The Gaze Notes

 Linked to panopticism. Uses the man's fantasy of control via the objectification and sexualisation of women.



Vanity - 1485 (Memling)

In "Vanity" (1485), it's a man's representation of a woman. On one level attempting to objectify and sexualise. In calling her vein, we blame her for objectifying herself, as though it's her fault  - causing oppression.

Ideology always works on various levels and answers the masked questions:

"Why is it ok to stare at naked women under the guise of art?"

"Why was art male dominated until the 60's and 70's?"

Kenneth Clarke's "Wade" - "To be naked is to be without clothes"

The nude supposedly is different to simply being naked - maybe because being nude means there is consent and reason for being without clothes.

It is a man's form of power to objectify women in painting and is therefore reassuring for men to feel like they over-rule women. Nudity in art is validated for men to be a tasteful form of art, like an excuse to indulge in the woman's image.

Pyschosexual, voyeuristic and available in nude.



Olympia - 1863 (Manet) 



Venus / Olympia dispute and comparison. The cat comes and goes at will, sleeping where it wishes. the dog is a symbol of obedience, reliance and dependance. 

Venus of Urbino - 1538 (Titian)

The Olympia depiction of a prostitute and then giving her a goddesses name was an attack on the conventions of the nude.

She is inviting and sexually suggestive. This is the patriarchal fantasy of the nude, waiting for you when you arrive home.

It is easy to spot traces of the male gaze in other ideollogies.



Le Grand Odalisque - 1814 (Ingres)



Made to look more European than Asian. The orient was an intriguing and tropical part of the world that for the majority was unknown, and so the lady in this painting is mistakably imagined to look European.



This is all about the gaze from the west to the east and the cultural divide.

West are made to feel superior and the east weird and alien.



Sarah Jessica Parker as
Carrie in "Sex and The City"



Her face is very young, as were many nude faces in the 19th century. This idea of youth in a women is used to restore her sexual and mental innocence and is a form of power for men.

Sex and The City's women are the ultimate docile bodies to men and the men that operate society, because they are dressed and act in a way that benefits men.

Robert Mapplethorpe challenges conventions of the gaze using homosexuality in his photography.

Also look at Laura Malrey