‘according to usage and conventions which are at last being questioned but
have by no means been overcome - *men act* and *women appear*. Men look at
women. Women watch themselves being looked at’ (Berger 1972, 45, 47)
Olympia - Eduardo Manet
When looking at this painting it is worth noting that Manet was responding to 'Venus of Urbino' by Titian. In this painting by Manet, the woman depicted has a look of authority where as the expression of Titians Venus is inviting and submissive. Olympia is being brought flowers by someone working for her. We are free to look at her as an object. However, her gaze is directed at us and by the object making eye contact with us it challenges us to think, maybe she is not something we could possess. She is already rejecting the flowers sent from an interested party. The model is covered in expensive decoration. She has an expensive orchid flower in her hair, a symbol of affection. She is also wearing shoes which contrasts Titians 'Venus of Urbino,' shoes are a symbol of power and independance. In Titians painting there is a small dog on the bed in the lower right. In Manet's painting the animal is a black cat. Dogs signify fidelity, cats signify independence.
Manet knows that in artworks of his time, women were being viewed as objects and sought at least to challenge the comfort of the male viewer.
Pin-up girls in the current media.
If the concept of 'the nude' was developed in a patriarchal society, practiced by artists who were employed to paint, by men who could afford art as a commodity, then its safe to say it serves to legitimize the practice of painting naked women. The concept of the nude is used now to justify the photography of naked women.
Our society is still a patriarchal one. If women 'watch themselves being watched' then she is 'continually accompanied by her own image of herself.'
FHM employ women for use models, they are women who are so aware of the male gaze that they know how to exploit it. They know that they can be shown as objects of desire and exploit the oppertunity to be exploited. But if Berger is right in saying that any action by a woman is also "read as an indication of how [they] would like to be treated" then this is hardly an empowering vocation as they will forever be seen primarily as an object of desire and secondly as a subject for communication.
In the image above, the model is shown along side nothing else, except for the FHM logo and the words "Its a guy thing." Notice the language used, the words 'it' and 'thing' are pronouns and therefore used to objectify a subject. Not only does it present the woman for the viewing of men, it ignores the fact that there may be other women who find the image attractive, dismissing women absolutely as sujects of communication.
When looking at this painting it is worth noting that Manet was responding to 'Venus of Urbino' by Titian. In this painting by Manet, the woman depicted has a look of authority where as the expression of Titians Venus is inviting and submissive. Olympia is being brought flowers by someone working for her. We are free to look at her as an object. However, her gaze is directed at us and by the object making eye contact with us it challenges us to think, maybe she is not something we could possess. She is already rejecting the flowers sent from an interested party. The model is covered in expensive decoration. She has an expensive orchid flower in her hair, a symbol of affection. She is also wearing shoes which contrasts Titians 'Venus of Urbino,' shoes are a symbol of power and independance. In Titians painting there is a small dog on the bed in the lower right. In Manet's painting the animal is a black cat. Dogs signify fidelity, cats signify independence.
Manet knows that in artworks of his time, women were being viewed as objects and sought at least to challenge the comfort of the male viewer.
Pin-up girls in the current media.
If the concept of 'the nude' was developed in a patriarchal society, practiced by artists who were employed to paint, by men who could afford art as a commodity, then its safe to say it serves to legitimize the practice of painting naked women. The concept of the nude is used now to justify the photography of naked women.
Our society is still a patriarchal one. If women 'watch themselves being watched' then she is 'continually accompanied by her own image of herself.'
FHM employ women for use models, they are women who are so aware of the male gaze that they know how to exploit it. They know that they can be shown as objects of desire and exploit the oppertunity to be exploited. But if Berger is right in saying that any action by a woman is also "read as an indication of how [they] would like to be treated" then this is hardly an empowering vocation as they will forever be seen primarily as an object of desire and secondly as a subject for communication.
In the image above, the model is shown along side nothing else, except for the FHM logo and the words "Its a guy thing." Notice the language used, the words 'it' and 'thing' are pronouns and therefore used to objectify a subject. Not only does it present the woman for the viewing of men, it ignores the fact that there may be other women who find the image attractive, dismissing women absolutely as sujects of communication.
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