tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post8610946595494419836..comments2023-10-15T03:19:09.980-04:00Comments on Lifestyles of the Single and Saved: Visual Pleasure its Humanities WayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15420339319088329299noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-83524963156940348632007-12-17T16:04:00.000-05:002007-12-17T16:04:00.000-05:00Your reference to music videos and how they object...Your reference to music videos and how they objectify women reminded me that VH1 documentary about video girls. I agree with you when you said that for most of those artist they wouldn't be known if it weren't for their video. It's unfortunate that those women are objectified and completely degraded in those uncut videos yet if it weren't for the girl shaking her ass, who would watch the video? In most of those videos women are having money thrown at them or having it shoved in their underwear but it's quite ironic because they are the ones truly earning it and making that money possible to exist. In a perfect world things would be portrayed for what they are and it would be those women shoving their money into some beefy guy's jock strap.Kendra Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14571503610030846689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-65297349956803570202007-12-17T13:49:00.000-05:002007-12-17T13:49:00.000-05:00I think that you bring up some good points. Howev...I think that you bring up some good points. However, I wonder if you considered that the "male perspective" that Mulvey talks about is something that we supposedly all take part in, even women. I am not sure if I agree that all women are objectified in film. I believe that beauty is something that can be found in many things, including women, and is not always a bad thing. Showing a woman's beauty in film might not be much different than showing a beautiful landscape. However, this is not to say that some times women ARE objectified, I just do not believe that it is simple enough to declare that they are all of the time.skylarsaltzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13943518318503424675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-1299826629899622032007-12-17T03:55:00.000-05:002007-12-17T03:55:00.000-05:00I agree with what you say throughout the blog for ...I agree with what you say throughout the blog for the most part. However, after reading the article I realized that it doesnt even really matter if the person behind the camera is a man. Even if it's a woman there is going to be another beautiful woman as a star role. Its just the way society works, and I think you said it best when you say that women are also to blame because we have been so taught and molded by society to look at ourselves in terms of appearance. Let's face it... no one wants to be bad looking, especially women, who are most hard on themselves when it comes to body image.<BR/><BR/>Elaina ParinaEMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12257708821202262097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-14872995314164180692007-12-16T12:48:00.000-05:002007-12-16T12:48:00.000-05:00i agree a lot with the commentators in the sense t...i agree a lot with the commentators in the sense that I feel that women are lucky to be without a penis and the whole fact that men start from women and that if you really wanted to change the male gaze you'd have to change men's ways. We are what we are and although women have been put down by men for centuries and eve is the downfall of man (so called), women have come a long way from being just the housewife. Now i don't want to offend any men or women here but frankly it is a woman role today to be the infatuate men because the male brain sees and works very differently from that one woman (sort of a short attention span or stare at the shiny thing) just kidding. But seriously there is something different going. Actually most interestingly, last year my college writing class was based on the way people dress, men and women. What i found to be most interesting in one of the articles was that before the Enlightenment it was the male role to be most elegant. Don't get me wrong women dressed up too, but the men got more pampered, more dressed up and chose to wear more jewels. I kid you not!!! after the enlightenment men felt they had to change their ways and take on the role of the leader of the house hold. in either case my point is that women and men are both different and history has shown that. We live in a overly sexual society and since Mulvey has written her article we see much more exploitation of the man in the same way everywhere. I mean women look at men like objects just as much.Manon Rouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11089832835423272670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-58291341211958495112007-12-13T19:58:00.000-05:002007-12-13T19:58:00.000-05:00In light of Rob's comment above, I'd have to agree...In light of Rob's comment above, I'd have to agree that a show like Sex & the City is indeed steeped in the male gaze. Mulvey's article is hard to defy, as we might argue almost any seemingly strong portrayal, or even portrayals of women in which the last thing we are supposed to do is objectify her, may still cater to the male gaze. I say this with two films in mind: Monster and Irreversible. The former, starring Chereze Theron, hinges on a prostitutes empowerment through violence toward men, culminating in a lesbian love with a younger woman. What is interesting about Monster in light of Mulvey is that, although Theron's makeup and demeanor in the film make her somewhat grotesque, her fame as a beauty predicated the film's inception. Therefore, we might easily argue there is enjoyment in watching a beauty act the part of a monster. With Irreversible, the climactic scene (and frankly one of the most disturbing I've ever been privy to) depicts Monica Belluci being maimed and then subsequently raped. The film does not celebrate this; in fact, the cinematography and pacing of the film suggest the complete opposite. However, and this is hard to articulate without watching the scene itself, the camera during the rape scene is fixed. Our eyes are privy to a long hallway, and a horrifying rape scene. I'd be more inclined to say this is supposed to work as a kind of reverse psychology critique on the male gaze, one could still argue that there is subconscious pleasure in the passivity evoked by the cinematography.<BR/><BR/>Danniel SchoonebeekDanniel Schoonebeekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18086624959443495899noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-8741682017021573812007-12-12T13:40:00.000-05:002007-12-12T13:40:00.000-05:00It is an unfortunate truth that men do control the...It is an unfortunate truth that men do control the way women and men view the female form. However, i think that women are sexualized because they have to be. As far a human nature goes, women have always been looked at as sexual objects more than men have been or will ever be. I am not stating that this is all women are meant to be, But to change this objectified image of women, you must change the human nature of man, and i think that would be an impossible task to take on. <BR/>It was interesting to see how you made it a point to say that only men are objectifying women in their films. I have to disagree with this idea. Take for example Sophia Coppala (Marie Antoinette, Lost In Translation, and The Virgin Suicides) she as a woman has fit into the forum in which women are sexualized and objectified. ANother example is Amy Heckerling ( Clueless and Fast Times @ Ridgemont High) who is the epitome of sexualizing women and more importantly young women in her films. She is also responsible for creating a generation of young women who believe that this is the right way for a young woman to behave (see: the hills, laguna beach) <BR/>The problem is, i think that there is no "female gaze" but just a male one. So women just like men will never be able to break out of the shell that has been created for them. Your essay is one of the few that has provoked me to write alot. SO thanks!samschachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14226187964131443475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-51385777192869094602007-12-11T23:55:00.000-05:002007-12-11T23:55:00.000-05:00I wonder how the new feminist movement is helping ...I wonder how the new feminist movement is helping to change or protract this condition. It seems like the most popular female actresses and musicians among women are perceived to be sex symbols in some shape or form - and this is seen as "empowering" to the female audience. This is sort of paradoxical... women have bought into the notion of the male gaze and appear to do whatever they can to appeal to it - through clothes, sexual behavior, etc; but still shake a finger at it. TV shows like Sex and the City are equally perplexing - in some ways it's the pinnacle of this behavior. People cried out, "Finally, a show about strong, independent women," but failed to notice or acknowledge that the show is 90% about their sexual exploits. No wonder so many husbands gladly watch the show with their wives...robb warehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09118569204100580444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-21736160214080757572007-12-09T16:19:00.000-05:002007-12-09T16:19:00.000-05:00When you talk about the music videos, that is clea...When you talk about the music videos, that is clearly proof that most things in society are for the male gaze. You see all these women, sometimes genuinely pretty and more often than not slutty, and you automatically know that this is just for the pleasure of the man who is creating it and for the men watching. Especially for what some of the women do in those videos.jess bernathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14083217303392351144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-32228425178378517412007-12-05T19:07:00.000-05:002007-12-05T19:07:00.000-05:00I'd hate to believe that women's "lack of a penis"...I'd hate to believe that women's "lack of a penis" makes us feel castrated and thus a sense of lost pleasure. Plz. "Lack of" implies that women are supposed to have one, and that's just not right. Besides, isn't there that book - "Why do Men have Nipples?" and it's because all fetuses are formed as females originally, since male nipples are totally pointless... I agree with your point about Halle Berry and bunches of successful females winning awards for works of art they appear to be overtly sexual in, but I also think there are plenty of Oscar-winning women who are honored for roles where they're not objectified. Jodie Foster isn't exactly a sex symbol; Anna Paquin was a little kid; howz about Dame Judy Dench! :oalison kattlemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05832496490632685086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1708485171339237174.post-85830123129660758772007-12-03T18:01:00.000-05:002007-12-03T18:01:00.000-05:00I thought that was a good point where you suggeste...I thought that was a good point where you suggested the concept of the "overly aggressive" child may be a budding rapist or something worse. That is a scary thought. I am just unsure how you say that ties into knowing "at first sight" or by looking at them. Are you speaking about mere looks or observed behavior as well?Katherinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16243619321857864974noreply@blogger.com