The Gaze: Looking is not Always Free (Post 1)

Looking, staring, even gazing is a part of being human, a part of functioning as an individual. If one lacks the sense of sight, their other senses are intensified, but ultimately our visual capabilities allow each of us to gain and absorb so much of what is around us. However, many of the things that we see and observe are not our own. These images are created to shape our understanding and beliefs as spectators.  

The gaze is the way an individual views and understands visuals presented in culture and society. The male gaze is the objectification of women by men and how men view and portray women. A person does not need to be naked to be sexualized, to be subjected to the male gaze. The oppositional gaze or the black oppositional gaze reflects a history and culture of African American individual who have been denied their inherent right to look and who gone against oppressive forces to create a visual identity for themselves.

Bell Hooks addresses the challenges an institutionalized social construction can cause in chapter seven of her book, Black Looks: Race and Representation. She states that overcoming gender construction cannot be based on changing or challenging one individual’s belief, but it must be tackled in a way that reflects an overall transformation of hegemonic white male ideals. When a concept is institutionalized it becomes a relative reality of its own, developing into a framework that rest on how each respective cultural adopts it and how societies throughout time interpret it, especially through film and media.

The problem with forged realities is that they are not concrete or true representations of all individuals, and when one’s own reality is not reflective of the general model they are forced to compel or be ostracized for who they are or for who they may not be.  For black women it is not only a battle of the sexes, but also a battle of races.

Images hold great significance in our cultural identity and though the male gaze is oppressive in content, it is a true reflection of our identity as a society as a whole. It is only when men and women alike challenge these norms can a structural gaze breakdown. Before film was interrogated, black female spectators “choose not to identify with either the victim or the perpetrator, a clear example of the oppositional gaze.  

Although we may not want our identity to be defined by those who look at us, we are limited in our control, because we too define ourselves by what we see or by what we wish to see. 

Painting: 

http://lipmag.com/culture/reversing-the-male-gaze/

Photo (Advertisement):   

 

http://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/malegaze94.jpg