In episode 2 of John Berger’s, “Ways of Seeing” he expresses how women were depicted during the nude era of Western art. Women were painted in the nude to show vulnerability and submission to men. Their poses and gazes to the intended male viewer were meant to be seen as provocative to intrigue him. Women to this day still suffer with being objectified. We have these ridiculous expectations of what our bodies should look and what we have to offer a man. 

What really bothers me about the effects of superiority some men feel they have over women, is the catcalling. I know everyone has either seen or experienced this and it’s absolutely disgusting. There have been a few times I have walked around even with my daughter and men have made noises or said gross sexual things towards me. These men clearly saw me as an object, and it’s extremely insulting. The lack of respect these men have for women comes from a long line of stereotypes our history has placed on us. We’re meant to cook, clean and take care of your babies and look sexy doing it. Women haven’t been recognized for their intelligence, strength or any of their unique individual qualities until they demanded it. And still, some men haven’t changed their views on women. 

Below is a disturbing video of a woman walking through New York City for 10 hours experiencing a ton of sexual harassment from men. Catcalling is NOT a compliment.

John Berger argument in episode #2 “Ways of Seeing” was basically about how men see women or how they have seen them in the past. His discussion was specifically on historical nude paintings, and he made several good points. He stated that the purpose of drawing women “naked”  in the past is to amuse the male viewers, and this underestimates women for being just a tool to satisfy lust. This idea still exists in the present. Women still suffer from this stereotype that they have nothing to do in society except showing their bodies for men pleasure. So, they got abused and no one cares about these creatures because they are just “an object” for entertainment. Strangely, we still blame women and criticize their clothes of being the reason for why they got harassed. That is such futile thinking, and not right at all. If she wears naked clothes or not, that really makes no difference. It doesn’t matter what she is wearing. The basic problem is that she is persecuted in society, and it’s extremely important to put an end for this issue. Now, a national movement against sexual harassment is happening. It’s called the #MeToo movement. Many women broke their silence and shared stories on social media about molestation from men, and they put the hashtag #MeToo. Well, I think it’s a good step for people to know that women have rights like anyone, and we should not infringe their rights because they are “women” and “weak”. 

Recently I have watched John Berger’s video called “Ways of seeing” Episode II. This video is about depicting women in naked position in art and its acceptation by the society. The society of the past centuries would accept this kind of pictures with hesitation. But the modern society accepts these pictures normally.I want to speak about this situation in my respond. Since the exile of Adam and Eve from the Edem garden humankind has changed completely. If in the past centuries watching or displaying naked women had been a veto or kind of a taboo, now it is not. Nowadays the image of a naked woman can be received as a normal situation. People can look at these women without sense of embarrassment and evaluate their beauty. Nakedness is perceived as a fruit of beauty. The modern society has different stereotypes about naked women. They admit them as independent, powerful and dominant women. Women also are not afraid of showing and exhibiting their body. Moreover, they are not frightened of displaying their orientation. We know many women with lesbian and transsexual orientation and we act normally to them, because our society has admitted these changes.The beauty of a woman is like a Pandora’s box: the more you show it, the more controversial it is. Some admit it normally, some react to it as a result of a strange behavior. But everyone has his or her own opinion. So the answer for being naked or not to be lies in deep places of your soul                                                                                            

Nowadays women are adding a more empowered role in society. The woman is no longer seen only as an object reflected on a canvas, nor as a housewife. Now women have more value and go out to demand their rights. Although, it is true there are movements such as #metoo that are responsible for seeing for the welfare of people who suffered some kind of discrimination or sexual abuse, there are also movements that support all types of people regardless of their gender or sexual affiliation. While it is true that the empowerment of women began approximately during World War II, today women are stronger and come together to make their voices heard.

In Chapter 2, Ways of Seeing by John Berger, he demonstrates how women were seen in ancient times, how painters embodied in their canvases bodies of naked women in order to demonstrate inferiority to men. That is why I consider that over time the woman has managed to get ahead in the same way has made her rights be respected and in turn respect herself.

One movement that catch my attention is the LGBTQ movement, because they take care of each other , they also encourage to fight for them rights . here is some pictures of them representing what they love, and what they still fighting for.

By the pass of the time people are able to decide what they want to do with their bodies, sexuality based on what they think and  the more important on how they feel. At this time, most of men and women stop taking care about what others say, they just want to feel free and to love each other as how they really are.

Since I was a child, I have been raised to be modest, to not show “too much skin.” Skirts should not go passed your fingertips, and shirts must have sleeves or else “You would be a distraction”. A distraction to who? To Boys, To Men. Ironic since our most revered historical Paintings are almost entirely based upon nude women. Berger discusses the idea that nude oil paintings despite their beauty all stem around the male gaze showing the perception of women at that time period.

Women lounging about in her everyday life, posed ready in waiting with a longing seductive gaze toward the viewer who was meant to be presumably a man. Berger makes a distinction between nakedness and Nudity that might clarify this idea further “To Be Nude is to be seen as a work of art, to be Naked is to simply be without clothes.”  To summarize, Nude is intended to be seen as an object by a spectator, left to be judged. These Paintings were a representation of that era’s societal view against women.

Women of today are progressive; we have more rights and a voice. However, we still are battling to gain respect from the male gaze. Society still sexualize women ,some blatantly, some without realizing, making judgments from the clothes she chooses to wear, assuming the amount of clothing she wear equals the level of availability she has.

Women have been trying to fight against these ideals and one way this is being done is through Slut Walk. It is a March where women gather to raise awareness to society against blaming women’s clothing,professions and prior consensual relationships, as an excuse for sexual assault,and to effectively end rape culture. The attire worn is typical of what society deems too revealing such as exposed navels , low cut shirts , shorts , mini skirts , bras or pasties . Their minimal clothing is to combat the stereotype that women’s bodies and what they wear justifies the verbal physical sexual and societal abuse they would receive when wearing revealing clothing . What a person wears should not be a way to excuse the assaulter and blame the victim, and just cause you wear revealing clothes does not mean you should be thought of as less than a person.

Name: Mina Sunuwar                                                                                                09/18/2019

ENG: 101

Response paper             

                                                      ‘Ways of Seeing’ by John Berger

John Berger is the famous English artist, novelist, real painter, and poet in ‘Ways of Seeing ‘ author explains that why we discover something about ourselves and situation in which we are surviving. The process of seeing painting, it comes suddenly or naturally in our mind because painting has own authentic meaning. All the paintings of the tradition used the convention of perspective, which is unique any countries. The paint is our tradition of art called those appearances reality, perspective makes the eye center of the visible world. But  people’s eye can only be in one place at a time.The Camera can changed everything like paintings creations, design, more copies.However, we can see things which were not there in front of us. Author mentions that the invention of the camera has changed not only what we see, but how we see it. Our mind is not easy to think of appearances always traveling to a single center. The camera reproduces it making it available in any size anywhere for any purpose. When we are going to think deeper it becomes various meanings and thoughts.

             In my view ‘ways of seeing’ this essay’s writer trying to show us how we see the picture and our  ways of seeing changed because of modern technology and science. The author trying to explain so many ways takes example how much reality,unique,authentic,value,invention,perspective of paintings in old generation. He compared old generation and to present. Many years  before painting is very valuable,familiarity of surrounded by different objects, different sounds, different colors. Originally, painting were placed special national gallery, pieces in church and buildings. That painting makes us internal reality feelings, memorable further long life.everything around the image is part of its meaning. Now a days technology makes easy,and happy for people. You do not have to go anywhere for visible world. We can go google any kinds of research at home. 

Throughout the years, women’s image has been depicted in many different ways. In episode two of ways of seeing, John Berger explains how in the Western art, the nude figure was used to express female beauty and its forms, but also, nude portraits were made with the purpose to appeal to men’s sexuality. Berger’s central argument was that nudity objectifies women. He mentions that nakedness does not define a woman as she is; instead it just shows their submission to others.

This can be compared to the current situation in society, where women are more acknowledged for the way they look than for their values and what they have to offer. The #MeToomovement is a movement that was created to help and support those who have been victims of sexual harrassment or sexual assault. Many american celebrities were encouraged by this movement to speak their truth and consequently a high number of other victims followed and told their personal stories. All this was done hoping to spread awareness  of how many women are being sexually neglected on their daily lives by the media, in their jobs or even their own family.

Women should start being respected  and acknowledged by their unique qualities and not for their  physical appearance.  

In Berger’s second episode of “ Ways of Seeing”, he said “Shame is not in relation to one another, it is the spectator looking which shames them.” Society has molded women to focus more on what they should look like in the eyes of others and more specifically in the eyes of men, and at what cost? Even though it shouldn’t matter, men believe hairy legs and hairy armpits on a woman is gross. Which I think is also why woman hate their body hair and are very insecure about it. In this day and age, women are taking a stance and believe they could do whatever they want with their appearance and choose if they want to shave or not. More and more women are rebelling against this norm. Modanna for instance, showed a picture with her armpit hair. Julia Roberts showed up at a premier in 1999 with unshaved armpits. Little by little, women are making it their choice to shave when they want and if they want. They are taking their power back ! Women are teaching women that their body hair is not gross and that their decisions shouldn’t be based on opinions of men. So thank you to the fearless women that are brave enough to walk out with hairy legs and sticking their middle fingers up showing off armpit hair!

As women, many of us are told to cover ourselves up, that men will look at us with lust and that they “simply can’t help it” and they’re just boys being boys. Funny, that’s hysterical. In Berger’s second episode of “Ways of Seeing” he talks about how women are a sight for men in nude paintings. When the woman is looking passively at the spectator of the painting (most always a man) that woman gives that man the power, and shows that she is subservient to him. He also eluded in the episode to the fact that a woman’s naked body hold so much more meaning compared to a man’s. That once a woman removes her clothing in a painting, or even has a partner alongside with her, that it is all about the man’s sexuality not hers, she is simply an object for that man to use to his pleasure. This reminds me A LOT about the “Free the Nipple” campaign. An organization that takes a stand against the objectification of a woman’s chest. No one is offended if a man removes his shirt on a hot summer’s day, but people go nuts over a woman simply FEEDING her baby in public!…..why can we not do that peacefully in public? That is why we have breasts….. to breastfeed.

below is a URL to a youtube video, to get a glimpse of the Free the Nipple movement. There are breasts exposed, as a warning, but I shouldn’t even HAVE to warn you, they’re just breasts.