OUGD501 - Seminar 4: The Gaze & The Media

• Vouyerism (Freud) - sexual desire
• Visual Culture (Art & Media)
• Looking is not neutral
• 'Men act, women appear' (Berger) - visual representation is skewed
• Men - the purpose, power
• Women - the object - objectified by men
• 'Vanity' (Membling) - you can look at the woman because she is looking at herself in the mirror. - a man is going to own this so it's a male fantasy.

• In art - most artists were men - art was brought by men - men are the ones with the power
• Economic and material power translates to power over others
• To make a man feel more confident in their sexuality & power - to own a 'woman' - fantasy - never argues back etc
• Created image for yourself and other men & called it Vanity - to laugh at women for being concerned about how they look
• 'Birth of Venus' (Cabanel) - was the most popular painting at the Napolionic Salon when displayed - fantasy piece - dog is mans best friend

• 'Olympia' (Monet) - caused scandal at the same show - more of a reality - a painting of a prostitute - challenge to the world views - black cat symbolises independence - the gaze is met showing she is a subject too, not just an object

• Venus & Olympia - Goddesses of love
• Tradition of power in art which is disguised - sleazy - objectification of women - pigeon holing women into the way they should act etc.
• Modern perfume ads - women shows as sexually available

• Process of women to exist in a consumer culture is to fulfil the typical image men have created for them and always maintaining that - the success of a woman is judged down to if she has a man and has been desired.
• Kenneth Clark - difference between naked and nude - nude is 'art'
• Berger says naked is to be yourself and to be nude is to be looked at by & not noticed subjectively
• We tend to look at other people as an object
• Women are constantly an objectification of men
• Women's sense of self becomes closer to this than their sense of self

Task: Write an analysis of an image showing woman subjectivity and the system of power relations. Use 5 quotes from 'The Look' by Coward, R. (Approx 500 words)

The image above is a poster advertisement produced for fashion and perfume retailer Paco Rabanne, advertising a fragrance for men. ‘In this culture, the look is largely controlled by men’ (Coward, 2000, p33). This is clear in this image because of the obvious subjectivity of the woman. The image of the women fits the stereotype of many women in mens fragrance advertisements. She is seen as the object, while the male is seen as the subject and the one with all the power, with the woman there for his pleasure.

As this is an advertisement aimed at men, there needs to be a reason for them to want to buy the product, and this reason is made by the position of the woman in the image. She is positioned behind him, an arm wrapped around him, and looking at him. This implies that she is literally hanging onto his every word and action and completely submissive to him. Like Coward says, ‘The saturation of society with images of women has nothing to do with men’s natural appreciation of objective beauty, their aesthetic appreciation, and everything to do with an obsessive recording and use of women’s images in ways which make men comfortable. Clearly this comfort is connected with feeling secure or powerful.’ (Coward, 2000, p34). 

In comparison to the woman’s position, the man is stood confidently, and with a hand in his pocket to even look smug. His raised hand is in the position of clicking, implying that the woman is there by a click of his finger. These subtle visuals will relate completely to the male viewer, who will subconscious see this and see that this is his desire, to have a woman there at the click of a finger. ‘Entertainment as we know it is crucially predicated on a masculine investigation of women, and a circulation of women’s images for men’ (Coward, 2000, p33). The woman is the object and in the image to show the viewer what they can ‘get’ with this fragrance. It gives a man a false sense of security in their masculinity and power over women. The way the woman is looking at the man instead of the camera implies that she is ‘his’ and won’t challenge anything he says or does. ‘The ability to scrutinise is premised on power. Indeed the look confers power; women’s inability to return such a critical and aggressive look is a sign of subordination, of being the recipients of another’s assessment’ (Coward, 2000, p33-34).

The woman is coated in gold paint, which instantly relates to the need for the finer things in life. It suggests that this woman is as good to a man as gold would be, that she would bring wealth in their confidence and masculinity like gold would in financial wealth. It is perhaps argued that this image is showing a woman as something that men worship and appreciate, however the overall use of the woman in the image does not support that view. Coward says, ‘Men defend their scrutiny of women in terms of the aesthetic appeal of women. But this so-called aesthetic appreciation of women is nothing less than a decided preference for a ‘distanced’ view of the female body’ (Coward, 2000, pg 34). This is definitely the case in this image. The man is seen as the desired life for the male viewer, with a ‘perfect’ woman in his life who will not question a thing and will let him be the leader, the one with the power.