"According to usage and conventions which are at least being questioned but have by no means been overcome, men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." - John Bergers.
What Bergers is saying here is that women are watching themselves, as in watching how they are portrayed in the media.
Hans Memling
'Vanity'
This image is from 1485, a time of harsh judgement. Women could be accused and killed for being 'witches'.
By placing a mirror in the woman's hand it signifies that the painter painted the image for pleasure. The mirror shows moral judgement - she holds the mirror and looks at her self, so its ok for us to look.
The mirror image pops up in a lot of contemporary art.
Alexandre Cabanel "birth of venus" 1863:
There is no challenge here to the gaze, she is openly laying with her hand over her head, we are invited to look.
In this Opium advert, Sophie Dahl poses in a very sexual manner. The image was originally tilted so she was laid on her back, but it was flipped as it was deemed to sexual, and by rotating it you focused more on her face than her body.
Titian's venus of urbino, 1538
Here the lady is covering up her genitals, but this could also be hinting at the fact she's playing with herself.
This image was copied by Manet in 1863 in this image title Olympia, this was at the time of impressionism:
The lady is looking at us in the eye, she is intact a prostitute. She's inviting us to look at her as she is looking at us, she's given confidence.
The image was re used in a poster which was fighting against women being used as objects and not being the artists for the met. museum.
Back to Manet - Bar at the Foiles, Bergere 1882
We are put in the position of the painter herself by the angle of the mirror - so we are the viewer. The lady has a look of exclusions - highlights the superficiality of the paris night life.
Jeff Wall 'Picture for women' 1979
He uses the similar pose in his work, questioning the male gaze theory, are we invited to look?
Coward, R 1984
'The camera in contemporary media has been put to use as an extension of the male gaze of women on the street'
Women/ models put into the street, normalisation of the display of the female body. Glasses are used a lot in modern art. Means we can look at her but she doesn't return the gaze.
This image caused a big stir in the media:
Eva Herzigora, 1994 - Wonderbra advert:
The profusion of images which characterises contemporary society could be seen as a obsessive distraction of women.. a form of voyeurism. Objectifying women.
Males can also be objectified:
Also women in film, when there is scenes of women it usually focuses a lot on the body, seen as a sexual object for men. They always react passively to the male character.
Artemisia Gentileschi, 1620
She painted women playing different roles, as you can see above.
Cindy Sherman, "Untitled film still #6"
She is holding a mirror but not to her face - we are denied the gaze.
Barbara Kruger was way ahead of her time. 'Your gaze hits the side of my face' 1981
This was a reference to violence - she argued, why can't we look at womens bodies?
Sarah Lucas 'Eating a Banana' 1990
She eats the banana, meaning to portray herself in a sexual act, but she looks at the camera as id to say 'and what?'- Humorous but serious message.
The image above is about judging women, flat chested women.
Tracy Emin , money photo. 2001
Is shown to be rubbing the money on herself in a sexual manner. Her work couldn't be real or genuine because she was making so much money from it.
In june 2012 Caroline Lucas, MP wore a t shirt stating 'no more page 3' in the houses of parliament.
A lady called Ciaro Perez campaigned to have females on the five pound note represented in a different way. She received thousands of death threats over tumblr.
Reality television like Big Brother, offers us the power - we are the all seeing eye. a voyeuristic passive consumption of a type of reality.
It makes female and male bodies to be gazed - making voyeurism a day to day activity.
"Looking is not different. There can never be any question of just looking" Victor Burgin.
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