The Gaze

Black and female= double negative?

          Since the beginning of time men have always gazed at women as a way of grading them on their physical qualities. Even paintings of nude women in the middle ages were purely designed for men's pleasure and the women in the paintings were merely objects.
          The trend is still practiced in the modern world, a good example is ladies posing in magazines that may be meant for a female audience but they somehow seem to be posing for male attention as depicted in the pictures (readings) on page 42. women just never seem to be able to do anything without men being the biggest benefactors.
         Hollywood has also been a trend setter of the gaze being racist and sexist. As Bell Hooks  says on page 115, "Amazed the first time I read in history classes that white slave owners(men, women, and children) punished enslaved black people for looking". So black people gazing at white people was seen as an act of rebellion and that's why its called the black stare up to this day by the author because it symbolizes black people standing up against white oppression.
          Adults also regarded children gazing at them as a sign of disrespect. As the author says in page 115, " I remember being punished as a child for staring". It seems that gazing is perceived to be a disrespectful gesture.
          In conclusion gazing whether its men lustfully gazing at women or the oppressed gazing at the oppressors is seen as a negative gesture by the people been gazed upon, however certain exceptions do exist, like women who crave for men to gaze at them and all their actions are driven by the desire to be gazed upon.