John Berger's "Way of Seeing" Responses

Alex Gilkerson 

ENG 1510

9-10-12

Before you Read

I Googled a picture of a classical female picture and a model.  In the classical picture, the female was dressed in toga looking clothing and was more thick and normal looking.  The picture of the model was way different.  She had new flashy clothes but she was way to skinny.  She didn’t look healthy at all.

Questions for Discussion

2. You see images of posed women all over.  They are on billboards, buses, TV commercials, magazines, and even the posters they put in our dorm halls.  Berger explains that the nude pictures are more of a sight for men.  How they are viewed as objects and not humans.  I believe they have stayed pretty much the same.  Women were viewed as sights back then for the nude pictures, and nowadays they have plenty of magazines and websites that have the same concept, a sight.

4. The way I see it is that the audience to this article is more focused on the men who treat women like “objects”.  Some men will judge a female on how they appear to them. It will alter how they treat them.  I feel this is a horrible way to act.  You should treat everyone the same.  Berger explains the different views from the classical nude picture and tells how the men will treat them differently by appearance.

5. Berger is asking why we view people they way we do.  The other, in this case, is the female.  She is viewed differently because of her nakedness.  If she were clothed, people would view her completely different.  The nakedness or nudity of it, changes everything tremendously.

Applying and Exploring

1. I do not know any artworks, but TV ads or magazine ads have men viewed in a particular way.  One that comes to my mind would be like Ralph Lauren, or Calvin Klein ads.  They have male models that are in very good shape wearing those brands, driving nice cars, and with beautiful women.  I feel they make you feel like with there clothing you would have all those things.  There is a generation gap and that is because the paintings are from so long ago that the people look different and two completely different styles.

Meta Moment

You need to read article with those topics to get an idea of the writers point of view.  Sometimes it can have information on both sides of the argument.  Other times it will be one-sided and you will have to either agree with their side or have your own side of the argument.  You can test there theories and even see how they framed their writings.  These are connected through writings because the authors will sometimes frame the writing to limited what you see and read.  If they frame it well, it will only get you to think about their side of the argument.