Males,
the white male specifically, have always had power. They never had to
organize protests or rally to fight for their rights unlike other
minorities in America. It is a given then that a lot of the principles
and values of society today are built upon their original visions for the future.
Consequently, media portrays men and women differently; men are the
surveyor: able to “exercise [his power] on others” whereas women are the
surveyed: “everything she does [is] because [of] how she [will] appear
to others, and ultimately men.” This is the foundation from where the
male gaze originates. In Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative
Cinema,” she connects the male gaze to objectified women. When the film
industry first took off, it was composed primarily of male directors.
They filmed what they wanted to see: women as either “pin-ups or
strip-tease” and nothing more; they were visual pleasure for men. This
powerful medium dictated what society thought they should see women as
and also what women should see themselves as. Thus, sparking an idea
that would be embedded in people’s minds as a cultural norm for decades.
Being
restricted to possess the same degree of freedom men had caused a counter
reaction to the male gaze: the oppositional gaze. According to Bell
Hooks, it developed because females wanted to have their own say in
society. “There is [enormous] power in looking.” It was built upon their internal
“rebellious desire” in despising only being seen as “objects of male
gaze.” It comes from years of repression and taking a passive stance on everything, even how she should look. In Bell Hooks "The Oppositional Gaze," the dominant ideal image of a woman was to be "white." It is such a conflict-filled statement and causes even the most confident women to feel self-conscious about her appearance. The lack of diverse representation in the media has come to a state where a black female in an article is quoted saying that she "never went to movies expecting to see compelling representations of black femaleness" which is sad. Her voice almost comes from a state of hopelessness and regretful acceptance of this as reality. Something must be changed.
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| Rihanna's Edgy Style |
Even in today's society, things haven't changed all that much. We can take celebrity singer Rihanna as an example. Above are images that show Rihanna in scandalous, revealing garments. In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, she seemed genuinely
shocked when Oprah told her Esquire magazine in 2011 called her the "essence of
fuck." She responded in her native accent with, "I don't even know what that means" but found it "flattering" nonetheless.
From a media consumer's standpoint, being an avid reader of women's lifestyle magazines, that is something I find hard to believe. She is seen everywhere in barely-there dresses, clothing selected at free will yet she claims she doesn't "understand it." You almost want to roll your eyes and say, "Really?" Maybe her response was coming from an honest place? Barely anyone can escape the powerful influence of the media, especially celebrities when the spotlight is always on them.
For girls there is a "terrible double bind" where they are told that you have to have it all.
You must be nice yet aggressive and "compete with men in the business world to be successful," sexy yet "passive and virginal." These high standards can leave many females to be confused, vulnerable and more susceptible to the mixed messages. Rihanna revealed to Oprah that she "had to fake it until she made it" and "pretend that she was comfortable." Judging from these pictures, she's done a very good job in assimilating to American societal ideals but, what message does that send to young girls everywhere?
From a media consumer's standpoint, being an avid reader of women's lifestyle magazines, that is something I find hard to believe. She is seen everywhere in barely-there dresses, clothing selected at free will yet she claims she doesn't "understand it." You almost want to roll your eyes and say, "Really?" Maybe her response was coming from an honest place? Barely anyone can escape the powerful influence of the media, especially celebrities when the spotlight is always on them.
For girls there is a "terrible double bind" where they are told that you have to have it all.
You must be nice yet aggressive and "compete with men in the business world to be successful," sexy yet "passive and virginal." These high standards can leave many females to be confused, vulnerable and more susceptible to the mixed messages. Rihanna revealed to Oprah that she "had to fake it until she made it" and "pretend that she was comfortable." Judging from these pictures, she's done a very good job in assimilating to American societal ideals but, what message does that send to young girls everywhere?
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| Seventeen Magazine's Editor In Chief, Ann Shoket & The Pledge |
A great example of a small step forward was when Julia Bluhm recently started an online petition asking major magazine publication Seventeen Magazine to “print one unaltered photo spread every month,” a case she won. Now, all the editors of the magazine must abide by a eight-point Body Peace Treaty where they will emphasize the importance of being healthy.
Looking
at everything critically is essential to understanding current societal
values. It has made me more aware of media’s role in the advancement of
feminism or the lack of. Although there have been major advances over the last several decades, we’re still not at a place where we as women and as a society can say there is complete equality. There is truth in the statement, “The more things change, the more they stay the same;” twenty years ago the magazine covers weren’t as scandalous and racy and females nowadays are dressing more provocatively than ever before and at younger ages however, a consideration must be factored that times are different.We now live in a digital era where information is easily accessible and women feel liberated enough to dress as they please even if it means wearing mini skirts. The goal is to be able to somehow create a filter, restriction to tame this new medium in a way where it won’t have too much of a psychological impact on men and women. Achieving this fine balance is difficult yet necessary. We must constantly strive for this goal with a hopeful optimism because only then are we able to move toward this ideal place of acceptance and equality.
SOURCES:
Oprah Interview with Rihanna on "Sexiest Woman Alive"
Seventeen Magazine Pledge
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ReplyDeleteAs I was reading I was happy to know that Seventeen will print an image that stresses being healthy and even though the idea of not allowing the media to have a very negative psychological impact on the viewers is still very far from being successful, there is however some progress happening such as the Seventeen photo. I think that if more magazines publish photos that emphasize one’s well being I believe that can make a bigger difference where people are not hurting themselves to achieve an unrealistic ideal. Mulvey clearly illustrates that women are just seen as an item to pleasure the male audience, but she argues that through observing the media structures ways to fight against that treatment could be found(Mulvey 834). She is very correct in that argument as well. This also reminded me of how women could also be put down and felt less valued because of their race. No one should ever feel that way, and while trying to stop the objectification of women, women should also work towards dispelling false racial portrayal as well. Hooks mentions how African American women were constantly misrepresented in film and how in fact that women should work towards trying to get their voices heard and even try to stop that from happening (Hooks 119). Unfortunately, negative racial portrayal continues to happen today for many women of different races. Women have valuable thoughts and ideas regardless of their race and they should be heard and seen more than just mere items.
ReplyDeleteWhen you spoke about the double bind and the message it sends to young girls I could not help but think about how many girls actually try to live up to that message and how dangerous that could be for them. It reminded me of Berger’s analysis of “The Judgement of Pairs” because even though the double bind is not about beauty pageants, it is still sending the message that girls need to live up to someone else’s idea of beauty in order too be a valuable person (Berger 52). In addition there has to be other methods to try and encourage young girls to just be happy with themselves and not live up to an impossible expectation.
Also too emphasize well being another step to try and encourage women to not feel that they have to live up to being something impossible, could be published stories in magazines that talk about women’s success in academia and the work place. Within these stories each time at the end there could be a saying that challenges women stereotypes. One example could be, being a mom does not stop me from being a successful lawyer.
I'm so glad that you mention in your post about black actress , via Bell Hooks . We as mostly white audience always looks at the black actor as addition to the cast , working as nanny -care giver for rich kids, fat housekeeper to cook and make order at huge house.. We don't see main role for black actors : " When black women actresses like Lena Horne apparel in main steam cinema most white viewers were not aware that they were looking at black females unless the film was specifically coded as being about blacks"( Bell 119). You can count few actors and actress which are block and make some success in Hollywood. It's hard to find really good movie with good fable for African actors , mostly are stupid comedies, telenovela . In the 21 century , " cinematic racism " still exist and we accidentally accepted and as audience we don't see it. The producers and filmmaker decide for as what we have to watch and create fake representation of whole American population.
ReplyDeleteRi ri is a great example on how lost girls are, specially a female in the mainstream media. Her response doesn't surprise me, i wouldn't expect her to know her role in the objectification of women in the media. I agree with your comment on our social role in getting informed thanks to technology. Although the information would not go far if we don't spread it; and yes I am staying positive too.
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