THE GAZE In the animal kingdom often it

“THE GAZE” In the animal kingdom, often it is the male that is on display for females—with the presumption that females choose mates.

l This is also true in some human societies. Woodabe Tribe, Niger

Woodabe Festival

Woodabe Festival Dance

In western culture, the imagined spectator is aways male— even when the target audience is women. Even in advertising, women are eroticized TO women from the perspective of a heterosexual “male gaze. ”

Advertising uses unattainable body types to instill insecurity in the audience, which compels them to buy products to feel better.

There is no single body style that is ideal in all cultures. l Mauritania's 'wife-fattening' farm

Mothers force-feed their daughters.

Cameron Russell (both pics from 2003)

How did this western convention of representation come about? John Berger has a famous theory about “the gaze” (i. e. , the power dynamics of looking).

Ways of Seeing Chapter 3 The Naked and The Nude Based on The Nude by Kenneth Clark

Genesis Tradition n Berger points out that our western traditions of representing the female body unclothed actually comes from the Genesis tradition.

Genesis 3: 16 n And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. . And the Lord God called unto the man and said unto him, “Where are thou? ” and he said, “I heard they voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. . Unto the woman God said, “I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception. In pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband he shall rule over thee. ”

An unusual tradition of representation emerged from this culture. At first, it wasn’t so strange: The first European nude paintings were of Adam and Eve together (p. 48 -49), typically in story form. Left: Fall and Expulsion from Paradise by Paul de Limbourg, Early 15 th Century

l Then, painters started showing just the moment of shame in relationship to the spectator. l The viewer becomes god-like, looking at the pair in judgment. l This relationship between viewer and viewed causes shame in the western tradition of looking. l That relationship and shame also become a defining aspect of the “nude” as an art genre. Adam and Eve by Mabuse, Early 16 th Century (Flemish)

The Unclothed Body Nude • Nakedness objectified in representation. Naked • Natural state + God’s Eyes (culturally constructed through concept of shame/sin) Natural • We’re born in a natural sate, not naked or nude. • Nakedness can only be named in comparison to a clothed state.

Here’s where the tradition intensifies and focuses on women: Memling Vanity by Memling 1435 -1494 l Painters begin to depict Eve alone on display (instead of with Adam) with the ideal body form of the day. The “Eve” theme becomes a way to justify painting unclothed women (all painters in these eras are male). l The women appears subservient to the viewer (who is male) as Adam and Eve were subservient to God. l Tradition of mirrors also sometimes used to show vanity, which is hypocritical because the woman has been created for the male spectator’s pleasure. l Such traditions are distinctly western and are not found in other cultures of the time. Vanity

Ingres 1780 -1867 La Grande Odalisque

In western art, shame becomes a kind of display; women are depicted looking at viewer, aware that they are being seen. This acknowledgment of shame to the viewer Is as a sign. Rubens of submission. Above: Nell Gwynne, Mistress of Charles II (1618 -1680)

Titian Venus of Urbino 1538

The tradition persists in advertising and pornography (women put on display with implied subservience to the viewer).

Guerrilla Girls

Other cultures at the same time develop different traditions of representation. When people are shown unclothed, the women are not put alone on display to be shamed by the viewer. They tend to be shown together in a sex act. Erotic Sculptures of Nad-Kalse (16 th Century Rural India)

Kama Sutra - Hindu

Japanese erotic art from the Edo period (1603– 1867)

l In the western tradition of shamefulness and sin, the nude woman becomes associated with sexual promiscuity and is an object to be controlled/judged by the godlike spectator l Also, through religious culture, the unclothed state becomes tantalizing, automatically sexualized.

Not all cultures see the body as inherently shameful . and eroticized at all times Muwaji and daughter Iganani, of the Amazon Suruwaha tribe

Suruwaha tribe

Nudists: Vacation Photos

Body Coverings in societies with belief in body shame.

Other societies have traditions of shame and modesty in relationship to the body as well, and practice clothing/veiling

Different cultures eroticize different body parts. Examples: n Not all cultures eroticize breasts (some cultures just see them as functional for feeding babies). n The face becomes eroticized in the Middle East where veiling is predominant. n Chinese culture for 1000 years eroticized women’s feet so intently that it was taboo for wives to show their feet even to their husbands. n Victorian culture highly eroticized ankles and legs (as they were covered with long skirts)

Chinese Foot Binding 1000 years (until 20 th Century)

Self-surveillance

“Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. ” l Read page 46: l “A woman must constantly watch herself. She is almost continually accompanied by her own image of herself. Whilst she is walking across a room or whilst she is weeping at the death of her father, she can scarcely avoid envisaging herself walking or weeping. From earliest childhood she has been taught and persuaded to survey herself continually. And so she comes to consider the surveyor and the surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman. She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life.

What is the attitude this model is projecting? What is she communicating To the viewer?

Who is the intended audience here?

We’re Used to Seeing This

l How is this different? (It’s a nudist magazine. )

Nudist Philosphies l The body without clothes is normal and not necessarily a sexual object. l Equality – taking clothes off shows that we’re all vulnerable and equal; nobody’s perfect. l People have to be respected for their personhood and not merely what’s “on the outside” (material coverings)

Local Nudist Resorts - Lake Como (naturist, family-oriented) - Caliente (sexualized, couples) - Paradise Lakes (more like Caliente)

Lake Como naturist, family resort, non-profit member-owned

Caliente is a purposefully sexualized environment - extravagant grounds, for-profit (seeking to sensationalize) - family-friendly membership revoked (ASA) - special events to attract public - a reality TV show was produced here.