The Confident Gaze Summary

Shekhar Deshpande wrote an article, "The Confident Gaze," about National Geographic and the Western culture. National Geographic has many magazines and is regarded to be a good substitute for not actually going to other countries. One issue of the magazine is for India's 50th anniversity of getting independence from England. The cover features a photograph of a child's face covered in a bright red color with a gripping gaze. Another photo is of a white man leaning against a car with three women in the background. Deshpande goes on to say how photographs can make the world seem like a happy place, especially for the western culture. Also, photos can make scenes of bloody conflict less repulsive. Deshpande states in his article,"Huma suffering becomes worth a good image." (Par 10) What he means is that for the western culture, a photo that displays human suffering can be a good photo, that doesn't mean the act that causes the suffering will make a good photo, just human suffering itself. He then says that those photos make the magazine so popular. However, the photos are not in its true form. Most of the photos are posed and the scenes are manipulated to make the image more likeable. This gives the idea that the world needs to be changed for the Western observer so he doesn't see what's really going on. Deshpande continues his article by explaining how National geographic uses its photos of primative cultures to give us a reference on what cold have been if we didn't progress, and the issue about India's 50th anneversity monitors its way towards westernization. Deshpande states, "But a simple equation "on our terms" would make this magazine blatantly ethnocentric." (Par 17) If the magazine were just about how India is becoming more like us, then it would be slightly narcissistic. However National Geographic deals with that by adding things that are seen a "Indian" in its pages. Also, India is covered by National Geographic more than most other countries, except Japan, so 50 pages is reasonable. It tell of the lifestyles of the people without telling of the problems that they have. Its almost like they focus on the good things and just skip the bad parts.