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Perspectives on body image
Misconceptions and stereotypes
Perspectives on body image
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As viewers of this photograph, we are both the object and the bearer of the gaze. One could even state that our gaze is interrupted by Edita’s, who stares directly back at us. Furthermore, due to her face being raised, it seems as if she is looking down at us, from what could be interpreted to be her “throne.” Edita’s gaze can thus be understood as an “oppositional gaze”, described by bell hooks as a gaze that interrogates and challenges. No longer a passive figure who must accept someone else’s orders and mandates, here it is the viewer who is spoken to, challenged and/or interrogated. Indeed, Edita’s gaze cuts us off to ask us just who do we see depicted in this photograph. As previously discussed, the uniform she wears initially marks the …show more content…
As such, she is able to create new formulations of identity all the while the viewers are witnesses to the “new transgressive possibilities” (hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze” 202) such formulation entails, one that is not necessarily defined by garments, but by the gaze, the body and the ways it maneuvers itself, as well as the objects it holds on to. Such transgressive possibilities materialize in Edita’s gaze, one that seems to suggest, in hooks words: “Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality” (“The Oppositional Gaze” 180). Beyond mere cosmetics, it is in fact Edita’s oppositional gaze that which allows for the disidentification with the domestic worker reality, and the movement from object to …show more content…
Su energía como la de un felino enjaulado se sentía rabiar por los enormes espacios de la casa. ¿En qué estaría pensando?” Purita stares directly at the camera and is pictured under what appears to be a series of swords (figure 8). In a similar manner, she is disidentifying with the role of domestic worker by appearing linked not to a domestic tool but to a set of weapons. Nonetheless, due to the angle of the photo, Purita appears to be looking up, unlike Edita who looks down at the viewer. Additionally, Purita’s body is only shown from the waist up. The most striking aspect of this photograph is the way the swords are pointing towards Purita, almost as if they are emerging from her body. Comparing this photograph to “Edita (la del plumero” allows us to see the significance of Edita’s disidentification. Even though she is only holding a feather duster, Edita’s photograph is able to provoke and confront the gaze of the outsider. Without relying on actual weapons, she is still able to convey a strong sense of
One of Morimura’s most iconic pieces, Daughter of Art History: Princess A is based on one of many portraits of the Infanta Margarita by Diego Velazquez, and is meant to inspire a feeling of estrangement in viewers. The process of creating this piece was incredibly elaborate, taking several months to complete. A remarkably complicated set was built to appear as similar as possible to the background of Velazquez’s original work. Morimura then proceeded to paint his face to mirror the appearance of the Infanta Margarita and inserted himself into the work by way of a small hole in the background fashioned for that purpose. The three-dimensional stage he created combined the background and the body of the princess in a way that permitted him to attain the desired self-portrait with a single, unaltered photograph. He also deliberately exposes his masculine arms in place of the Infanta Margarita’s slight, girlish limbs to indicate to the viewer that he is neither a female nor a child. By doing so, Morimura is creating “an ambiguous realm which is (a) neither adult nor child, (b) neither a contemporary image nor a historic painting, (c) neither Asian nor Western, and (d) neither woman nor man”
In “speechless” Shirin Neshat’s black and white photography of a half of her face wearing a black veil. Having focus on the proportions of the face gives an emotional intensity manifested in her melancholic facial expressions. It also brings the audience to a close exposure, which uncovers the truth by digging more into those lame details. One eye is directly looking at that revealed, powerful, and muscular look that obviously referred to “women in mourning” theory by her desperate look of supressed freedom and deep sorrow.
Grande introduces to the audience various characters that cross Juana 's path to either alter or assist her on her journey to find her father. Through those individuals, Grande offers a strong comparison of female characters who follow the norms, versus those that challenge gender roles that
Although Sofi becomes a political leader of her hometown, it is her daughter, La Loca, who helps her transform her wrath and dissatisfaction into protests. La Loca, who is “linked to the novel’s political-activist sensibilities,” tells her mother she saw on television people boycotting Una factory, a company that produces jeans, because the factory is “unfair to its workers” (Caminero-Santangelo, 85 — Castillo, 222). Sofi, who “stared at her daughter with amazement,” starts to see La Loca’s inner resistance soul. It is Loca 's “sudden social consciousness” that leads Sofi to tell other women about boycotting the jeans factory (222). La Loca’s gesture of political resistance echoes a typical narrative of magical realism, which is to empower
When first approaching this work, one feels immediately attracted to its sense of wonder and awe. The bright colors used in the sun draws a viewer in, but the astonishment, fascination, and emotion depicted in the expression on the young woman keeps them intrigued in the painting. It reaches out to those who have worked hard in their life and who look forward to a better future. Even a small event such as a song of a lark gives them hope that there will be a better tomorrow, a thought that can be seen though the countenance by this girl. Although just a collection of oils on a canvas, she is someone who reaches out to people and inspires them to appreciate the small things that, even if only for a short moment, can make the road ahead seem brighter.
We have been exploring the ideal beauty, the different norms for a woman to follow, the suppressions of real identification, and how all that affects those who might not “meet” those expectations. In this week’s material we are presented with Las Krudas, an all-women Cuban trio, that through hip-hop, they “address the cracks of a socialist national identity constructed in homogenizing terms” (Rivera-Velazquez pg. 100.) Basically, they try to break the norms of the idealized way of living one’s life, especially women’s way of living their lives.
Federico García Lorca’s poem “La casada infiel” depicts the story of a gypsy who makes love to a married woman on the shore of a river. When looking deeper into the poem, Lorca appears to provide a critical observation on the values of the conservative society at the time in which he lived. The woman, at her most basic reading, is treated as an object, elaborating on the sexist values in society at the time. Lorca addresses issues of sexism as well as issues of sexuality within society mainly through the poem’s sexist narrative voice, objectification of the female character and overriding sense of a lack of desire throughout the poem. His achievement to do so will be analysed throughout this commentary with particular attention to Lorca’s use of poetic techniques such as diction, personification and imagery.
Elena Poniatowska escrita durante una epoca de cambio en Mexico. Antes de sus obras las mujeres mexicanas eran sometidos, docil, y pasivo. En la tiempo de sus obras las mujeres estaba tratando salir de los estereotipos de antes. Esta problema social tomo un afecto en Elena. Aunque ella no viene de un movimiento literatura directamente, ella escrita con el concepto de compremetido. En su narrative El Recado ella crea un mujer estereotipical que no puede controlar sus emociones. La titula es eso porque ella viene a ver su amante, pero el no esta, asi ella escribe las cosas que sentia. La perspectiva es de un personaje y ella nunca interacta con otros personajes. En facto la unica descripcion de un personaje otro de la protagonista es de su amante Martin. Habla de otros personajes, pero solamente de sus acciones. Porque ellas es la unica perspectiva que tenemos es sencillo a sentar compasion para una protagonista de quien nombre no aun sabemos. Ella da la descripcion de toda que vea, y mas importante todo que se sienta. Tambien tropos y figuras retoricas dan un tono significante al poema. Estos sentimientos de la portagonista y el tono emocional de la narrativa transporta una tema de una mujer estereotipical y debil quien quiere ser reconocido.
“I try to remain sensitive to the potential subtext of an image. In Wolf, for instance, the wolf is a stand-in for a sexual predator. I emphasize this by giving the wolf a man's hand as he reaches toward a partially undressed girl. Or in the photograph Lady Bathory, she is wearing a green mud mask and cucumbers on her eyes. By emphasizing the 'spa treatment' aspect of her murders, the image becomes less about Lady Bathory, and more about the shameless pursuit of youth and beauty.”
This separates her from women in all previous era’s who often gained their attention solely for their attire. Her suit is instead used to draw attention to what she says, as evidence by the upward and diagonal pinstripes that point toward her face. When all of the journalists question her about Earl, their dark colored suits in contrast to her stripes, as well as her position in the center of the frame, maker her the center of attention.This way, in every conversation she’s having all eyes focused on her quick moving lips. The importance of this contrast points to what aspects of women are noticed and highlighted. In the traditional women, it was their physique, and in the “new woman” it is in their intellect. There is also a large glowing light above her head during her dialect with Earl as he points his gun at her, which, coupled with her attire and fluent speech, could be another symbol of her
Throughout this essay it will be discussed how female representations affects society, what has changed, if has changed during the years. Representations of women were a crucial subject of discussion especially in the concepts of the gaze that often refers to women as objects of the active gaze. The gaze establishes relationships of power, representing different codes such as dominance and subjugation, difference and otherness (Sturken and Cartwright 2009: 111).
Along with the omniscient narrator, the protagonist Aldrick Prospect is fascinated by her. When she comes with a white dress and oversized shoes to offer herself to him, he thinks that it is "as if she had come both to give herself and to resist his taking her." Unable to accept the social responsibility that she implie...
There are great psychological themes between the painting, “The Broken Column”(Fiero 395) as well as the poem, “She being Brand”(Fiero 387). As I began to find the psychological correlations between the two, I noticed a strong sense of losing some form of virginity. The losing of virginity is a very broad spectrum. I want to pay particular attention to the statement Frida Kahlo made. “I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality”(Fiero 395). The sacrifice of a woman's body is like her becoming naked to that person on a level that is so deep that it is unexplainable.
The contrasts between depth and surface, figure and landscape, promiscuity and modesty, beauty and vulgarity all present themselves in de Kooning’s Woman and Bicycle. Although the figure is a seemingly normal woman out for an afternoon with her bike, she becomes so much more through the artist’s use of color, contrast, and composition. The exotic nature of woman presents itself in her direct stare and slick buxom breasts in spite of a nearly indiscernible figure. It is understood that, on the whole, de Kooning did not paint with a purpose in mind, but rather as an opportunity to create an experience, however, that does not go to say that there isn’t some meaning that can come of this work. Even Willem de Kooning once said that art is not everything that is in it, but what you can take out of it (Hess p.144).
There is ample evidence in this volume that aesthetic expression and desire play an important role in the makeup of characters' lives. Think of Patricia Nimmo in Crocodile Tears, and her distraction of shopping; "a classical column of falling white silk jersey pleats ... a pretty pair of golden slippers, and a honeycomb cotton robe, in aquamarine. These things gave her pleasure." (p18) Equally, the long, descriptive passages Byatt is given to using are a decadent revelling in capturing the essence of a thing; they are works of art in their own right.