Ways Of Seeing Chapter 3 Summary

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This is a Man’s World In chapter three of Ways of Seeing, John Berger expresses his thoughts on how woman are portrayed in art. He argues throughout this chapter that in western art and present-day media, women are largely shown and treated as objects. Additionally, the inequalities in the relationships between men and women, and the portrayal of women as inferior in comparison to men are also brought to light. These and other sentiments are conveyed through the use of multiple paintings, images, and everyday examples throughout the chapter. The chapter begins with Felix Trutat’s Reclining Bacchante (page 45). The woman in the painting is laying in a way that her breasts and genitalia are fully exposed. Her sole purpose in the…show more content…
The depiction of nude women with mirrors is clear evidence of this. In both Tintoretto’s Susannah and the Elders and Memling’s Vanity, the female nude is depicted admiring itself in a mirror (pages 50-51). In Tintoretto’s painting, the invasion of Susannah’s privacy by the old men is validated by the fact that she too is partaking in the action. Because she is looking at herself, her conceitedness merits her objectification. The painting, part of his Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation is flanked on either side by horrifying and grotesque depictions of death and the last judgment, therefore equating the wickedness of its subject with that of the paintings on either one of its sides - a very harsh accusation. The naked woman in the painting is meant to embody sin, and because of this, her nakedness is allowed to be stared at because it is being used as a lesson or warning to others, effectually she is objectified for the “benefit” of others. Yet however men may choose to abstract their intentions, they remain one and the same in almost all cases of the depiction of the female nude in art; objectification for sexual…show more content…
Berger states, “Women are depicted differently from men. Women are sights designed to flatter males,” (page 64). Here, Berger insists that women have always been presented differently from men because women need to appear beautiful to get the attention of men. Women in art have been depicted and displayed more often than not in order to please the men who look at her, therefore degrading women and making them sexual objects of desire for men. Berger states, “Men survey women before treating them” (page 46). Essentially, women know that men are always watching them and they are conscious of their behavior when men are present because it impacts how they are treated by men. Berger also states, “Men act and women appear. Men look at woman. Women watch themselves being looked at.” (page 47). In other words, women are conscious that men are looking at them and being judgmental. Women have been seen as objects for such a long time that they cannot help looking at themselves from the same perspective. All of a sudden, we can show the woman in Memling’s Vanity some sympathy, it is not her fault she is vain for it is man who has pushed her to be so. Women are always harsh on themselves because they are constantly worried about how people view them. As Berger writes, “She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and
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