The Gaze & The Media
- does not mean that women are vain, they simple constantly see images of women looking back at them and are constantly surveying their idea of femininity
- female nude, mirror in her hand, with a strange distorted view of her face as the mirror is positioned wrong
- Berger = mirror placed in her hand as a way of distracting the viewer - allows us to look at her and without her looking back
- female body, drawn to sexuality of the woman
- the woman allows the viewer to explore her sexuality - she is looking in the mirror, makes it acceptable for us to look at her too
- woman reclining, covers her own eyes
- balance of image - 2/3rds taken up with the naked body
- we see the body not who the woman is
- reclining figure - overtly sexual
- contemporary
- advert was deemed too sexual
- to make it more acceptable, they turned the image around - more concentration on the head
- same position, eyes are just drawn to the face rather than the sexual pose of the body
- idea of us possibly "spying" on the woman
- passive mood
- covers herself with her hand, casually
-voyeristic element
- compared with previous image
- subtle differences
- impressionism
- snapshot style
- as if we walked into the room and surprised her
- woman who stands at the bar - ready to serve customer/viewer
- reflection - impossible reflection of the woman in the mirror - should be behind her
- allows us to see her from two viewing positions at once
- see her as ourselves and also how the character in the corner of the painting sees her
- we see her from the point of view of the man at the bar
- copies previous image
- photographers studio reflected in mirror
- reminded of the gaze of the camera
- camera in middle of shot is the camera which takes the picture
- repitition of dividing up mirrors in background/ the photograph frame
- depth from the lights reflected in the mirrors draws the viewer into the image - part of it
"The camera in contemporary media has been put to use as an extension of the male gaze at women on the streets"
- city carries on regardless of the almost naked woman standing in the street
- we don't consciously take notice of these images
- women do
- normalisation of nudity in the street
- comedy of tag line lightens the connotations
- voyeuristic
Film
Peeping Tom, 1960
- ends up killing women through voyeurism
Men in advertising
- switching it round isnt a way of challenging it
- similar position as women but
- man who collects images of gender in advertising
- found 60 male ones
- male bodies used in advertising are usually associated with exercise
- challenges the gaze in a way it doesnt with women
- pleasure of looking at other peoples bodies by looking when nobody can see you looking
- cinema = perfect place for voyeurism
- objectifies women
- active male vs passive female
- men often lead story
- lara croft - leads the action
- visual spectacle - overly sexualised
- powerful driving character but also overtly sexualised
- pleasure is in fantasy of her destruction
- graphic image - forceful manner of the beheading
- almost like a film still
- alternative characterisation of an active female role
Pollock, G.
- Women ‘marginalised within the masculine discourses of art history’
- This marginalisation supports the ‘hegemony of men in cultural practice, in art’
- Women not only marginalised but supposed to be marginalised
- reclining female - turned body around
- challenging the norm
- mirror in characters hand but turned away from the viewer
- no implication of us catching her in the act of admiring herself
- interrupts the gaze as we are not quite sure where to looks
- staged photography - to look as if it was "caught in the act"
- awareness of art history
- postmodern
- working with image and text
- implication of violence
- reminiscent of a physical attack
- more than just something that could be seen as harmless
- picturing self consciousness of something that is rather innocent yet reminiscent of a sexual act
- critiquing idea of self consciousness
- reference of expression associated with
- criticising the idea that it is vulgar to make money from art, and her art is about herself so it is a criticism of her - the woman
Gaze in the Media
- criticising the portrayal of women in modern day media
The idea that women are natural liars has a long pedigree. The key document in this centuries-long tradition is the notorious witch-hunter's manual, the Malleus Maleficarum or The Hammer of Witches, which was commissioned by Pope Innocent VIII. The book was written by two Dominican monks and published in 1486. It unleashed a flood of irrational beliefs about women's "dual" nature. "A woman is beautiful to look upon, contaminating to the touch, and deadly to keep," the authors warned. They also claimed that "all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable".
It's not difficult to see these myths lurking behind Pacelli's description of Knox: "She was a diabolical, satantic, demonic she-devil. She was muddy on the outside and dirty on the inside. She has two souls, the clean one you see before you and the other." The lawyer's claim that she was motivated by "lust" could have come straight from the Malleus, which insists that women are more "carnal" than men.
- idea that only women have this "dangerous lust"
- misportrayal of stories in the media
- reveals media trick of preparing two stories
The Daily Mail has emerged as the major fall guy by mistakenly publishing the wrong online version of the Amanda Knox verdict.
Knox won her appeal, but the paper's website initially carried a story headlined "Guilty: Amanda Knox looks stunned as appeal against murder conviction is rejected.”
The Mail was not the only British news outlet to make the error. The Sun and Sky News did it too and yes - hands up here - so did The Guardian in its live blog.
It would appear that a false translation of the judge's summing up caused the problem, leading to papers jumping the gun.
So why has the Mail suffered the greatest flak? In time-honoured fashion, echoing the hot metal days of Fleet Street, it prepared a story lest the verdict go the other way.
But it over-egged the pudding by inventing "colour" that purported to reveal Knox's reaction along with the responses of people in the court room.
It even included quotes from prosecutors that were, self-evidently, totally fake.
In other words, by publishing its standby story, the Mail exposed itself as guilty of fabrication.
- the Gaze of the media - distortion of power in the media
- they decide on the portrayal of people in the public eye
Social Networking
- The body is broken into fragments-could be any female
- Plays on teenagers body consciousness, potentially carrying those perceptions into adult life
- idea that circulated of the "imperfect" female body
- playing on self consciousness
Photography
- papparatzis feeding the publics desire to see celebrities as imperfect
- pursued to death because of image? - demand for it
Reality Television
- Appears to offer us the position as the all-seeing eye- the power of the gaze
- Allows us a voyeuristic passive consumption of a type of reality
- Editing means that there is no reality
- Contestants are aware of their representation (either as TV professionals or as people who have watched the show)
- contestants regard themselves as the way Berger describes women to regard themselves
- voyeurism loses impact - saturated with the experience
- people are aware of being looked at - offering themselves up for a type of passive experience
