Ways Of Seeing

633 Words3 Pages
Why are representations of women seen differently in art? In art, the nudes especially, portray a woman as an object, rather than a person with passion and emotions of their own, to be viewed and enjoyed by the spectator, it was all about the viewer. The women in art were to have no feelings of their own but to make the viewer feel that the woman in the image is theirs and is there solely for their viewing pleasure, which in most instances was a man. They were to be beautiful and eye candy for the man. The woman was there exclusively to be viewed or to be surveyed by the spectator and in some cases also viewed by herself; it was believed one of the only reasons she should examine herself is to see how others, primarily men, perceived her. I agree with author and believe that this has carried into modern day self-images of many women, many women today are extremely self-conscience of their image and how they are portrayed by others. I think the feeling of being viewed and judged is an ongoing issue, leaving many women with insecurities of one’s self-image, even though there has been a tremendous step for women in today’s society. According to Berger, “To be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself”. Berger goes on to say, “Nudity is placed on display.” The women in the painting are a display pieces; they are exclusively for the man viewing the art. The painter paints them in a way that they are looking, into the viewer’s eyes to allure the man, the viewer, to appeal to his sexual fantasies and make him feel wanted, powerful and desired. There is a one sided power within the art. Power and sexuality is geared to the man; it is all about him and the woman is stripped of any of her sexuality and power, she is to have no sexual feelings of her own. As Berger notes in Ways of Seeing, “Hair is

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