The male gaze describes the concept presented in Jim Berger’s Ways of Seeing as “Men look at Women. Women watch themselves being looked at.” Her identity is split in two. Herself and the physical self as observed. If she was standing behind a photo of herself she will see that her image, not herself is being judged. Society’s judgment of this image is her definition and it’s beauty defines her value. As in Jim Berger’s reference to renaissance paintings the image of the female “nude” creates an object to be gazed upon as a fantasy and possession of the owner/viewer.
The man who owns this image of a nude creates the sense of owning a woman as if owning a painting. Berger shows how oil paintings owned and painted by men deflects the objectification into vanity of the subject by giving her a mirror to look at. It’s like saying she (the image) caused man (the owner) to objectify women.
As a patriarchal society the image of women as an object but more as a possession is pervasive in magazines, movies, books, and television and therefore subjugates women under men. As Berger says, “This unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that it still structures the consciousness of many women.”
Bell Hooks describes the oppositional gaze as not identifying with the white women or male character types in film but taking a critical analysis of the films in opposition to these black female stereotypes. Questioning many black women and their experience in film Hooks reveals that many black women held an oppositional gaze to these obviously unrealistic females stereotypes designed to give a negative contrast to the other characters. Bell Hooks describes her observation of the black female characters in film as, “She was bitch-nag. She was there to soften images of black men, to make them seem vulnerable, easygoing, funny, and unthreatening to a white audience….Scapegoated on all sides. She was not us.”
The ways these images are used to represent the female gender in society is pervasive. They are stereotypical representations of this repetitive limited role used in media. These images are all designed to sell a product to as many people as possible. To appeal to a base stereotype appeals to a base intelligence. I'm not either so I can't relate to it or even say it's true but I can understand the author’s perspectives. These images are exaggerations of reality. To show a woman as a sexual object is to appeal to a base use of her gender as a man can be shown as a financial, money and success pursuing physical utility. These exaggerations are meant to be sold and the authors know they sell much more successfully than the real, sensitive or unexaggerated.
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