In 1972, in an excerpt from his book Ways of Seeing, John Berger explained how women are born into an immediate confined setting, that she as a woman must always watch herself or survey herself and form her own being into the pre-made model of how a âproperâ woman must behave. This created the notions of the surveyor and the surveyed (Berger, 1972). And women are believed to be both the surveyed and the surveyor of themselves. Surveyed in a way that everybody expects a woman to behave in accordance to the social constructs, and surveyor in a way that she continually sees herself as the surveyed, therefore joining the band of the surveyors in surveying herself in accordance to what the other surveyorsâ standards are. And these surveys will eventually determine how a woman should be treated in the society. Berger simplified this idea by saying that âmen act and women appearâ (Berger, 1972). As the woman appears to people, she becomes an object for the eye and she is not seen for herself but for what the society indicates her to be; she becomes a view, a sight to see. In other words, the problematic male gaze is also embodied by the women through micro-aggression, without women knowing it.
Though John Bergerâs book was published 46 years ago, the truth remains ugly until now. Women are looked at and men are looked upon. Nakedness, the state of having no clothes and being oneself, is automatically stripped away from a woman once she is born. Women are always seen in the state of nudity in which theyâre naked for the purpose of being looked at, and it eventually becomes their costume for the society to see (Cultural Reader, 2011). However, Labor Day by Carlo Saavedra tackled a much harsher approach on womenâs nudity, in contrast with Nanay by Mark Justiniani which was more peaceful and exhibited somewhat a melancholic vibe. These two paintings, displayed in Pinto Art Museum, Antipolo city, successfully portrayed the difference between nude versus naked. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Carlo Saavedraâs Labor Day is a unique take on the concept of nudity of women. The way Labor Day exhibited nudity was based on the harsh truth of the society. The harsh color combination of red, black, and white made the audience feel as if the painting is hard to look at. The utilizing of red as the background made it clear that this painting has a sad and painful story to tell, that it can be as dark as the color black, even if the main protagonist of the story is as genuine as the color white. As seen on the left, there is a woman visibly naked and posed in a provoking way. If we look closely on the right, we are met with the shadow figure of the same woman on the left side, only it is clothed. This is exactly what it means to be nude- to be seen as naked by others but still not recognized to be oneâs self (Berger, 1972). To us audience, we can only see her nude and the real idea behind who she is appears to be cloaked and overshadowed.
The way in which her legs were spread wide open seemed as if it was an invitation for people to look at and possibly touch freely, seeing as the woman was painted with no arms. This leads us to the implication that the woman in the painting is now seen as a spectacle. To be a spectacle is to be regarded as an object of curiosity or contempt, a dramatic public display (Merriam Webster, n.d.). And since she is now a spectacle, whatever people may do to her once she is positioned as she is, she cannot do anything about it because she is just a mere public display. Even if she was able to move and such, she will still be regarded as a dramatic public display. Whatever she does now is always tied back to her being seen as an object, being objectified by the audience. We can also see that there is blood dripping from her vagina, which can only indicate that even if she is posed as if she was inviting an audience, letting herself become a spectacle, it still hurts her womanhood. She is aware of what is happening to her because of the pain that she is experiencing that was materialized through the dripping of her blood. Which brings us to the reason why this artwork is entitled as Labor Day. From the analysis of the physical aspects of the painting, we realize that the woman in the painting is self-aware that she has become spectacle, and she lets herself become a spectacle. We then are faced with the question: why did she let herself become a spectacle? Labor Day is a portrayal of a woman who recognized how society perceives her kind as a spectacle. And in this age, becoming a spectacle is not just a mere public dramatic display, it also becomes an act of commodification. Displaying your body, whether or not it is considered prostitution, can get you money. Aside from prostitution, this is also evident through the existence of social media influencers and how advertising agencies take advantage of the influencersâ large amount of followers to advertise their products and services. Carlo Saaverdaâs Labor Day recognized this mechanism present in the status quo and portrayed the harsh reality of how modern women, even if they are owning their bodies for empowerment and body positivity, can still be seen as an object to use for monetization and commodification. Labor Day is a nude painting showered with the ugly truths of our society.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have Mark Justinianiâs Nanay painted in 1999. We are taken from the harsh reality to a peaceful realization of what it means to be a mother. Nanay portrays a naked woman lying beside a pond, and in her arms is what seems to be a grown man in the same position as hers, and a babyâs reflection on the pond. Justinianiâs use of deep and dull colors exhibited a melancholic and nostalgic vibe which is perfect for the message of the painting. The naked woman lying in a fetal position and embracing a limp image of a grown man is a metaphor for how after all that we have been through, at the end of the day, we are still subjected to go home into the clasps of maternal love. Which is also the reason why the reflection of the old man on the pond is that of a child; maternal love will always have us feeling as if we are newly born again because a motherâs love never changes.
The way Nanay portrays nakedness is that of a peaceful one. To be naked is to be oneself (Berger, 1972). The woman is a mother and we see her exhibiting motherhood through caring and embracing her grown child. She is naked because she is stripped off of the societal perception of what a mother should be. Often, people think of being a mother as work, a responsibility, and mothers should continually work to reach the standards of being the âperfectâ mother. But in this painting, she is unclothed as if she no longer wears the burden and pressure that society puts on her shoulders, as if she is free from all the surveyors, surveying her. In a way, her fetal position tells us that she is finally done from always checking herself in the mirror, keeping tabs of how well or how poorly she performed as a mother, as a person. And now, she has decided to return to the pure and genuine form of being a mother. We see her not for the kind of parent that she is to her child, not if she was married or part of the large percentage of teenage pregnancy- we donât see if she strived hard to provide for her children, we donât see if she is a protective parent and the likes, instead we are met with the simplest realization of what being a mother is: unconditional love.
The very reason why motherhood is often thought of as work that fleshes out the life of every mother is because of the societal standards that women have to achieve. These standards are rooted in how a mother concretizes and materializes her love for her child. There are various ways of expressing love to children, but for some undeniably absurd reason, society decided to put standards as to how a mother should be. People took the idea of a motherâs unconditional love and twisted it into a form of economic and financial capability. While this is understandable for the reason that a child has needs to be met, it is unjustifiably unfair to categorize women, specifically mothers, in accordance with their capability to provide material things to her child. We must realize that providing material things only goes a short way and is only on the surface of being a parent. A child will always grow out of the clothes you clothed him with, there will come a time when he will put all his toys away, one day he will realize that he wants to explore the world and discover more of himself, and the only thing that a parent- a mother, can do is to provide her child with the abstract means of surviving, which are principles and beliefs- a moral compass, in order for her child to grow up as a decent human being. And this moral compass cannot be measured through financial and material means, rather it comes from a deeper manifestation of a motherâs unconditional love. This is exactly what the painting portrays: an image of a grown man and a naked mother, lying still among the garden of life in an embrace, immersing themselves in the pureness of a motherâs unconditional and unchanging love; A naked portrayal of the beauty and genuinity of a mother and child relationship.
The difference between nude and naked is rooted in the establishment of societyâs standard values which stemmed from the solidarity or alliance that was formed by different groups of men. And among these groups, the most powerful and influential will eventually establish or be the standard themselves of the societyâs values, to which the less powerful and subordinates are inclined to follow. According to Hegelâs book entitled Elements of a Philosophy of a Right, there is a power struggle between these groups. While the notion of the established principles and values are good because it provides a form of unity, it still fuels conflict and alienation to those who try go against the current. Meaning that the surveyors of the society are either part of the powerful elites or are coerced to follow the standards posed by these elites. The concept of nudity is a precise embodiment of a woman who is coerced into following the standards of her surveyors, just as what Carlo Saavedraâs Labor Day showed, in order for her to survive and not feel alienated, to which she paid the price of being objectified, becoming a spectacle, and losing herself amidst the surveyors watchful eyes. On the other hand, Nanay portrayed the peace, purity, and genuinity that comes from being free from all the social constructs created by the powerful elites. Though watchful eyes remain, the mother and child have successfully broken the chains that bound them from the superficial understanding of what it means to be mother- stripped naked of all of the heavy burden of being coerced into following the restricting standards of society.       Â
John Bergerâs excerpt from Ways of Seeing, Nude versus Naked, has successfully provided us with the self-awareness that people need to critique not just art, but society itself. However primitive the book is, the truth behind the mechanisms on how our society functions everyday remains to be evident and real, only now, it has evolved into the technological aspect of social media and deeper metaphorical meaning. The concept of nudity and nakedness is not always restricted to the image of a woman but is also applicable to all kinds of gender present in our status quo. That is why, as much as the problem of objectification was rooted from the power and influence of the dominating group of patriarchy back in the medieval times, we cannot solely condemn them because of the reason that society is now heavily diverse and culturally interwoven. Now, nudity may not be as simple as being objectified, it can now also be a form of commodification. Naked may not be just a state of having no clothes, it can now also be a state of reverting back to who one truly is. Life is now more complex, and it requires an even keener and watchful eye for us to realize and see the core truth that is layered behind more interwoven truths.Â
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