- One of the main premises in this episode is Berger’s distinction between nakedness and the nude female form as it is traditionally represented in Western art. What are the differences between these things and why are these differences significant? Do they apply to images you have encountered in your experience?
According to John Berger, to be naked is to be oneself. To be nude is to be seen naked by the others and yet not recognized for oneself. Nude has to be seen as an object. Also, he says ”The Nude implies an awareness of being seen by the spectator. They are not naked as they are, they are naked as you see them.” That means the difference between these terms are depends on how other people see the subjects. In the pictures we see, the subjects wear fig leaves, cover themselves with gestures, or looking directly at viewers which show their awareness and make them nudes. - According to Berger, how have Western works of art depicted and defined different roles for men and women? According to Berger, what is the significance of this? Do these depictions influence the ways we think of the differences between men’s and women’s roles in society today?
In the pictures we see, the women subjects are represented as material or source for pleasure, whereas the men are the ones who get pleasure. For instance, the painting called Sussanne and the Elders shows the men spying on the naked women and the women looking at herself in the mirror, trying to picture herself as how men see her. Or in the other example ”The Judgement of Paris”, women are in a beauty contest where the male subject shown as the judge. I believe, today, the positions of men and women in the society are way more closer to each other. But still, in several situations, we can see that society’s general idea on women doesn’t change much. - How does Berger describe the significance of the mirror in paintings depicting women? What does this object say about the ways beauty is defined in these paintings? What does Berger say about the depiction of the female gaze in the paintings he discusses? What kinds of more contemporary examples does he relate this to, and what significance does he draw from these connections between older European art and depictions of women today?
In the European oil art, the mirror became a symbol of the vanity of women. In the video, Berger says ”You paint a naked woman because enjoy looking at her. You put a mirror on her hand, and you call the painting vanity.” What makes the nude beautiful is the judgment of male spectator owners in most of the oil paintings. The female gaze is usually directly to the one who looks at her. This shows her awareness of being seen. Likely to this, in the modern photographs, such as magazine covers, we can see that the female subjects are looking at the person who looking at them and judging their beauty.
Ways of Seeing/Ways of Hearing (LaGuardia ENG 101)
Definitely agree with the examples you’ve used in question two those are the very exact illustrations that helps further prove Berger claim, feel a bit dumbfounded for not including those as a part of my response as well.