How Grocery Shopping Can Be Exciting

[noamnety]

8. The Male Gaze

Going back to PeaceNikki's recent post:

"Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relation of women to themselves. The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object—and most particularly an object of vision: a sight. (John Berger, Ways of Seeing, 1977). "

I can't imagine why men think that emphasizing the idea that women exist - and should exist - to be continually objectified and rated by men is a way to interact with women as equals. Even better is when they do that for a year, or a few years, and then sit around scratching their heads wondering why there aren't more women involved in running or participating in their political movement/forum/whatever.