The Male Gaze and Oppositional Gaze

The male gaze, when broken down, can be many things. Berger mentions a few, but the one I want to focus on is the function as surveyor. "Men survey women before treating them. Consequently how a woman appears to a man can determine how she will be treated" (Berger, 46).  What I take from this is that the male gaze is nothing more than a measuring stick. There is a certain standard that has been set by our ancestors for generations that let beauty coincide with the treatment that a woman gets. The beautiful reap the benefits according that mysterious scale that all men, and women, have seemed to memorize. The worst part about it is that we all seem to do this subconsciously. Since the focus is on men I can set a better example through there.

One very glaring example, in my opinion, is The Miss America/Universe Pageant. I personally hate the whole idea of it. The entire idea perplexes me. In order to be accepted in a society where you do not want to be judged based on your looks, you are judged COMPLETELY on your looks. The whole thing I break down like this:

1.) Look good in this dress

2.) Look good in this bathing suit

3.) Look good in this other dress

4.) Did yo watch the news last night? Great! Answer this question. It doesn't really matter. We just need to cover our asses and not be judged by everyone.  

5.) Here's a crown and scholarship because your cute. See you next year.

It makes absolutely no sense to me!  I think this is what Berger was getting at, on the most grandiose of scales. The worst part to me is that it kind of affects my relationship with my little sister. She loves the pageants and in her eyes it is not about looks but about passion. If that were case, every single woman on earth should be the winner of this contest, not one out of a selected beautiful 53. In all of this let's not forget that this all to give men and women a chance to judge on appearance. Remember that Berger also said, "Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at" (Berger, 47). To conclude, the male gaze can be seen as judge, jury, and executioner on the most vain of levels. Main point, KNOW YOUR JUDGES!!

http://sullivanchair.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Know-your-judges-pic3.jpg

Bell Hooks tackles the oppositional gaze. Similar to Berger, the gaze is sort of measuring stick. To me, it is a "you versus the world" type of situation. The gaze is the scale and you are always the standard. It is seen as constant competition against your "opposition." It could also mean that you are in a whole lot of trouble. This usually comes from age gaps such as parent to child or principal to student(I know I wasn't the only one who got a dose of that gaze). Those stares were usually followed up by detention...or a beating depending on your household. Pretty much explains itself right? Well allow me to elaborate. Taking from personal experience I can tell that this gaze exists most definitely among men. The woman aspect I'm not particularly sure about, but one can assume that this gaze exists amongst them as well.

Speaking from the black male perspective, the oppositional gaze comes from a point of power. In most if not all of my cases, you were told to do something, and you did it. No questions asked. If you for some strange reason decided to disobey, the gaze came down. You lost a fight with your eyes, and you did what you were supposed to do. This is just explained in the case of authority. In terms of competition, that's slightly different. The true difference is that the sole purpose of this gaze is to please the ego. Let's set the scene. It's a formal occasion. You put on your best suit/gown. You feel like a million dollars and not a single person in the venue will look better than you. You are on cloud nine. Your ego is boosted past its limit. You get to the venue and of course you are the center of attention...according to you. Just to be sure that you are the "shit" you scope the room. You realize that the men/women that you are competing with are gazing at you. You take it as a threat and gaze back. It becomes a meaningless competition. I have to look in order to feel good about me.

Honestly, I wish that this gaze never existed. It only leads to negative feedback. Either a heart is broken, or a nose is broken. In some cases it may be entertaining, but for the most part, nothing significantly good came out of a oppositional gaze.

http://www.break.com/video/when-cat-staring-contests-get-ugly-2505429