‘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)
Women do this, not because they are vain but because of the many representations of women that surround us. Women survey their own femininity. This is something that has been a part of society for many years. The piece below by Manet shows how a woman is are dissaffected from society, and in this instance unhappy at work. They are marginalised members of this new
Modernist society. The lack of a role for women has turned them into a form sexualised nymphs.
MANET - Bar at the Folies Bergeres, 1882
This image is highly based around a city which is full of mirrors, full of superficiality. This is also the case in modern media. Our world is constructed of advertising which makes women second guess their image and their actions. Artist Barbara Kruger creates work which cleverly mocks our warped media styles. Her piece below takes the role of the woman who can stand against the objectification of women in the media. 'Your gaze hits the side of my face' expressing that although this woman is aware that she is being looked at, she no longer feels the need to care. She doesn't need to 'watch herself being looked at'.
Barbara Kruger
‘Your Gaze Hits The Side of My Face’
(1981)
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