Paste your essay in here…Throughout history women and men have both played an active role within the history of art, advertising and photography. John Berger wrote, ‘men act, woman appear’, a statement that has helped create a discussion for why the roles of both genders differentiate and how artists and cultures have depicted them over the centuries. It is well known throughout history that women have been shadowed and silenced in many aspects of life. Men have been shown as powerful, this being dated back to ancient Greek times. While this is apart of history, it has created a centuries of sexism within art history, advertising and photography. In this essay I will discuss artworks and relevant readings from authors such as Sturken and Cartwright, Gill Saunders and John Berger to help draw to a conclusion why women and men have been depicted in this manner, with help from artworks from artists such as Eugene Trutat and Albrecht Durer. I will also contrast these artists and their artworks to groups such as Guerrilla Girls who have since fought to oppose and change traditional ways of images seen in society. I will then draw to the conclusion of whether Berger’s ‘men act, women appear’ is still apparent in todays society and if the representation of women has changed.
Dating back to Ancient Greek times there has always been a distinct difference in the representation of male and female. John Berger’s: Ways of Seeing, outlines significant stepping-stones to the depiction of women through the “male gaze” in art history (Berger, 1972). Gill Saunders: Active Versus Passive supports Berger’s discussion, where female sexuality is seen as bad, threatening foundations of patriarchy, and male dominance. ‘Active Versus Passive’ was first described by the Greek philosopher Aristotle’ ‘Man is active, full of movement, creative in politics, business and culture…. Woman, is passive…she is matter waiting to be formed and moulded by the active male’ (Saunders, 1989). While in today’s society this can be seen as incredibly sexist and offensive, this was massive belief in ancient Greek times an example of this is nudity in artworks which was a site for the ‘construction of sexual difference’. The Draughtsman Drawing a Nude by Albrecht Durer is one of the earliest artworks to symbolise polarization of the active male and the passive female. The male in the artwork is actively looking at the woman, while the woman is subjected to his gaze as she has her eyes closed. It is quite obvious in this artwork the dominance the man is having over the woman.
The Draughtsman Drawing a Nude by Albrecht Durer
The idea of passivity regarding women supports Berger’s statement that ‘men act, and women appear’. Saunders suggests art serves to ‘construct and identify stereotypes’, which is what Western Christian culture surrounded when Durer’s’ painting circulated. In Durer’s artwork, it is quite evident that the woman is subjected to the mans gaze and appears vulnerable. This was considered a ‘culture norm’ where many women appeared objectified and vulnerable, while the male role was active in his own right. In contrast to today’s society, would this form of art be seen as acceptable? While Berger argues that ‘men act, women appear’ we have since seen a great difference in the evolution of women in art, advertising and photography. This began in the nineteenth century.
The 19th Century was a turning point for the representation of women but before this had happened, the culture of ‘reclining bacchante’ had dominated art, an art where woman had laid naked on chairs. John Berger’s: Ways of Seeing argues a presence is dependent upon the power of which a man ‘embodies’ and also suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you (Berger, 1972). Berger argues this while also stating ‘a woman’s presence is expressed through an attitude’; it is grasped through gestures, opinions and chosen surroundings’. A great depiction of this statement is the artwork ‘Reclining Bacchante’ by Eugene Trutat. We see in this image the importance of the womans appearance as she displays her physic to the audience while the man is merely background noise, focusing his attention on the woman. It is quite evident in this artwork that the man is powerless with his face partially shadowed while his gaze is focused solely on the woman in the artwork. This artwork highlights the womans features having her positioned in the centre with her surroundings meaningless without her presence. Since the decline of the reclining bacchante art has since seen a ‘rebellion’ of sorts with this style of painting.
Eugene Trutat, Reclining Bacchante
In 1985, a group of vigilantes wearing gorilla masks sought to change the shame of art and the underrepresentation of female artists. These vigilantes worked to fight discrimination and raise awareness about issues that women have faced throughout the centuries in art history with an major key message that- women do not have to be naked to be historic (Gajewski, C). ‘Guerrilla Girls’ illustrates how nudity represent women in art and how a shocking 85% of nude artwork that reside in Met. Museum, are female. This billboard as well as imitating advertising appealed too a much wider mass audience than any other feminist group before them. Not only has Guerrilla Girls tactics proven effective in the art world, but it has also affected the advertising industry, where many women like in art have been powerless.
Berger wrote, a woman is ‘the surveyor and the surveyed’, this quote can taken in many different ways but one that stands out is the connection with advertising and its representation of gender roles. Although women are represented in different roles in advertising, it has only seen change since the mid-20th century; where women have been seen in advertisements other than domestic products. An example of this is the 1950s advertisement ‘Alcoa Aluminium’ bottle caps that open without the help of your husband, this was an era the ‘Mad Men’ advertisement dominated with sexism and women were often belittled.
Alcoa Aluminium, 1953
Another advertisement that highlights this manner is ‘Show her it’s a man’s world’, while it is obvious with stating how the male is dominating it is also clear just how much the history of art and how women have been represented being a female. In the 21st Century, sexism in advertisements has not changed all that much. While there are so many empowering advertisements out there that do glorify men and women in an equal right, the past of sexism still lingers in the 21st Century. This is seen in the advertisement ‘Compare a woman to buying a car’ by Audi which in summary claims men have the right to ‘buy’ whichever car or female they deem worthy.
An example of just how much centuries of art and unchanging ways have influenced today’s society is Sturken and Cartwright’s comparison of the La Grande Odalisque, 1814 by artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres to an advertisement by ‘Keri’ in 2006 imitating the artwork to sell shea butter. In newer Keri advertisement we see an update version of a female model, appearing thinner and more detail to her assets. There was no need to let the audience know that the painting La Grande Odalisque inspired the advertisement, as the advertisers relied on this classic example of the female nude for its wide international recognition (Sturken & Cartwright).
La Grande Odalisque by Jean-Auguste-Dominique 1814
Groups like the Guerrilla Girls that helped create a voice for how women are represented and wanting there to be change, this has been beneficial in gaining a wider audience and a more emphatic approach when it comes to art culture. However, I have still drawn to the conclusion that Berger’s ‘men act, women appear’ is still apparent in todays society. I have come to this conclusion through extensively going through eras of art and advertisements’ in this essay and have highlighted a ‘trend’ where many different cultures in art past and present have adapted previous representations, such as the reclining bacchante, nudity and sexist advertisements such as ‘Alcoa Aluminium’.