Thursday, 31 October 2013

Lecture - The Media and The Gaze

Lecture - The Media and The Gaze

"According to usage and conventions which are at least being questioned but have by no means been overcome, men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at." - John Bergers.
Hans Memling
'Vanity'



 The main idea behind this image is that the fact that she is looking away or not you allow you to look at her, The use of a mirror is continued throughout a lot of images of similar meaning.


Alexandre Cabanel "birth of venus" 1863:


The positioning of the had would suggest  that we are invited to look at her.

Opium - Yves Saint Laurent 




This advert was originally deemed to sexual so then rotated it on its side.

Titian's venus of urbino, 1538


The Positioning of her hand would suggest that she had been touching herself, but is not seen to be as provocative as a remake of the image which I have shown below.

Manet - Olympia 1863


This image above is somewhat a copy of the one above it, but by slightly changing the positioning or posture of the woman's body and hand implies such a more provocative message along with change of animal from a dog to a cat suggests that she is not loyal like a dog would be, which links to the fact that she was a prostitute.

This style of image had been used as part of a campaign to stop objectification of women.



Jeff Wall 'Picture for women' 1979


Coward, R 1984

'The camera in contemporary media has been put to use as an extension of the male gaze of women on the street'



the use of sunglasses in modern images implies the same thing a woman covering her eyes would have in older images, the fact that she is inviting you to look or that she cannot return the gaze.

Males can also be objectified 


Dolce and Gabbana (2007)


In this image they all return the gaze.


Marylin Munroe - Travillas Dress from the seven year itch 1955


the pleasure involved in looking at other people’s bodies as (particularly, erotic) objects. In the darkness of the cinema auditorium it is notable that one may look without being seen either by those on screen by other members of the audience


Cindy Sherman, - “Untitled Film Still # 6”, 1977-79


Barbara Kruger - ‘Your Gaze Hits The Side of My Face’ (1981)


Sarah Lucas ‘Eating a Banana’ 1990


2001 Tracy Emin ' Money Photo


Caroline Lucas MP in June 2013 - No more page three


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