Week 2 Assignment

 John Berger Chapter 2 and 3

“His presence may be fabricated, in the sense that he pretends to be capable of what he is not. But the pretense is always towards a power which he exercises on others.”

It shows how some men want to show power and by showing power they use women as a piece of “thing” to pretend they are capable then any others, because this is what men were well known as in the back century. 

“To be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognized for oneself.”

This phrase has a lot of meaning because my mom always expresses that I should never let a guy see me naked first without seeing my true personality. A real man will want to see you truly by your personality and recognize you within what makes you, “you”, which is your personality. But, if a man empathized to see you naked they can recognize you by your body by the “object” but not what actually creates “you”. 

Understanding Patriarchy

“At church they had learned that God created man to rule the world and everything in it and that it was the work of women to help men perform these tasks, to obey, and to always assume a subordinate role in relation to a powerful man.”

Growing up in an old school mindset from my family was horrible. Since our generation was changing and my family was not understanding, I was forced to learn household stuff like cooking, cleaning, taking care of childrens, and there was no time for me to actually study or do something fun that I wanted to do. Growing up in a mindset where your family was pushing to teached you on how to maintain a man and a household was bad for my mental health; I had learned that men are human and aren’t any more powerful than women. 

Bell Hooks Oppositional Gaze

“Given the real life public circumstances wherein black men were murdered/lynched for looking at white womanhood, where the black male gaze was always subject to control and/or punishment by the powerful white other, the private realm of television screens or dark theaters could unleash the repressed gaze.”

In my honest opinion I felt like white men had it easy when it came to sexualizing the woman back then, but if it was a black man the cops would have arrested them or even beaten them and called them rapists. So why is it that white man can male gaze at a woman so easily, while black man will be neglected for his actions? They both are wrong, but one should not get a warning and one will be getting a beating for it.

Mickalane Thomas: Photographed, Collaged and Painted Muses

“By portraying real women with their own unique history, beauty and background, I’m working to diversify the representations of black women in art.”

Mickalane showed her history and beauty on she was thought and not how others, like white people, thoughts black people should be portraits. She represented the culture their pop, the different colors, and the fun they bring and represent. 

Men Everywhere by Dattnan Martinez