Ways Of Seeing, By Susan Bordo And John Berger
It is a human instinct to appreciate beauty. Beauty has been a powerful tool of attraction ever since humanity existed. Advertisement and publicity have used beauty to trap and hunt consumers. Despite the different perspectives, Susan Bordo and John Berger have focused on the concept of how beauty is displayed, how we view it, and how it is utilized to attract us as consumers, and affect our lives. In his book “Ways of Seeing,” John Berger talks about viewing images, viewing the world around us, especially the world of classic art. Susan Bordo’s essay “Beauty (Re) discovers the male body” argues about the “powerful taboos” of male nudity in advertisement, and the way we view it.
Although there is a gap of almost three decades between the two …show more content…
Berger suggests how portraits changed throughout time: the looks, the background, the outfits all are evidences of their own time. He gives the example of Frans Hals portraits of Governors and the Governesses of city of Haarlem. The painting was mystified when studied after few centuries; the women appear powerful and in control, whereas men appear drunk, having their hats on the side of their head. Berger argues that’s because “Men in seventeenth-century Holland wore their hats on the side of their heads in order to be thought of as adventurous and pleasure-loving. Heavy drinking was an approved practice.” He further declares “Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.” Bordo talks about the effect of time and gradual change on our understanding through a study that was carried out in the 1970’s by Kinsey Institute. They showed series of drawings and images of nude male and female models to a group of men and women, the result showed “Fifty-four percent of the men were erotically aroused versus 12 percent of the women-in other words, more than four times as many men.” The study claims that two male-oriented entertainment magazines published male models in their centerfolds, but were dropped afterwards because people found it disgusting. Bordo suggests that we should be cautious about accepting the conclusion of this study; she then refers to
Although there is a gap of almost three decades between the two …show more content…
Berger suggests how portraits changed throughout time: the looks, the background, the outfits all are evidences of their own time. He gives the example of Frans Hals portraits of Governors and the Governesses of city of Haarlem. The painting was mystified when studied after few centuries; the women appear powerful and in control, whereas men appear drunk, having their hats on the side of their head. Berger argues that’s because “Men in seventeenth-century Holland wore their hats on the side of their heads in order to be thought of as adventurous and pleasure-loving. Heavy drinking was an approved practice.” He further declares “Today we see the art of the past as nobody saw it before. We actually perceive it in a different way.” Bordo talks about the effect of time and gradual change on our understanding through a study that was carried out in the 1970’s by Kinsey Institute. They showed series of drawings and images of nude male and female models to a group of men and women, the result showed “Fifty-four percent of the men were erotically aroused versus 12 percent of the women-in other words, more than four times as many men.” The study claims that two male-oriented entertainment magazines published male models in their centerfolds, but were dropped afterwards because people found it disgusting. Bordo suggests that we should be cautious about accepting the conclusion of this study; she then refers to