John Berger Ways Of Seeing Chapter 3 Summary

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In chapter three of John Berger’s Ways of Seeing, Berger expresses his thoughts of how woman are seen in art. Berger argues that in western art and present day media, that the woman are largely shown and treated as objects and how the relationship between men and women and the perception of women being inferior to men. Berger portrays these thoughts throughout the chapter with different images and examples. The chapter begins with a painting, “Reclining Bacchante” by Trutat (page 45). The woman in the painting is laying in a way that her breast and vagina can be fully seen because she is trying to please the artist and the viewer in any way she can. The second thing you notice while looking at this painting is in the upper right corner there is a man in the window. The man is awkwardly staring through the window…show more content…
Actions such as this shows how men use their power over women and make them feel like they are seen as objects. The second idea is that the effect of religion on the representation of woman in art. Also how they identify themselves and how men and also other woman identify them. According to Berger, “The first nudes in the tradition depicted Adam and Eve” (page 47). In the Myth of Creation from the Genesis, God punished Adam and Eve for eating an apple from the tree of knowledge that God specifically told them not too. After they consumed the apple they both became aware and self-conscious of the fact that they both were naked, so they made clothes for themselves. You can notice the shameful look on Adam and Eves faces by viewing the photo “Adam and Eve” by Mabuse (page 49). They both have fig leaves that cover their lower private parts. You can see their shame by the way they are not looking straight and how their body’s positioned. Through many generations and decades many things have changed, women used to be shameful of their bodies and would try to cover it up with the best of their abilities but now they are showing off their

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