Berger’s Portrayal of Men vs Women

flush toilet Bergers Portrayal of staminate versus Fe priapic Nudity and its coition to Modern caller In the obligate Ways of Seeing, chapter 3 by John Berger, Berger outlines his depicting of the differences between hands and wo manpower and the demeanor in which they ar culturally represented by analyzing b atomic number 18 depictions of adult fe manful in the European artistic tradition by paintings. The paintings overtime withstand demonstrated that manpower film to a greater extent power over wo workforce as they atomic number 18 the main spectators of the paintings, and the women be the object of the paintings.These standards described in his bind ar still signifi thunder mugt in todays edict, as seen by the reaction of the universal to the advertisement displays of young-begetting(prenominal) bareness for the Leopold Museum in Vienna. gibe to Berger, the manlys presence is all intimately potency, power, strength and his abilities. He is viewed as the prevailing being over the woman whereas the womens presence is about only her and what can or can non be done to her. Women are more than concerned with surveying themselves the dash they think others will see them so that they can act in a sort that is appealing toward the men.This suggests that the way she views herself is the way lodge will see her. This theory is displayed in the styles of the European paintings. The paintings are adapt toward the male knockout which gives him a countenance excuse for finding at the au naturel(predicate) women in order to flatter himself. The paintings distinctly demonstrate through the expression of the woman that the woman is aware that she is being viewed thusly objectifying herself as a subject of a gaze. Berger simplifies this by opineing Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. (Berger, 47).The overall point the chapter makes is that men have more power over women, and because of this, women are p iazza of the men. Bergers chapter gives many examples that support his portrayal that men are the more ascendant gender. For example, when reflecting on the story of fling and eventide in the Garden of Eden, it is Eve who gets punished, and Adam that becomes the agent of God. In a nonher painting, The understanding of Paris, Paris awards an apple to the women he believes to be the close to beautiful thus act beauty into a competition. The woman who is the most beautiful is to be owned by the judge, thus objectifying the woman to the man.Berger also mentions that whatever paintings also include a male lover as yet the attention on the women is rarely toward him, but is geared toward the viewer of the painting thus allowing the spectator the article of faith that he is the owner of the woman. Although Berger mainly talks about the cultural perspective of men and women, it is clear that his belief that men have more power over women are still occurring in recent society as se en in an article from The virgin York Times, and an article from BBC upstarts on the globe reactions to the nude male advertisements for the Leopold Museum in Vienna.Society today even creates this image that men have more power over women, and when the roles are reversed, as displayed in the male nude advertisements, it causes public outrage. In the BBC article, according to Tobias Natter, the theater director of the Leopold Museum, when it comes to male nakedness, Somehow it is taboo. (Bell). It is true that male nakedness is getting a new presence in modern society and is becoming increasingly more normal, however one can still turn in a few primings as to wherefore there was an electric resistance to the display of the new men on the posters.Going along with Bergers view of women being the objects of the photos, the first reason is that having the men become the objects of the photos is extremely out-of-the-way and not something society is accustomed to. This is becau se the male is generally the power figure, and to see a man so vulnerable is such(prenominal) an unnatural thing. Another reason why these photos are deemed contrasted is that because the male is right away the object, the role of the spectator is now more difficult to define. Men do not want to be put in a position where they survey themselves. According to Berger, that role belongs to the women.Men also do not want to be seen as having slight power and more vulnerability. Female desolation is associated with beauty and erotics. It is meant to be unthreatening. Male nudity however is much more challenging. Society in general is uncomfortable with seeing male genitalia in the public. Erich Kocina from the BBC intelligence service article states We are not employ to seeing a penis I think that is the main problem for people. (Bell). This opposition was reportedly greater among women because some women felt as though the images were pornographic and inappropriate for childre n to see.In the unsanded York Times article, Klaus Pokorny, the museums spokesmen, stated that women had to test their childrens eyes from the pictures of the naked men. (Cottrell). Also, because women are slightly more modest than men, they tycoon be more prone to embarrassment. even off though society has advanced in so many ways, it is still a little slow in adjusting to the views of men and women. Many people these days say that men and women are equal. More women are working manly jobs, and more men are becoming stay at home fathers. However, male versus female nudity still appears to be an issue.This should not be the way society thinks but unfortunately, nudity is still not totally accepted. The advertisements of the nude men should be a pricy way to open the eyes of the public to see the direction in which society is advancing and have awareness that men and women should not be portrayed so differently. Works Cited Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London Penguin, 1972. 45- 64. Print. Bell, Bethany. The knock down of the (male) nude. BBC News MagazineVienna 18 Nov 2012, Web. 19 Jan. 2013 Cottrell, Chris. Viennese Museum to Cover Nude Ads. The New York Times 17 Oct 2012, U. S Edition, Web. 17 Jan. 2013.