Deconstructing the Gaze

 

Ways Of Seeing by John Berger 

• “A woman must continually watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself...From earliest childhood, she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continuously.” (Berger 46)

• “Nakedness reveals itself. Nudity is placed on display. To be naked is to be without disguise. To be on display is to have the surface of one’s own body, turned into a disguise which, in that situation, can never be discarded. The nude is condemned to never being naked. Nudity is a form of dress.” (Berger 54)

Understanding Patriarchy

• “Patriarchy is a political-social system that insists that males are inherently dominating, superior to everything and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowed with the right to dominate...”

• “Citizens in this nation fear challenging patriarchy even as they lack overt awareness that they are fearful, so deeply embedded in our collective unconscious are the rules of patriarchy.”

The Oppositional Gaze 

• “To experience pleasure, Miss Pauline sitting in the dark must imagine herself transformed, turned into the white woman portrayed on the screen. After watching movies, feeling the pleasure, she says, “But it made coming home hard.”

• “Mainstream feminist film criticism in no way acknowledges black female spectatorship. It does not consider the possibility that women can construct an oppositional gaze via an understanding and awareness of the politics of race and racism.”

Mickalene Thomas -Photographed, Collaged and Painted Muses

• “By portraying real women with their own unique history, beauty and background, I’m working to diversify the representations of black women in art.” 

• “Instead, the photos question art historical traditions of objectifying women”

Overlooked No More: Ana Mendieta, a Cuban Artist Who Pushed Boundaries

• “She urged viewers to disregard their gender, race or other defining societal factors and instead connect with the humanity they share with others.”

• “It’s about theater. It’s about kind of capturing moments through various forms of documentation. And she takes all of these things to the world at large that might not be considered fine arts. She turns them into something intelligent, harrowing and emotional.”