The oppositional gaze is the power of looking in contrast to the male gaze in general. The oppositional gaze 117 when most black people in the united states flfst had the opportunity to look at film and television, they did so fully aware that mass media was a system of knowledge and power reproducing and maintaining white supremacy. The male gaze that laura mulvey describes is such a pervasive way of seeing because it has been continually employed in various media forms. This caused them to negotiate meaning of their own presence in mass media. The demoralization of women is prevalent when considering the perpetuation of female stereotypes. You must understand that for people like us, there are no such things as models. Sep 11, 2012 according to bell hooks, the oppositional gaze is a critical look that analyzes and reinterprets the construction of societal ideals and media. Hooks primarily aims at critical discussion of the black female spectator and her relation to black and white representation on film. Nov 04, 2015 hookss oppositional gaze there is power in looking hooks 115. Black female gaze has its own category, for black females went to the cinema never expecting to. According to hooks, the oppositional gaze exists as a mechanism for black female spectators to interrogate film without identifying with either the male gaze, permeated with notions of possession and patriarchal order, or white womanhood. The male gaze, the oppositional gaze, and my gaze post 2.
Information and translations of oppositional gaze in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Bell hooks herself is black, and she introduces the topic to us by sharing. Summarythe oppositional gaze by bell hooks is the rejection of laura mulveys paper. As confrontational and as a gesture of resistance the gaze can be dangerous and be understood by repeated punishments.
The perspective that these visuals are seen is in solely from a males point of view, and any woman displayed in the visuals are usually objectified. Black female spectators in the article, bell hooks takes a historical look at black females as media spectators. In my life for example i related to this because being a female, it is a confrontational gesture and a gesture of resistance. Analyzing many oil paintings, nude women are the main focus of the painting, therefore, concluding these paintings were made to attract and impress men.
Oppositional gaze so african american females can avoid being hurt by the absence of a black female presence in cinema look past race and gender for aspects of content, form, language white womanhood, occupies the place of stardom in reading mulvey, african american females are outside the power dynamicthe pleasure in looking. On advertising the main goal of advertisements is to sell you whatever product or service the company is promoting. It was oppositional black gaze that responded to these looking relations by developing independent black cinema hooks 117. Oppositional summarize the the oppositional gaze by bell. The oppositional gaze 1992 in her essay the oppositional gaze.
When black people had their first chance to view themselves on television or in films, it was a white representation of black culture. Black female spectators, bell hooks 1992 presented the. Her focus is on spectatorshipin particular, the way blackness and black people are experienced in literature, music, television, and especially filmand her aim is to create a radical intervention into the way we. Essentials laura mulvey is a professor of media and film at birkbeck, university of london. Beginning with the look of black female spectators that are the dangerous, oppositional gaze, hooks creates an argument centered on the power relations embedded in the media. The oppositional gaze, first coined by feminist, scholar and social activist bell hooks in her 1992 essay collection black looks. Oct 02, 2015 the male gaze that laura mulvey describes is such a pervasive way of seeing because it has been continually employed in various media forms. In the visual and aesthetic presentations of narrative cinema, the male gaze has three perspectives. It is not just about the male gaze, but there are many different gazes from many different points of view. Male gaze and the oppositional gaze women and media. Speaking about his recent film the camp at thiaroye, african filmmaker ousmane sembene explains.
Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. As a result, the creation of a place where oppositional gaze could exist was crucial to the development of independent black cinema. Bell hooks article summary essaysthe oppositional gaze. The oppositional gaze by bell hooks by prezi user on prezi. The selected writings of eqbal ahmad, edited by carollee bengelsdorf, margaret cerullo, and yogesh chandrani, columbia university press, 2006, pp. Download fulltext pdf mammy, jezebel, sapphire, and their homegirls. Merely through this sentence, bell hooks delivers her entire argument in the oppositional gaze of black looks. Oppositional gaze so african american females can avoid being hurt by the absence of a black female presence in cinema look past race and gender for aspects of content, form, language white womanhood, occupies the place of stardom in reading mulvey, african american females are outside the power dynamic the pleasure in looking. The purpose of my poster and research is to inform that beyonce knowles, one of the most wellknown figures in popular culture, is a feminist, but that is not at all what i am most interested in. Add one setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your universitys proxy server configure custom proxy use this if your affiliation does not provide a proxy. Heather amador art of 20th21st centuries 11142017 reading response to the oppositional gaze black. The oppositional gaze the power of looking as contrast to gaze in general. This concept exists as the reciprocal of the normative white spectator gaze.
Race and representation, is a type of looking relation that involves the political rebellion and resistance against the repression of a black persons right to look. The oppositional gaze black female spectators hen thinking about black female spectators, 1 remember being punished as a child for staring, for those hard intense direct looks children would gi ve grownups, looks that were seen as confrontational, as gestures of resistance, challenges authority. For african people, africans in the diaspora, its pretty much the same. In response to this violence to the image, hooks created the oppositional gaze hooks 97. The oppositional black gaze responded to these by producing black independent cinema as a response to the. I believe the gaze has been reused so many times because these media, painting, video, cinema. In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts and in literature, from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer. The oppositional black gaze responded to these by producing black independent cinema as a response to the failure of white dominated cinema to represent blackness in a manner that did not reinforce white supremacy. View homework help bell hooksthe oppositional gaze. Chapter pdf available january 2008 with 4,103 reads. Developing an oppositional gaze toward the images of black women.
Understanding structures the male gaze is perceived as pervasive in popular culture for many reasons, and many of those reasons are the same. All women in this show, with an exception of few, are emotional basket cases a large majority of the time, especially meredith grey. Pdf the oppositional gaze and the erasure of african american. Male gaze is a term that is used when describing visuals such as film, movies, television etc. By lyndsey maloney, andrew miller, shay nix and ben osborn main argument and thesis. For the black male spectator, it was easier to be interpellated into the white male gaze scenario provided by the cinematic apparatus. The gaze has been and is a site of resistance for colonized black people globally. Specifically, it is used by black females to challenge the male gaze and broadens the ideas of what the gaze, or filter on the media actually is. Black female spectators bell hooks hooks influential essay on a critical, oppositional gaze employed by black female spectators when viewing oppressive images and narratives of themselves.
Pdf bell hooks the oppositional gaze val p academia. Black female spectators, she argues that black women are empowered by adopting an oppositional gaze, specifically in relation to cinema. Feb 24, 2014 in the oppositional gaze, bell hooks discusses the power structures of gazes in the context of her own life and black history. There is power in looking, as bell hooks proposes in her 1992 essay, the oppositional gaze. In the oppositional gaze, bell hooks discusses the power structures of gazes in the context of her own life and black history. Black female spectators, in thornham, s 1999 feminist film theory. In the critical essays collected in black looks, bell hooks interrogates old narratives and argues for alternative ways to look at blackness, black subjectivity, and whiteness. Black female spectators, bell hooks coins the term oppositional gaze to analyze the treatment of black women in film theory, hooks conceives of the oppositional gaze as a site of raced and gendered resistance that allows black women to critically assess the cinemas. Feminism through representation and the oppositional gaze.
Sep 30, 2012 the oppositional gaze was described to challenge the authority of the audience, for the permission to look. Many refused to submit and resisted, causing real pain and a turning away. Heather amador art of 20th21st centuries 11142017 reading response to. Some people think that it stems from men viewing the female figure in commercials or art, as a sex personified. I am not the author i just wanted to upload it for others to read it since it is very interesting. Routledge 2010 abstract this article has no associated abstract. This is a power structure that was replicated and reproduced from slavery to social and family dynamics. The male gaze and the oppositional gaze women and media. Bell hooks is a black feminist who calls attention to the negative aspects of white supremacy and capitalist patriarchy. It is due largely to the oppositional gaze exercised by black americans as subject. South end press, 1992, 11531 chapter 7 the oppositional gaze black female specta tors when thinking about black female spectators, i remember being punished as a child for staring, for those hard intense direct looks children would give grownups, looks that were seen as confronta tional, as gestures of resistance, challenges to. Constructing a realm of gaze hooks emphasizes the importance of creating a realm of gaze. We are called upon to constantly create our models.
Some, like hooks herself, returned to cinema with a critical oppositional gaze which seems rather formalist and theoretical, focusing on content, form, language and taking in mostly foreign films and independent cinema. This paper is specifically about black female spectators. Gaze, lacan believes, is outside the subject as an object of gaze that confirms and sustains the subjects identity. Feminism through representation and the oppositional. I believe the gaze has been reused so many times because these media, painting, video, cinema, and so on have all been male dominated or have simply catered to men, a white heterosexual man. Her gaze often falls on the ostensible recuperation of blackness into advertising, fashion and pop culture. Nov 10, 20 the oppositional gaze the power of looking as contrast to gaze in general.
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