Week 2 Reading - Joan Riviere, 'Womanliness as Masquerade'

A masquerade is something that covers up another part of yourself that you are trying to hide. In this reading an example that it pointed out is homosexual men. The example of a masquerade in homosexual men is when some exaggerate their heterosexuality as a 'defense' against their homosexuality, it is argued in this reading that women do the same too.

It is well known within any form of media dating back centuries, women are presented to us more often than not from the perspective of the male. This is known as the Male Gaze, the idea that the perspective we see women in the media is through the phalic lens, in other words, we see them from the male perspective for males pleasure. In this reading it is being stated that 'womanliness' just like 'manliness' can be worn as a mask, to hide the possession of masculinity. The reason for having this masquerade is most likely due to the fact the idea of a woman being womanly is very much pushed within society, and those that defer are somewhat looked down upon. 

We see this idea of women being the object in an image or in media being challenged by many photographers/artists. One being Cindy Sherman, a politically engaged photographer who through her work challenges this idea of women being sexual objects by presenting herself in her work in obscure manners. Her work as an example is important to look at as someone who defers form this norm, breaking new boundaries in allowing others to not conform to this masquerade that the media push. 

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