsetting, for I am one who supports the equality of both genders. As a straight male and a media consumer, I am not very moved by use of female sexuality for promotion. If I happen to see a commercial for Axe deodorant filled with women speaking in seductive tones and showing outrageous desire for the male user of the spray, I will not be inclined to purchase that product. Other than the fact that I know it has an obnoxious smell, I understand the fact that this is just a marketing tool used my many media outlets. And watching a hip-hop video filled with girls wont change my opinion of the song if i know it's trash.

I was very interested by Bell Hooks description of the oppositional gaze. I feel that I also fall under several different minority groups(not all race-related) and I tend to hold an oppositional gaze when viewing many things. I also feel the pressure of the resistance that comes along with the gaze. A far as the male gaze is concerned I am not sure how society can alter its practices out of respect for the female. Sex will always be high in-demand and in most cases the male gender will be a targeted demographic. I sometimes feel that too much sexuality can damper the quality of a work. When speaking about a woman's portrayal in cinema, Laura Mulvey explains: "the presence of woman is an indispensible element of spectacle in normal narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a story line". I find this to be very true, but unfortunately over-sexed depictions of females will be making a lot of people a lot of money for a long time. So as long as those models are comfortable with what they're doing, I really can't knock the hustle.