Readers Response #5

John Bergers “Ways of Seeing” helps us understand the way that men and women are portrayed in classical paintings. He includes that women are very stereotyped on how they are seen by other people from their actions.  Berger compares this identity with how people view men by their actions to be manly or powerful. To support this Berger studies nude paintings that portray women as objects for men. He also forced us to think if there is really a difference from how people saw artwork back then to how spectators see it today.

Berger’s article was a lot different than any article we have touched base on this year. I think the comparison this article has with anything else would be modern life today. You can see how time has changed how we view men and women but you can also tell the similarities it still has in todays world. Advertising uses women as sexual objects just like they did in the oil paintings.

 

Before You Read

1.       A women in a classical art portrait and a women in a modern day magazine have many similarities but many differences as well. Some things they have in common are nudity. Both women are portrayed with fewer clothes. But the differences with that are that women that were nude in a classical art portrait are seen as just beautiful art. Versus now a days women are portrayed in a way that tries to seduce other men or be portrayed as sexy.

2.       Men are depicted a lot different than women in the celebrity world. Seeing a picture of a women celebrity you notice the need to wear a lot of makeup and they are portrayed a lot more sexual than men are.

QD:

2. You can see similar images of women in magazines today. These images are very like the ones that Berger has mentioned in his article. “...naked is to simply be without clothes, whereas the nude is a form of art.” (Berger 210) I think our view of women in social media has changed. When people see naked women the last thing that they think of it is art. When in reality it can be seen as a form of art, just like with classical portraits of nude women.

3. I think the assumptions that Berger makes about culture are similar to today’s world. Many people judge women on how the dress or what they say to be there character. When it comes to mean they associate their actions to how “manly” they are or how much power they possess.

AE:

      2. There are ways that we apply Berger’s ideas to texts that we read. There is a clear relationship between the author and the reader. This results in relation to the ideas and thoughts being passed through from the author to the reader.

    4. Humor defines people on how lightly they can take a situation. You can always take a horrible situation or thought and turn it into something humorous if you were that kind of person. Humor can be used to much advantage, to lighten a situation or make it a little less tense.  Humor can be seen as a compensation for some conflicts. I think that humor does not fall into gender. It depends mostly on your character rather than your gender.

MM: I think it is important to think about the similarities and differences between nude, nakedness, spectator, viewer, art and advertisement in this article because you need to understand how  people view classical art. I think this article is more connected to audience. If you are of a different audience you will probably question if nudity is classified as art.

I liked Berger’s article. I thought it was really easy to relate to. It is very clear the relations that the oil paintings have in present day magazines. I also liked the comparison of the actions women take today effect a lot on what that says about their character and how men’s actions portray how manly they really are.