Midterm All Eyes On Me

All Eyes On Me

The subject is a female that experiences the male gaze. She is part of a patriarchal society and therefore, takes a passive role. The eyes around her are the males and have power to look at her. 

The male gaze is something that every race and culture experiences. It is when a male makes eye contact with a female's body. A female is portrayed as passive and powerless for the satisfaction of a male. A female faces the male gaze every day in all aspects of life. The male gaze includes a judgment of a female and the authority to look at her. Most cultures are patriarchal so the female looks away, while the males gaze. 

The male gaze is very common in society so I chose to represent it in my artwork. In the background of the female, I placed eyes. These eyes are various colors and size to show that males of all races and cultures participate in the gazing. I also chose to include eyes that are blood shot because some males look so much that their eyes strain. The hair on the female is straight and curly. It is also blonde, brown, and dark brown. The difference in hair style and color represents females from all races. The female's skin is collaged. Her face displays different skin tones to include all females that receive the male gazes. The female's eyes are looking down to show that she is uncomfortable and acting according to social norms. It is culturally right to not make eyes contact with males due to the female being inferior.  Her eyeshadow is dark yellow because dark yellow shows insecurity. The background is yellow because it is grabbing the viewers attention. It is showing her in the spotlight. Her lips and shirt are red. This color shows all females have an innocent sex appeal. 

I want the viewers to realize that the male gaze exists whether they realize it or not. I want all females to know that they are beautiful and that each female experiences the male gaze. I want all males to realize that they do this and that they should stop because it makes females feel uneasy. Looking also shows power and makes the subject feel powerless. Females are passive, while males are aggressive. The aggression of males is shown with their eyes, for example, and they get pleasure as a result. 

There are several artists that influenced my self portrait. The femal'es skin tone and hair was inspired by Mickalene Thomas. I am Caucasian, but chose to include every race in my self image. I feel like this is important because all females can relate to having beauty and experiencing the male gaze regardless of their physical appearance. This self portrait is of me, but also all of the other females because we females can all relate to it. It is our cultural and popular in our society for us to be passive. Another artist that influenced my work is Barbara Kruger. She is an artist that creates art work on the male gaze. A selfie she created says, "Your gaze hits the side of my face".  This is relevant to my selfie because the eyes are gazing at not only the female's face, but also the female's body. 

To create this selfie, I started with a sketch and research. I then cut, glued and drew on my selfie. I used skin tones from magazines for the face. I used felt for the lips and shirt to make them stand out and then drew the last touches with pen. I used pipe cleaners to get the shape of the hair that I was going for. I also was carful in choosing the color of the eyeballs out. Once I had everything in place, I glued the pieces to the poster board because it would turn out neat and would not take away any attention from the selfie. 

This selfie represents me because I see myself and I can relate to it when I see it. I am a female and I live in a patriarchal society. I am beautiful despite my skin color and I receive the male gaze. I react to eyes on me just like a typical female would.  I feel powerless and uncomfortable when a male is gazing at me. This selfie is all about me, but it also relates to all of the other females in the world because we all share in common beauty and the experience of the male gaze.