John Berger's seminal article "Ways of Seeing" (1972) offers a revolutionary analysis of how men and women are represented culturally, and how this impacts their behaviour, self-perception, and understanding of each other. Berger submits that visual culture depicts men and women in different lights, thus prompting disparate ways of perceiving.
In the introduction to "Ways of Seeing," Berger posits that women continue to have a unique cultural presence compared to men. He suggests that a man's presence is bound up with his power, abilities, and potential actions. Conversely, a woman's presence is intrinsically linked to her own essence, rather than the external world. She is perceived not as a being with potential, but an object to be acted upon. Berger ascribes this identity to the entrenched belief that women are existentially destined to serve men. As a result, women become perpetually self-aware and constantly conscious of their own presence in every action they undertake. This self-consciousness fragments their identity, splitting it between the observer and the observed. According to Berger, a woman's self-worth is gauged by how she perceives herself, how others perceive her, and critically, how men perceive her.
Berger further contends that men appraise women before interacting with them, and this appraisal determines their relationship. Consequently, a woman's actions and appearance are seen as indicators of how she wishes to be treated and seen. In contrast, men's actions are perceived as just that – actions, devoid of the same level of scrutiny. Berger distills this concept into the phrase, "men act – women appear." Women thus become acutely aware of themselves being observed, metamorphosing into subjects of the male gaze. This, in essence, is the crux of Berger's "Ways of Seeing" – underscoring the different lenses through which men and women are perceived.
