SOC 608 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Helena Rubinstein, Portrait Painting, Painted Ladies
Document Summary
In western culture, our physical attributes are either valued or devalued. One is not born a woman, one becomes a woman . Women"s bodies are central to this process. These institutions teach us how to fashion ourselves and create our gender. Everyday objects are technologies of gender (high heels, push up bras) The way women looks at themselves as well as they way men look at women is. The media shows you the male gaze. Through the male gaze women are objectified. Women have been depicted as something to look at. Through the male gaze, men do the act of looking. Women are the passive objet that is being looked at. Women are looking at themselves as being looked at. The act of looking shapes the relationship between men and women. Also shapes relation between women and themselves. Female models appear almost dead on the other end. Female models never quite look back into the camera.
