Ways Of Seeing By John Berger: The Oppression Of Women

Throughout history the female face and body have been been appropriated by artists, philosophers, and writers as a means to dominate the female form in our patriarchal society. She is often idealized, not ugly or deformed, nor does she appear to age. She is represented as an ideal form from a male perspective, which has lead to a highly objectified ideal represented numerous patriarchal societies throughout the western world. John Berger stated in the 1972 BBC documentary television series Ways of Seeing: “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at” (Ways of Seeing). This quote clarifies the male gazer’s distortion of the female form through the creation of a ‘better and more beautiful’ image, while forcing the opposite gender …show more content…
This movement started the process of influencing cultural attitudes and transforming stereotypes, as well as acknowledging women as artists — just as their professional male counter parts have always been known as — while moving away from the term ‘women artists’. This new artistic revolution was shaped by the politics of inclusion at the time and also encompassed a sexual revolution of sorts, while creating alternative venues to promote women artists’ visibility within the art world (Linton). This movement was about creating a dialogue between the artwork and the viewer through a feminist lens. This forced the viewer to question the social and political norms of a male dominated culture in the hope that it would inspire change towards what is feminism and ending sexism and oppression by inciting change toward equality. Feminist art used a not only traditional art forms such as painting and sculpture, but also non-traditional methods including performance art, conceptual art, body art, video, film, and even fibre art. Through the use of non-traditional media, the viewer was allowed to question the social and political landscape through the expanded definition which feminist …show more content…
Art critic, Amelia Jones, who championed Wilke, writes: ”By adopting the rhetoric of the pose as the work itself, Wilke both insistently unveils the artist and unveils the artists as female (anatomically female, and so culturally feminine, and yet also clearly “masculine” in her artistic authority)” (Jones. Essay: “The Rhetoric of the Pose”). Wilkes critics used works such as “flaunting”, “exquisite”, and “gorgeous” and were critical of her being able to use her body with such ease and accused her of regressive feminist