The gaze and the media
This quote suggests that it is the patriarchal society that enforces women to be passive and to be seen as vain and obsessive of themselves and how they look. "Men act and women appear" is the thought of society generally in the past but some still hold this regressive belief that women are passive and have no purpose other than to look pretty as some form of ornament.
Artwork through traditional forms such as paintings and modern work such as photography and advertisements hold the same belief that women should be looked at. The use of the mirror in these pictures shows that the woman is vain and obsessed with herself, there is no direct address (eye contact) with the observer and so therefore we feel obliged to look because our gaze is not being challenged.
These two photographs are of women in a similar pose however they hold completely different body language, the first image shows the woman to be passive and allowing the audience to look with no real control. However the second is much more powerful she gives the viewer more direct eye contact and she covers herself more obviously than the first image. The second image is actually of a prostitute and is receiving a gift therefore is fully self aware of her body and is using it in a way of power to the weakness of men (the viewer).
This image shows the Guerrilla Girls (1980s) which try to confront the fact that the majority of artwork in galleries is created by men for men but those images are largely images of women. The campaign they created was refused from billboards because they thought the image was too suggestive for public viewing. This still suggests that opinions that are different from the patriarchal society is not permitted and women's opinions are not valid.
Advertisements such as these normalise the sexual exploitation of women as the one at the top shows a woman in little clothing within a normal street environment which is rather strange and abnormal situation to be in. However these advertisements and the sheer number of these types of images normalise the idea that women's bodies are to be looked at. This then in turn means that their bodies are seen as objects to be looked at and are as disposable as objects. The sunglasses shield the eyes and the use of non direct address means that the viewers gaze is not challenged like at Berger's quotes earlier.
There are also male versions of these advertisements but on the whole men are seen as powerful and in control and even in images where they are nearly nude they give direct eye contact to the viewer such as the David Beckham underwear campaigns and similar. There are few exceptions to this rule where men are seen as objects such as the malteaser chocolate adverts but on the whole men are seen as powerful beings and people rather than just objects to be looked at.
“Woman, then stands in patriarchal culture as a signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live our his fantasies and obsessions through linguistic command, by imposing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer of meaning not maker of meaning.” (Mulvey 484)
The male gaze theory suggests that women are seen as objects and within cinema their bodies are fragmented into sections and seen as body parts and not as a whole being. They do have a positive and progressive impact on the plot as a whole but are simply to be looked at throughout the film and more often than not do not play a protagonist. The theory also suggests that women do not view themselves as how they are but how they must be portrayed to men, therefore they play a fantasy or version of themselves.
Barbara Kruger is known for her controversial artwork which comments on society through the use of black and white photographs along with text and the colour red. Her simplistic style really stands out to people and the messages of her work make people question their views on society and in this case women. The word "hits" along with "the side of my face" in conjunction with an image of a statue of a woman's face suggest violence and aggression which causes some form of shock because the closeness of the photo makes the audience question their views of women.
This means that as viewers we enjoy to passively watch people within programmes such as big brother. This creates a culture where we want to know more and see more and thus the paparazzi culture as the audience feel as though they have a right to see more of celebrities as if they own them.
This leak of imagery online was due to hackers and exploits celebrities in ways in which they have no control over as this form of imagery much like paparazzi photographs are wanted by society they will constantly be created and produced in magazines. The nudes leak was a break in these women's privacy and no men's photographs were leaked as women's were seen as more valuable and wanted. Women such as Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities have received a variety of different threats from men online for speaking out against the oppression of women in society. These threats can form online on social media such as Facebook and twitter and create a form of hate bullying which is common in younger people generally but especially with girls.
Websites online can post imagery of "perfect" bodies which are photoshopped and add to the insecurity people especially teenagers feel at a delicate age where their bodies are constantly changing. It creates a culture where they compare themselves to an ideal beauty which isn't achievable by anyone not even celebrities as even they are photoshopped to appear "perfect" versions of themselves.
Graphic Design examples:
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2013/september/elle-feminism
This project was created by the studio Mother London alongside the company ELLE. They have rebranded the idea of a feminist and break the typical ideologies of how women are seen both in graphic design but also in the workplace. As a piece of graphic design it is quite clever and bold because it uses pink which is normally seen as a "feminine" colour but they have broken stereotypes by using a bold font in capital letters which makes it a set of statements rather than just being aesthetically beautiful. It also suggests that all genders should be feminists because it is about the equal rights of everyone not just women.
Advertising to empower women rather than sexually exploiting their bodies through gaze:
Always advertisement #LikeAGirl
Always tackles the negative associations of the phrase 'like a girl', while attempting to encourage self-confidence in young women. They also suggest how women's opinions of themselves can be warped during their early teenage years when someone says "like a girl" as an insult as men are seen as the most powerful and dominant gender. They ask people within the video to "run like a girl" and the people who participate imitate a weak runner who is seen as somewhat pathetic, however when asked again the women say that running that running like a girl should mean running like themselves because the media portrayal of women being weak is false.
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