Essay On Berger's Concept Of A Male Gaze

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Over the years, the world has seen dramatic changes in the way both men and women are categorized and pushed into man made constructs of what it means to be masculine or feminine. But to what extent have these changes impacted the world today? With 3rd wave feminism in the midst, Berger’s concept of a male gaze is challenged to a whole new degree through ideas such as the reclaiming of the kitchen, which will later be explored in this essay. Through the two chosen media texts, I will analyze these changes and contrast how men and women’s roles were depicted in the 50’s as opposed to now.

The terms masculinity and femininity are concepts that have rarely been defined, and yet they appear to have two types of meanings for both for psychologists …show more content…

It also presents the idea of what it means to be “feminine”. This is evident through her tone of voice, which is soft and passive almost like that of a robot, as well as her clothing which is floral and tidy, suggesting pretty features such as flowers equal femininity. In this sense, Bergers claim about the males gaze holds true, as the wife is critiquing herself based on the views of her husband. Additionally the audience of this particular commercial is assumed to be husbands and wives just like the ones depicted in the advertisement, meaning it is aimed as women who wish to please their husbands and husbands who wish to be pleased.

The male gaze is a theory devised by John Berger, which suggests that: “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object -- and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.”
The following media text is one that has received a great deal of controversy in the media world, with many arguing that Nigella Lawson has come to represent the pre feminism house wife. However in a study issued by Joanne hollows, she argues that that Nigellas work offers an alternative way of imaging women’s relationship to food based on the pleasures of cooking and eating rather than pleasing

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