Task 5

Here I will be comparing the contempory art piece Titan Venus of Urbino (1583) and the advertisement by American Apparel Feturing Lauren Phoenix (2005).

Berger (1972) “Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at”

I think this quote sums up these two images despite there been a nearly 500 years separating them they are very much alike. Both images are inviting the male gaze the point of view from both images is where you would expect a man to be. Both women are known for there work in the sex industry, Lauren Phoenix been a porn star and Venus been a prostitute. The point of view (POV) shot is now a genre of porn due to the ultimate feeling of control of women. This popularity also ties in with the Berger quote used previously “Men look at women.” PVO doesn’t involve they looking of the man you as the viewer are suggested to be the man and the women enjoy being the only one watched.

Both these women are positioned to inviting and submissive towards a man, you would think by the eye contact you are getting there is almost challenging you but in both of these I am not getting that impression. They head tilt exposing the neck is probably the most inviting aspect of the Titans Venus painting due to the fact that it created a fluid body curve so and makes the image feel like a relaxed environment inviting you in as the viewer. This is the idea that has not just come from porn but has been a part of contemporary art, advertising, film, tv for hundreds of years and the porn industry have taken this idea and turned it into one of the most popular genres of porn. This idea that “The surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.” Men only feel comfortable if you aren’t been challenged by a women men want the control so this is how the women is most commonly portrayed. Design for men by men. John Burger (Ways of seeing) sums this statement up also “A man's presence suggests what he is capable of doing to you or for you. By contrast, a woman's presence defines what can and cannot be done to her.”