Response - Berger's Ways of Seeing

            In this excerpt from Ways of Seeing, Berger discusses the ways in which women are represented in fine art and the social implications of these representations. While reading this piece, my views were challenged in the sense that I had not previously known that many modern-day representations of women in the media are nearly identical recreations of fine art. Before, I had of course understood that modern advertisements are influenced by cultural archetypes––such as the woman as the “seductress”––and stereotypical gender roles that have been perpetuated for centuries, but I had not realized that their historical context is so literal. For instance, Berger places two images side-by-side in his book: a painting called La Grande Odalisque by Ingres and a photograph of a girl in a magazine. The similarity of the expressions of these two women is striking––both are staring seductively over their shoulder at the presumed male observer. In general, I would say that Berger’s discussion of women in fine art versus those in modern media helps me to understand why it is so difficult to get rid of the “men act and women appear” stereotype––women have been represented in art in a sexist, passive way for centuries, making it nearly impossible to change now (209).