The recent controversy surrounding the censorship of Andrej Pejic’s cover on Dossier Journal’s May 2011 edition (Figure A) revolves around the issue of androgyny in America. The surrounding ideas regarding the American censorship of an androgynous male model explore the discomfort around gender bending and reflect on the American gender dichotomy. This essay will explore the ways in which Serbian male model Andrej Pejic and Dossier Journal challenge the American “normative” representations of gender and sexuality while feeding off of racial norms on the Dossier May cover; this challenge has resulted in the covers censorship in the American market.
Featured on Dossier Journal’s May 2011 cover is Andrej Pejic a self identified androgynous male model. Andrej Pejic defies the normative gender roles that hold dominance in America through his androgynous appearance on the Brooklyn based journal cover.
In Pejic’s cover, gender is presented in a nontraditional way for male models in America. A good majority of male cover models scarcely have hair past their ears; on the Dossier cover Pejic’s long blond hair is rolled up in curls. The appearance and length of his hair is reminiscent of Ingrid Banks’ article “Hair Still Matters.” In her work Banks discusses the ways in which hair is important for defining the femininity of black women. While Pejic is a European male his blonde glossy hair embodies the ideal hair Banks describes as the long, flowing locks of white women. As discussed in various lectures from Laury Oaks’ Feminist Studies 20 course hair often plays a large role in gender determination. Dossier and Pejic challenge male gender norms by having an androgynous cover model with lengthy, hegemonically beautiful hair.
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Like a blueprint or instruction manual, the objective of a rhetorical analysis is to dissect a written argument, identify its many parts, and explain how all of them come together to achieve a desired effect. Susan Bordo, a professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Kentucky, wrote “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”, published in 2003 in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Her essay examines how the media plays a pervasive role in how women view their bodies to the point where we live in an empire of images and there are no protective borders. In “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”, Bordo not only effectively incorporates numerous facts and statistics from her own research and the research of others; she also appeals to emotional realities of anxiety and inadequacy felt by women all over the world in regards to their body image. Ultimately, her intent is to critique the influence of the media on self-confidence and body image, and to remind her audience of the overt as well as subconscious messages they are receiving on a daily basis.
Kidd, Dustin. 2014. “Not that There’s Anything Wrong with That: Sexuality Perspectives.” Pp. 129-163 in Pop Culture Freaks: Identity, Mass Media, and Society. Boulder: Westview Press.
Deborah Tolman author of “Dilemmas of Desire” dwells on uncovering a wealth of feelings about sexuality from teenage girls who are faced with a lot of struggles in developing sexual identity and detached from their sexuality. One of her main argument is centered on the juxtaposition of media representations of girls as highly sexualized objects. For instance, “the urban girl is viewed as the overly sexual young jezebel. Latinas are often eroticized as exotic, sexually alluring and available.” (Tolman, pg.170). I agree with this statement due to simple fact that we are living in a highly sexualized cultural milieu and evidence of sexualization is seen through mainstream culture. Images such as Sarah Bartman depict African American/ urban portrayal of sexual imagery formed socio-historical
For young girls in Australia it has been said that ‘one barometer of the health of society is the measure of mental health of our children and young people’. This measure does not bring us good news. Evidence indicates that exposure to ideals of sexual attractiveness in the media is associated with greater body dissatisfaction among girls and young women, leaving girls feeling ‘ugly’ and ‘gross’. Body image is not the only side effect of sexualisation. The increase in sexual activity among adolescents is at an alarming rate, and the age of sexual activity is ever decreasing. For boys in Australia too often we believe that the sexualisation in the public sphere is only affecting girls and women. However, if we were to believe that, we would
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I chose these four journal writings because I believe they are the strongest pieces I have written from the second half of the semester. The main focus of these journals was based on readings under the women as objects topic. The oppression of women has led to females being objectified and used as gratification for men. A woman’s body and appearance have become a commodity, especially in the media. Films, television shows, music and advertisements use women’s bodies to attract their audience and sell products. The movie watched in class “Killing Us Softly 4,” highlights this fact while presenting how women are represented throughout the media. The media has set and perpetuated a particular standard of beauty that is restrictive, but for some many women completely unattainable. The women represented in the media are young, thin and have western or European characteristics. Where does that leave the majority of women that do not fall under this category? This leads to women developing eating disorders to achieve an ideal body image that is manufactured through Photoshop and other picture editing systems. Women of color, women with disabilities or any woman that does not follow this standard is not represented within the media. When a few women do break this mold and become famous, they are set at a different standard. These women’s differences become the highlighted feature of their fame. However, the one constant in the media when it comes to women is the objectification and sexualization of women. This sexualization can lead to aggression or violence against women and the perpetuation of rape culture. The images viewed in the media directly impact how women view themselves and how others view women. By examining the issues women f...
Kane, Matt. “Victims or Villans: Examining Ten Years of Transgender Images on Television.” GLAAD. N.p., 21 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.
In our media-driven culture, our views of what women and men should look like are shaped by these unreal images. Older men and women, or people with disabilities, or disfigurements are rarely if ever depicted in these types of publications” (Ballaro 1) Ballaro is saying that what people or dehumanizing themselves for are pretty much fake, plastic surgery airbrush and can not forget the contouring the artist are doing before the flash. Everything is so unreal and natural people are more of the realistic type of humans out there. For example Kim Kardashian has fake everything, the camera and new technology enhances her beauty plus million-dollar plastic surgery done to here. The reader feels as that if she needs to look like to be loved and cherished and spoiled, so she goes back to beating herself up.
The image of female sexuality in our society has been corrupted in Levy’s opinion, tainted by the countless industries profiting off of the sexualization of women, who are the main driving force behind our current day raunch culture. Take Girls Gone Wild (GGW from henceforth), GGW is a perfect example of how the younger generation of women is effected by our current day raunch culture. GGW often targets women whom they see as the average looking girl, “the girl next door” so to speak. They are often college students ...
It is shocking to see the digression in humanity’s morals and values over the past decade. As cliché as it sounds, the media is the center of it all. The way women are being represented, from our television sets, the radio, pornography and even art has pushed beauty to the top of the list of controversial and widely debated topics around the globe. “Whenever we walk down the street, watch TV, open a magazine or enter an art gallery, we are faced with images of femininity,” (Watson and Martin).
The New Yorker, with 47 publications each year, often generates some debate. In July 2007, the literary magazine released its latest issue. The cover included the title, price, edition, and three differently dressed women sitting on a bench. The first woman’s face and body are covered, except for her eyes. The second, with long blonde hair, is wearing a halter top, short shorts, sunglasses, and flip flops. The third is wearing a tunic and veil. Our first impressions are often stereotypical, and we must look deeper than the cover. Immediately, different conclusions are drawn based on each woman’s appearance. Just from this magazine cover, we can assume different things about each individual: including her religion, self image, and family life.
I can recall a time when the media was influencing my life and actions. The week after I graduated high school, my girlfriends and I took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, where the MTV beach house was located that summer. As I look back on the week of drunken partying and sexy guys, I can only wonder how I made it home alive. How could any young woman find this behavior acceptable? Every young woman there was flaunting their bodies to the young men around them. They were proud to be sexual objects. Where did they learn such debauchery? This is the kind of woman that is portrayed throughout MTV and various other aspects of the media. They have even coined the term “midriff”—the highly sexual character pitched at teenage girls that increasingly populates today’s television shows—in order to hook the teen customer. Teenage women increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today’s version of what’s “cool.” The media is always telling us that we are not thin enough, we’re not pretty enough, we don’t have the right friends, or we have the wrong friends… we’re losers unless we’re cool. We must follow their example and show as much skin as possible. The type of imagery depicted by MTV-- as well as people like Howard Stern, the famous “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and various Hip Hop songs—glorifies sex and the provocative woman.
With the growth of magazine popularity, both online and in print, youth around the world are exposed to the ideas of gender expression, identities, and roles. However, with society’s influence, the spread of heteronormative, cisgender, and white ideals have been placed as top priority. After examining men’s fashion magazine, Gentlemen Quarterly, I discovered that much of their magazine revolved around the typical wealthy, white, straight, and able-bodied male. Despite their attempts to branch out to other minority groups, they are unsuccessful in breaking out of their classic audience. GQ’s website is built to automatically draw their viewers into articles, flashing large pictures and headlines immediately into their audience’s face. Most photos
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