John Berger begins his book "Ways of Seeing" by conveying the idea that words are inadequate when it comes to conveying how we perceive the world , seeing is habit more convention. Drawing on the works of German philosopher Walter Benjamins, he theorizes that, with the invention of the camera, the reproduction of images, focusing on European oil paintings, changed not what we see but how we see them. By removing paintings from their surface, you replace the way the artist saw the world. Paintings preserve things as they once were, just as the painter saw the world and therefore understood the world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayBoth men and women are perceived differently in the world, a man's performance revolves around power and possession, while a woman's performance tends to gravitate towards her physical appearance, thus involves the need to constantly examine her image, knowing with all her heart that her appearance, tastes, values ​​and personality are being observed by her male counterparts, judging solely based on her outward aesthetics. Leading Berger to state “Men act, women appear” Men watch, while women watch themselves being watched. This relationship is deeply related to European oil paintings depicting naked women. Berger analyzes the story of Adam and Eve in the book Genesis, the first case of the difference between man and woman, Berger underlines two things in the biblical story, first after eating the apple human beings become aware and ashamed of their nakedness, concluding that nakedness is in the eye of the beholder, in secondly, the woman is blamed and therefore is made subservient to the man, in relation to the woman, the man becomes the agent of God. The most represented scene is the moment of shame, shame is not related to the one with the other, it is the spectator who shames them. Taking a work by Tinoretto as an example, Berger elaborates on the fact that the naked woman looks at herself in the mirror, mirrors being the symbolic sign of vanity, just as the spectator looks at her in the mirror. painted, reminding us that women are considered, and are considered spectacles to behold. The main subject is that of male hypocrisy, painting a naked woman for the pleasure of looking at her, putting a mirror in front of her, then repeating the same example of the story of Adam and Eve, blaming the woman. The Judgment of Paris is another great example of men looking at naked women and judging them, Paris awards an apple to the woman he finds most attractive, consequently turning it into a beauty contest, the prize? Possession, the woman's prize is property. Berger goes on to compare European oil paintings and contemporary photographs of nude women, which have similar characteristics in the women's facial expression, responding to the man looking at her. Although a man may sometimes be present in the painting, the woman's attention is focused exclusively on the true lover, the viewer. This can be seen in the painting that the Grand Duke of Florence sent to the King of France, although the woman is kissing Cupid, her body is shown to the viewer to please her sexuality. Attention: this is just an example. Get a personalized document now by our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Concluding, Berger highlights the minor details, one of which is the case where hair is kept to a minimum on the woman's body, hair is closely associated with sexual passion, the woman's passion must be kept to a minimum in way that the viewer feels.