Ways of Seeing

In response to Ways of Seeing by John Berger, I found this article very insightful and relevant. Although the article refers to oil paintings from the Renaissance period, I believe that a lot of the concepts and ideas Berger describes are seen in our current day and age. Stated on page 211: "Women are there to feed an appetite, not to have any of their own" (Berger). I found that statement quite bold, yet a very truthful insight. In that specific quote he is directly referring to the oil paintings of nude women seen during the Renaissance; he uses these paintings to point out that women were depicted and posed in a specific manner in order to satisfy a male perspective solely. I thought he made good points by referring to these paintings because it shows that this idea of female sexuality being used in that sense dates back as far as the 1500's. I believe most people would view these as nearly harmless paintings depicting the beauty of the female body opposed to almost objectifying it. This concept is extremely relevant in today's society. Advertisements and media in general objectify female sexuality in order to achieve a goal, like selling a product. Women and the female body are used and portrayed in such ways that will appeal to the male perspective. This can also be seen in terms of men being portrayed in a way to appeal to women in some media aspects. This objective is an obvious issue in today's society and one in which needs attention to progress past it.