There are five sections. Map them.
He asks the question, “How should a man look at a woman?” What is his answer?
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I am posting for Emma:
ReplyDeleteI really liked this piece and it's assessment of women and men. Opening with light humor was a really good touch. The title is important because it's not Men Looking At Women, It's Looking At Women. Especiall on 249 and 250, the author discusses the fact that women look at men looking at them. They look at themselves and judge themselves just as much as men do. My favorite line in the essay is, bottom of page 250
The sections actually made the piece an extremely hard hitting piece. They allowed for the humor of the piece and they allowed for the weighing of significant social aspects of men looking at women. The first section was obviously the memory of his first sexual hoorah and his evaluation of social and biological influences. The second section talks about the drive that men have, some voluntary (the roomate) and some not so much. This kind of allows for a little bit of compassion and understanding for the following sections. The third section is a "who's to blame?" section. Discussing why women dress up and seduce, how did they become this? This section also discusses women's opinion on the subject of women being objects. The fourth section talks more about women selling themselves and using how wrong it is to take away their humanity, even if they do it to themselves. The fifth section talks about the divide, and the wish to bridge that divide by both sexes. He answers the question "How should a man look at a woman?" at the end of section three on page 251. He says men should look at women as "loved persons." Which is an interesting view.
Pretty darned awesome Emma. Thanks for helping her Colin. Hey where is everybody else?
ReplyDeleteThe first section of this piece is that of telling how the author's first encounter of "looking at women" affected him and states the question that aroused from it. The second section introduces the posters of his college roommate and how he thinks of them. He makes his own ideas on the dehumanizing of the women in the posters. He also provides "excuses" on why it is that way. The next section is the authors ideas on why men look at the women the way they do and how women act towards the gawking. The fourth section is the author's own encouters with as he puts it "women exhibitionists" in Chinatown with his wife and kids. The last section is the author going back to the original question and him thinking about "looking at his first woman." I really don't think that the author gave the answer to his own question. The author gives his own opinions on the question but instead I think that the author meant for the question to be answered by the interpretations of the reader.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was a pretty good essay. The author of the piece seemed very intelligent, especially in history. I think that the allusion to Helen of Troy, "power that launched a thousand ships," really worked in this piece, along with the numerous other references to history.
I really enjoy the author's voice in this piece, and I feel like I know him even though I've only read his words. I also agree with his overall point of view that women should not be looked at as meat nor plastic, but as the people they are. I also appreciate the section breaks, they served as a changing of gears that made reading the piece much easier. The way he referred to pornography as "sex for sale" was a very nice summing up of the industry, and how it shapes women into being objects rather than people. I liked this piece a lot more than I have many of the other expositions, due partially to the voice of the author, and partially to his humor. I also could relate to it quite well, as I was addicted to pornography for a few years of my life. I don't like to talk about it much, but the way he talks about viewing the Playboy models was basically the way I looked at women. It was interesting to see how he analyzed the entire situation.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know what to think of this piece . I know it gave a good view on how men view women but not vice versa. This piece was kinda weird for me. I understood it but It was a very deep and in depth piece if you looked at it closely. The first part of this essay was about the past in his childhood and how he was first starting to view women in a different way. The second part of this essay goes on to his later teenage and college years and how he viewed women at this time in his life. The third part in this essay is answering the question how men should view women?? The fourth part of this essay is different experiences on viewing women in society and specific examples from important people in history like president carter. The fifth part in this essay is talking about how he still has the urge to gaze at women and just a summary of how he has came to realizations about women.
ReplyDeleteThe first section was the how the author became acquainted with the idea of the way people look at women and how he was affected by it. The second section is about the posters of his college roommate. The third section is his reasoning towards why men look at women the way they do and how women react towards it. The fourth section is somewhat about women selling themselves and how he feels about that. The last section comes back to his original question. I believe he does not give a definite answer to "How should a man look at a woman?" He gives his ideas and others and I believe he sets it all up for you as the reader to try to answer the question for yourself because different people have different opinions and views on things. Also, people can take the same things in different ways.
ReplyDeleteThe essay "Looking at Women" was not at all what i had expectd. I really like the essay and how it analized not only men looking at women but also the way women portray themslelves to the public and men. The essay is divided into five sections: the first is his first encounter of looking at a women and the memory of feeling of almost confusion he associates along with it. This section is also comical his lack of understanding the sitution. The second section talks about the roommate and what he went through there. The third section is about talks about women themselves and why the dress and act in the ways they do. The fourth section deals with how it is wrong for women to sell themselves. The last section deals with the differances between the way women are view by other women and the opposite sex. The author never clearly defines an answer to his question. I believe he wrote and supplied us with the information and left the answer up to the reader to figure out.
ReplyDeletesection 1-When his question first arises, "How should a man look at women?" The mystery of sexuality is at question as well...why did that girl walking by make him feel a "zap in his belly"?
ReplyDeletesection 2-The author is intrigued by the Playboy posters, yet his interest is not all being of a sexual nature. However, it goes into how even posters of naked women can "flip sexual switches". It goes mostly into sexual desire, yet he tries to seperate his intellectual thinking from his sexual wants.
section 3-Different viewings of women on "show". From viewing them as things when they are "all made up" and competing for miss "This or That" to viewing them as actual relateable people- as in Rubens paintings.
section 4-Men's fear of women. The author clearly depicts how men can make women less scary by making her into an object, such as in pornographic movies.
section 5-The author knows there is a balance between feeling the desire and seeing the person within.
I agree with that he author does not clearly come out and say how one should look at a woman. All this knowledge is given, one is informed, and is left to make their own decision on how they believe they view women.
I like this piece, he makes very valid statements...I found none at all offensive and all very interesting.
"Looking at Women" was extremely long compared to the pieces that we have read recently, but it seemed much easier to read and understand, probably because I can actually relate to the subject. I especially enjoyed the humorous comments in the piece because they added to the quality of it and kept the reader intrigued. Some of my favorite comments were (just to name a few) "If there were a rule book for sex, it would be longer than the one for baseball, more intricate and obscure than tax instructions.." " What the models felt as they posed I could only guess - perhaps the boredom of any numbskull job.." "The swains..discussed the pinups in the same tones and in much the same language as the farmers back home in Ohio used for assessing cows." "..uplift bras (about which I learned in the Sears catalog).." The inclusion of quotes like these in the piece tell me that Sanders had a lot of fun writing it and it is a fairly "light hearted" topic for him to discuss.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I understood the different sections of "Looking at Women", I found it hard to pinpoint the "classification" of each because they were so long and sometimes seemed to pull away from the main point at times. I don't blame Sanders for doing that though because this topic is so complex and difficult to explain. However, I did my best to map Sanders' ideas in a somewhat condensed form:
Section 1- Sanders' first memory of "looking" at a girl
Section 2- Men and their "machinelike" lust for pornography
Section 3- Women and their choice of apparel (or lack of) and the need to show off their bodies, mostly referring to pinups.
Section 4- The feelings of women who are "looked" at by men and how they are often turned into "objects"
Section 5- Drifts from simply looking at women to the differences between men and women (similar to the ideas in "Between the Sexes, a Great Divide"
When Sanders asks the question, "How should a man look at a woman" I don't believe that he ever comes out with a straight answer. I think that he does this because there is no distinct answer to this question and it varies from person to person, but Sanders attempts to inform the reader about the topic so that they can determine the answer for themselves.
Overall I enjoyed reading this essay and I'm interested to see what the girls in the class think about it.
I liked this piece more than the others that we have read so far because I could relate to it the best. The first section of the piece was his first experience looking at women. The second section is the way he viewed women in his college years and about the posters of his roommate. The third section is the way men look at women and the way women react to this. The fourth section is his personal experience later on in life with his wife and kids in Chinatown. The last section is the author reflecting back on looking at women and the question he asks about it. I agree with what mostly everyone said about the other never giving a clear answer as to how men should look at women. He gives information on the topic and sort of leaves it up in the air for the reader to decide that question.
ReplyDeleteSection I- Background on how the author felt before he "looked" at women/ his first experience
ReplyDeleteSection II- The simple carnal and unrealistic desire for "perfect" women
Section III- Somewhat a feedback or a reaction from women
Section IV- How women are turned into not so much symbols but object
Section V- The last section somewhat gives contrast, looking at women...
Sanders doesn't make the answer to the question "how should men look at women" blatantly obvious, he kind of leaves the reader to make their own decision but yet enforces and manipulates different aspects as well as possibly giving a "fresh" view of the "topic"
This essay was much longer than the others we have been reading recently and even though its overall message can be viewed as "simple", the author used a ridiculous amount of historical/personal references to back his statements up. I thought they were all very insightful and intriguing. I learned alot from them and was given a different view of this topic...
ReplyDeleteAs to the sections of the essay...
Section 1- The author's first memorable encounter with a girl who made him emotional in a sexual way and the confusion that accompained this encounter. Verifies his confusion by making the point that when it comes to sex humans aren't just simply "animals" like other species.
Section 2-The author trying to live "above" the deliberate trap of pornography, but also getting frustrated that he falls victim to it at times. He made a point about how he would direct his moral compass despite his "wiring".
Section 3-The author's point that the views of women (specifically the negative ones) are not entirely men's fault. He instead focused on how through their actions they could cause themselves to "dwell on the eye alone" and "achieve the status of art". I love the distinction he makes at the end of this section on page 251 between the abstract paintings of women and those of Rembrandt or Ruben where they are not transformed into these "other worldly" beings.
Section 4-The ridiculous exhibition of women in general and specifically through his experience and how it reinforces certain men's ignorance/insults toward women. I especially liked his last sentence in the section on page 253: "To be turned into an object...is for each of us the deepest dread; and to reduce another person to an object is the primal wrong."
Section 5- The author's point that all humans are influenced by sexual tension and it need not be a bad thing despite its confusing nature. To be a part of this human experience you don't need to detach yourself from it and cave to becoming just an object to the opposite sex. Since we consider our capacity to be beyond that of other animals, it is inevitable that emotions will become involved in matters such as sex.
The author's answer to "How should a man look at a woman?" is not definite or simple. Instead, the author pours out all he has learned and what both men and women of the past have learned on the page and we are left to our own conclusions. When the author said "I must prepare a gaze that is worthy of their splendor", I think he is saying that he will look at women in a way that reflects how they are presenting themselves. If they are displaying themselves as objects then men will look at them as objects. Even if men, like the author, try desparately to see the woman's inner self instead of her outer self it will be difficult if she is putting on a charade, leaving nothing to the imagination for him to be curious about. However if a woman exhibits herself as a person and not a deliberate object of desire, she will get the love and respect she rightfully deserves.
I like the differing views of what each secition is truly about in this piece and also I respect the stark honesty of some bloggers like Jon and Liz. I especially like Sam's point about Section 5 that the author knows there's "a balance between feeling the desire and seeing the person within." I thought that was a great way to sum it up and it accurately defines the way both sexes feel about the other.
ReplyDeleteI think that just about everyone was able to successfully map this piece and surprisingly, a majority said that the author never specifically answered his question, but emma says the answer is "loved persons." I went back and read through that section, and now I understand why she used that for her answer.
ReplyDeleteI think that just about everyone mapped the essay pretty acurately. I think that Emma's answer to the author's question isn't the whole answer. Just as the art described in the piece can be interpreted differently, as can the word "loved persons." Using the words "loved person", in my opinion, is the author's way of making the reader come to their own conclusions. It is such a general term, and so different people will interpret it differently. I believe that the author puts that in to help "guide" one's ideas on the subject, but in the end the reader needs to make their own conclusions.
ReplyDeleteVery well done...those of you who thought he never answered the question, look not for a statement but the sum of the piece. What does he say about looking at women?
ReplyDeleteI really like the comments that Travis said and i find it intresting that he wants to hear what the girls of our class have to say about this essay. The majority of the class said that he did not answer the question how men should look at women and a few like emma said he did annwer the question. I believe its up to the reader and how the reader interperts the essay themselves, and what they could relate as to whether they belive it is answered or not.
ReplyDeleteI think the author emphasizes our culture, both men and women turning women into objects. I think that the author wants people to look at women like they are looking at a person. Oodling is unavoidable, but acknowledge the fact that behind the voluptuous curves is a person.
ReplyDelete