Ways Of Being John Berger Analysis

Objectification is a term often used to describe how women are seen not as beings but as things. As John Berger describes in “Ways of Being,” women have historically been objectified by men. Much literature and academic essays have been written about the objectification of women; however, we can also see gendered politics in new media and art, as in Laurie Simmons’ new exhibition at the Jewish Museum, “How We See.” The exhibit explores how women are identified internally and externally, and how they are seen through both the male and female gaze. The exhibit and her photographs are unique and thought-provoking.
As we walk into the small but stately room where her exhibit hangs, one cannot feel anything but peculiar when we see the photos that …show more content…
Doll Girls promote unattainable beauty standards as much as they demand the male gaze. As John Berger points out in “Ways of Being,” women have often been considered an object of the male; men are the surveyor and women are the surveyed. In other words, men look at women and women watch men looking at them. In fact, a woman is forced to be self-conscious in the presence of men, simply because men have always been in a position of hierarchical power. In this way, Doll Girls are only further enforcing this boundary between the surveyor and the surveyed. They do nothing to combat this objectification, which feminism has so long fought against. In fact, they promote the female’s self-conscious experience towards their bodies. Their hyper-sexualized image and appearance echo the typical male desire in a female sexual partner, (desires which are often completely fantasy-based). Doll Girls do not only objectify themselves, but also, the female experience, as they promote the unreal beauty standards set forth by centuries of male