Mulvey's "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" is a foundational text written in the 1970s in which the author coined the phrase and idea of "male gaze." This piece is a bit dated now and many of the things Mulvey said have now become commonplace (thanks to this work in large part) including ideas of the pleasures of looking and being looked at. This piece takes a pretty literal look at the role of the body in forming the ego (thanks to the work of Freud).
I think it's important that we consider ways Mulvey's work positions the female body as object, as "bearer or meaning, not maker of meaning" (p. 59). The piece makes a lot of issues like castration anxiety and woman as threat - ideas that are less new and perhaps a bit less relevant now than in the 70s - but the piece remains important in how we view/look at/look through the female body and how viewers come to value and classify that body. Mulvey's work talks often of the role of the female body as "image in direct erotic rapport with the spectator" (p. 64). This film theory does not pertain only to a body sexed as female, but really to any body that we look at, that we display in any number of media (be it film, social networkings sites, TV, etc).
I'm asking each person to take a few minutes to set up a board on Pinterest in which you "pin" at least 6 images that you feel somehow relate to girlhood. Please paste a link directly to your board (you should be able to copy the URL in the web browser window and then paste it into your response). It'd also be great if you would explain -- in just a few words -- why you chose what you did and how it might relate to Mulvey. Again, the bulk of the post is your boards, I just want to know why you chose what you chose.
Here's my start on a "Girlhood" board.
http://pinterest.com/jen2475/girlhood/
I found myself including lots of pink, some products, and some sites of resistance. (Oh, you guys might want to check this out too. It's a teen who fought with Seventeen magazine until they agreed to not to alter images of teen girls in their magazines). The "chubby Barbie" was especially interesting to me in the various comments that accompanied it. People found it both inspirational and freeing for women and adversely insulting and contributing to the "obesity epidemic" in our country. I'm not sure how I feel. Anytime we look to Barbie as a role model, I get nervous. I'm also not sure if the doll is celebratory or condescending. What do you folks think?
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ReplyDeleteHere is Jezebel's take on the Seventeen story:
ReplyDeletehttp://jezebel.com/5923893/meet-seventeen-magazines-new-photoshop-policy-same-as-the-old-photoshop-policy
(Also ... I am sorry for the lack of a hyperlink ... I cannot get the comment box out of plain text.)
I know, Hayley. For some reason that function doesn't happen in comments - only main posts. Grrr!
DeleteJen,
DeleteI figured out how to hyperlink in the comments.
Here is how-to:
How to hyperlink in Blogger comments
Hope that helps!
Hayley
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete*here is the how-to.
Delete(Now I need to figure out how to edit my comments!!)
DAB-Mulvey 4th post-I am not as familiar with some of the movies that Mulvey discusses but I am familiar with Casablanca, which I know is a favorite among movie people. Many male friends idolize Bogart in this movie, even today. I still don’t get it, as I always say, “but he didn’t get the girl.” With the reading, I will take another look at how this ‘gaze’ works in that movie. In this post, I will comment on several movies that I thought might pertain to the Mulvey reading in more current form.
ReplyDeleteAside from “Fatal Attraction” in the 80s, another movie – Looking for Mr. Goodbar, another 80s movie, shows how castration is so aptly provided to anyone who tries to defy that dominant social order. Both the characters – one gay, and the other a single female, who seems to want that independence and freedom from a one dimensional female role in life, are both punished at the end of the movie. Once again this form of punishment for negating the dominant ideology is at work.
Fast forwarding to current movies about women who are coming of age, I think of the Miley Cyrrus film, where she is important, famous, working too hard for fame and therefore must go ‘find her true self’ by going back to the place where she grew up. The gaze has taken a different form in that we are gazing at the female protagonist. But unfortunately we are forced to view her as the antagonist. She is ‘punished’ for seeking success. At the end, if she does not succumb to a more nurturing nature, she will be alone. I am not sure I am reading too much into the movie but it seems that it is always wrong to want to succeed, or to be aggressive in one’s role if woman. What does this say to young girls who idolize this actress?
I also think about the lead in Prime Suspect. This show portrays a strong leading actress; she did not falter from that performance. However, the show is no longer airing. Popular in the UK when played by Helen Mirren, it is interesting that it did not make it here. Perhaps the American actress could not hold up to Mirren standards.
In the end all of the females mentioned above were subjected to submission into an old ‘typecast,’ either by death, submission, or cancellation. In a way, even if men were not the prime actors, the focus was on men’s desire or what men think they want. Perhaps this is a stretch but I am trying to place the Mulvey reading in more current times to 'gaze' into the idea that this concept still exists today in even more dangerous form. Maybe not because of more awareness into how this works in cinema.
Interesting "Casablanca" is a film I thought of also.
DeleteI think it's interesting to start thinking about the male/cinema gaze when you replace a female body with a queer body or ethnic or racial minority body. The female object of gaze is often, maybe always, about power. Do we see male bodies - especially heterosexual male bodies - positioned as objects to be looked at, or in danger?
DeleteHere is my pin:
ReplyDeletehttp://pinterest.com/ypawielski/eng-582-girlhood/
My pintrest board an eclectic mixture of pins. There is feminism and I did have abolitionist leaders that I am really in awe of, but after reading Mulvey’s work on cinema, I removed the abolitionists and added some images from cinema and an image of Jenny Finch. Like men, I assume women appreciate cinema when they engage the “male gaze.” So females, me included, identify with females who exhibit traits we have or wish to have. This board is just a small display of my objects that I desire to possess.
Hi Yolanda,
DeleteI love the supergirl costume on the little girl!I agree, I appreciate females in the cinema, and I guess one could term it "admiring gaze" in I spot qualities I'd like to possess (growing up it was Julia Stiles' smart and witty characters in "10 Things I hate About You" and "Save the Last Dance."
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DeleteI originally posted my response for dab here. ( :
DeleteI like how you tied your pins to political messages. I'll have to try a board like that, and I might repin some of your items!
awww thanks christine! The supergirl is my daughter jenna :)
Delete@ Colleen...I know, I find it so difficult to separate girlhood/womanhood and politics...I cringe when I hear/read/see women back Republicans. Do these women not respect and value themselves? Sorry, don't mean to turn this into a political statement....pin away!
DeleteI really liked your board. I also feel that as women, viewing women, the pleasure is more in identification and fantasy, ie wanting the traits we see displayed, or finding the traits we feel we exhibit.
DeleteI love the fruit poster! It's a clever way to tackle the body image issue.
DeleteI'm with Thomas, the fruit poster was really powerful. I also noticed how "strong" and aggressive many of your female images are. The women are frequently returning the viewers gaze, either with their own eyes or with a gun.
DeleteI think Erin Brockovich is the image of women who defy perceptions. I like that you included powerful images of women in your board.
DeleteNora
I really liked that you included images of girlhood manifested in different stages of life, from before conception to older, more powerful women. Great job!
Delete-Roxy
DAB my pinterest page? http://pinterest.com/dabenglish/girlhood-images/
ReplyDeleteLove the pin of the trailer for "Legally Blonde." This movie came out when I was 11--and I remember thinking not of the fashion or the romance storyline, but how a girl can become anything she wants (even get into Harvard) without being stuck in the confines of fashion.
DeleteWow! Tell me what you're saying with the arrows! Who are they aiming at? I really see a theme of power and take action.
DeleteI love the pin of Brandi after her game winning soccer goal. I just played soccer last night, and it certainly was worthy of Pintrest!...haha!
DeleteI really like the "clean house as a sign of a wasted life." Your board is very strong and action oriented. The heels are interesting. As a tomboy, I still have a closet full of heels (although I hardly every wear them.)
DeleteI like the hint of sarcasm you included in your descriptions! The Spice Girls one was my favorite. They seemed to add the 'spice' to girhood sugar.
DeleteI enjoyed the statement, "A clean house is a sign of a wasted life." I just spent a few days with a friend of mine and I was trying to help her clean the house but it was hopeless. So we went and had an incredibly fun time instead. So this is really ringing true for me at present. I love the notion of not feeling pressured into cleaning because that's what is expected.
DeleteWhen I first saw the image from the cop show - which i think was canceled, yes? - I thought it was Jane from Deadwood. Anybody see that? It's just so funny because she is someone most would see doing femininity "wrong."
DeleteI loved the American Girls series when I was younger, the stories were fun and the manufacturers seem to attempt to show girls from all different backgrounds. It was also an interesting way to learn about American History. However, I'm not sure about the political correctness or accuracy of the stories. While I never had one of the dolls (they were expensive!) I did enjoy the books. Did you include these because you think they are representing or misrepresenting girlhood?
DeleteMy Pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/olsontr/girlhood/
ReplyDeleteI just went with items that when I saw them I thought of "Girlhood." Which is to say images of youthful people doing everyday activities like swimming or guitar playing. The idea of being insecure about looks kinda came up as I think everyone ponders their own self image at some point so I pinned something that says, "I hope you feel beautiful today." Also I apparently appropriated the Chubby Barbie from Jen. Thanks! I love Chubby Barbie! She sends the message overweight people are, in fact, people.
Hi Thomas--I love that you pinned the designer phone cover! I think that this is an important cultural reference in that now girls can't just communicate, but they must communicate "fashionably."
DeleteI like your pinups; there are a lot of pictures of girl gazes and beauty. I only have one element with a proper face on it, and I almost didn't include it because I was going for a type of facelessness. But I love how "green" girl is looking at us.
DeleteHi Thomas. I like what you've done with your girlhood pinups! The ponytail spoke to me, as when I think back on girlhood and even do my hair now, I associate the ponytail with fun and activities, like the swimming you posted. Having grown into a woman and resembling the Chubby Barbie much more than a girl, I appreciate that Jen's pinup made it to your board, and I hope it makes it to others. In girlhood, we are not prepared to recognize that we will grow into woman bodies that don't represent those of the "real" Barbie. I know I felt deceived by my own body when I saw that my measurements were a bit different than I had anticipated. Self image was presented very nicely in your page. Thank you.
DeleteHi. It's interesting that you chose the bubble photo. I feel that really captures, no pun intended, the unique positioning of woman as object viewed in a Mulvey kind-of way. The lens freezes them in such a way that expectations are built on a static image. Really great stuff on your board.
DeleteI thought the ponytail was interesting--it kinda reminded me of the topsy tail. Do you remember it? It got me thinking about how this hair fade became an image of white "girlhood" beauty and innocence. I ended up posting an image of the topsy tail from a site that pokes fun of it on my pintrest. Hairtypes of girls from non-white races were (and are still) not refected in many popular hairstyles.
DeleteThanks for the feedback. Once I pondered the bubble photo in the context mentioned above I started to think of the swimming photo in the same way. As Mulvey says we place certain expectations on certain images. It's odd how that happens.
DeleteI love that you chose images that "said girlhood" to you because they all said girlhood to me too. I think that's telling as few of them speak directly to being a girl, but all fit my view of girlhood.
DeleteI like that you included young girls in most of your pins. Although gender roles are generally "learned" since birth, I think that girlhood is really defined during the teenage years. In fact, when I think of the term "girlhood" I visualize a young girl.
DeleteNora
Hi all--
ReplyDeleteSo, first off, I am officially addicted to pinterest, so I went a bit crazy on pins so sorry for all of them!
After reading the Mulvey article, I have to agree that the "male gaze" is still a pertinent theory. I saw the new movie Savages yesterday and found it interesting that Blake Lively's character, "O" (for Ophelia...another argument on that later,) walks through the first two minutes of the movie, with the camera panning different parts of her body in a grainy, gray film. Her hair is shown first, then a cut to her hair sweeping over her face, then to her shoulder blades and legs. One of the shots that the director kept coming back to again and again in the movie was of her shoulder blades and collar bone that featured tattoos of butterflys--I find this ironic because while she has all these tattoos of freedom symbols on her, she isn't a free individual, as she is in an open relation with two best friends, and gets kidnapped by druglords--throughout the whole movie she is utterly dependent on someone else.
My pinboard is composed of images that resonated with how I grew up--activities (girlscouts, journaling, cotillon, ballet, playing with dolls,) to aesthetic pieces (bows, pearls, etc.) This is really the only view of girlhood I can relate to, so I figuired why not pin what resonates with me?
I think that this exemplifies some of Mulvey's argument, as a lot of my pins are dealing with how a girl presents herself with fashion. The accessories only represent a part of the whole body, but yet there are parts of the body that girls want to accent (hands, faces, ears, etc) with jewels. We are electiviely dicing our bodies up with these accents.
What I also am mulling over, is the significance of pearl necklaces and castration. Maybe I am stretching too far for symbolism, but it seems interesting to me that the geometric shape that society approves for girls to wear are balls--and we wear them close to our hearts and throats. What does this mean about the female is a male castrated theory? Do we have a collective unconcious in that we feel we are missing balls and as such, must wear them in our apparel?
Can't breasts substitute for balls?
DeleteHow would you categorize diamonds or other gemstones? I like pearls much more than diamonds, but diamonds are more popular.
Christine,
Deletewhere's the link to your board? also, can't pearls represent ovaries? It is an interesting concept worthy of exploration though.
Oh wow, I thought I had put my link up? Let me see if I can repost it!
Deletehttp://pinterest.com/robtierney/engl-582-representations-of-girlhood/
ReplyDeleteMy posts tend to focus on many of Mulvey’s main ideas within the article we read. It also includes some key ideas from other articles—such as Gill’s “Postfeminist Media Culture”, and a few of my own passing thoughts on “girlhood” identifications. In this exercise I found that I was drawn to commodified images of “girlhood”—images that showcase the postfeminist sexually “liberated” female in all her “glory” as in Rihanna’s “So Hard” video and images that presented the “effortless” work that goes into the construction of such ideals (e.g. Megan Fox). I also thought of the girlification of women in fashion, and Mulvey’s iconographic woman—who is passive in her role as an object of desire to-be-looked at by the active male gaze. I thought of upper class white female standards of beauty and how “feminine” artifacts such as pretty shoes, make up, hair, clothes, and the attitudes that accompany them—are all sold as objects of the "empowered" female ideal. I thought of little girls identifying with Barbie as an unfortunate “role model.” I also thought of Nan King in Sara Water’s novel “Tipping the Velvet” who represents a queer abject position in opposition to the subject—feminine ideal. In this representation Nan is treated as a sexual object in her male transgender form (by both sexes)—but not objectified in her female “ideal” form. However, Nan’s makeup in the film is troubling—throughout the film—her makeup imbues too close a resemblance to the subject (feminine ideal), as does her body. The book is thus a better depiction of this awesome queer character—surprise surprise!
The woman with the bar code is particularly powerful.
DeleteI love the shot of the woman's body, back turned, with the bar code across the shoulders. It's image that is sold to both women and men. You hit the nail on the head with "effortless" because the image of that "liberated" woman takes hours and hours to achieve, and I believe that every-day women have a hard time negotiating that image, always present in their minds, when their balancing their lives, time, careers, and their actual image in the mirror.
DeleteLove how you tied the Black Swan pic in with Mulvey! Nice work!
DeleteThanks for including quotes from Mulvey's work to illustrate your pics! What a great way to caption them! I agree, the woman with the barcode is such a powerful image!
DeleteI'm with Christine - your Mulvey captions are great!!! Next time I do this assignment I'm gonna ask folks to caption their pins.
DeleteI also now want to see Black Swan again so I can watch it all Mulvey'ed up!
Wow Robyn, how did you find some of these pics-selling male desire is really potent. A marked woman.
DeleteI also found this project fascinating with some going back in time. How did women make any strides given all of the messages against becoming her own person?
http://pinterest.com/revolutiona/eternal-girlhood/
ReplyDeleteYes, pinterest is totally addicting, and I've been imagining ways to implement it into classes I teach; however what Mulvey says of film applies to pinterest, "skilled and satisfying manipulation of visual pleasure" (60). Maybe it's a little narcissistic too. Additionally the idea of different looks, "that of the audience as it watches the final product" (66). Consider also the look of the producer/editor since that is our role.
I chose my pins to oppose the male gaze. The cover is reminiscent of "The Secret Garden," - who knows what lies inside the exterior. The male gaze doesn't see beyond the physical. There are also elements of masks versus reality and role playing as a woman or girl tries to find out who she is beyond the male gaze. Some of the pictures express the desire to escape the set conventions of society.
My first impression of your board...clean and fresh! I truly manifest the little girl inside.
DeleteAhh...Ice Cream...associated with the pain of being dumped by a boy, the pain of menstruation, and just general ‘female’ stress. How did strawberry ice cream become the ownership of girls? Well, because it’s ‘pink’ of course.
DeleteNice board!
Love the unicorns!!
DeleteI love that your daughter loves owls, especially with them representing being wise and independent! The striked out quote also resonated with me, I think that that is a common thought when going through middle school and high school--what would it be like to be a different girl? One that everyone LOOKS AT--it seems that most girls contemplating that don't have a problem with their personalities but realize at most levels their personalities aren't even seen during the growing up years, unfortunately.
DeleteI really like your caption on the cake. At first, I "read" that image as LGBT, but the idea that there's more on the inside than we can see speaks to all identities, I think.
DeleteI like that you included unicorns too - they are iconic of my own girlhood.
http://pinterest.com/pritchct/looks-like-girlhood/
ReplyDeleteColleen, I think there is definitely something not only satisfying about looking at visual pleasure, but after playing with pinterest, there is also something intensely pleasurable about manipulating it. In retrospect, I think the images I chose for my board, I chose largely because they gave me a degree of personal pleasure. Moreover, though I think they are visual representations of concepts I think become lodged inside girls heads as they manuever through girlhood, into adolescence, and womanhood. They are ingrained behaviors and beliefs about themselves and others.
This is the third time I've read the Mulvey piece. In this reading, I found myself wondering if the "male figure can bear the burden of sexual objectification" (62). I tried to come up with some examples and couldn't think of one. However, I also tried to place movies like "Hanna" that are very heavy-handedly taking the male protagonist out of the gaze and replazing it with a woman.
I like your board, especially the pin "Trying on womanhoo" - NICE. I may have to steal that pin!
DeleteI like how you included different girlhood labels and various artifacts of consumerism that play into this ideal. The "evil inside pretty little packages" image does a nice job representing mean girl culture.
DeleteDid you think much about what order you pinned in? I think that's one of the real problems with Pinterest - hard to control order. What I liked about yours though is how different kinds of girlhood - tomboy, girly girl, etc - were put side by side. It seemed to give no hierarchy to what kind of girlhood was best.
DeleteThis is a link to my Pinterest Board. I did some reflection, and remembered lots and lots of pink in my world during that time.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy! http://pinterest.com/karentrujillo/girlhood-summer-2012/
Everything is Black, White, and pink....love it. Interesting that you added a pin "Jealousy." Thats refreshingly honest and true. Your board immediately brought memories and revealed secrets....like my shoe addiction.
DeleteYour comment about feeling "decieved" by your body as you grew into it, it not being what you felt it should be, is not only candid, but true. With every passing year, and every video/movie I watch, I feel betrayed by my body, it not being what I feel it used to be. Loved your board.
DeleteI really like the jealousy poster. It really drives home the way we compare ourselves to others.
DeleteI really like the jealousy idea too. It has to do with the competition among women. Is it physical traits or possessions that we envy in other women?
DeleteWe need to stop watching skinny women movies!
We should have been best friends as girls - Molly Ringwald, Ralph Machio, Barbie shoes. I love them all. I actually almost pinned the image of the millions of Barbie high heels myself.
DeleteThose ideas of envy, self hatred and judgement, and competitiveness are all tied to concepts of girlhood, I think, and all have some roots in popular media. It's such a shame - there's lots of strong girls out there and some are even in the media, but it seems we only listen to the ones who tell us we aren't good enough.
Or we tell ourselves we aren't good enough. Harkening back to the fruit and other pins.
DeleteThank you for the replies. It was difficult for me to not think back on a Gender and Horror class I took as an undergraduate. I kept thinking of Halloween and the way that male gaze plays a part in horror films. I also wondered about Mulvey and the final girl, being somewhat intrigued by the idea of the phallic in the knife penetration. The phallic image in Psycho that we all know about, mixed with the abject blood in the shower (both representative of death and menstruation to me - but I haven't read up on this) complicated this idea of cinema, girlhood, femininity, and the male gaze. I almost want a second Pinterest Board that represents those items to speak to Mulvey but couldn't resist those darn Barbie shoes! --- and Ralph Macchio!
DeleteRalph Macchio needs his own board. Just sayin'!
DeleteHere's my pinboard:
ReplyDeleteSorry, I thought I had put it into my other response--maybe I was having an A.D.D. moment!
http://pinterest.com/texastine/girlhood-for-class/
Got it - thanks. And I love what you had to say about pearls. So interesting. Maybe there's a research project there for class?
DeleteI think your images are great - way more "girly" than many of mine - which I think got a bit into womanhood.
Hi Jen,
DeleteYou're reading my mind! I was thinking of possibly turning the pearls idea into a a possible research topic :)
Ah! Christine!! This Board takes me back in time. I love, love the pinup of the mom and little girl. I think - no - I know that so much of how I behave today is based on the observations of mom. I put my make up on just like she does, remove it (or don't) like she does, and follow many of the same beauty routines. With that, my sister does the same. You really nailed girlhood in journaling and daisy chains, also. I felt this board and loved that it made me reflect on Little Women and days gone by.
DeleteI was so happy to see books in your post. My daughters got after me for not including them. The journaling and diary represent the secret inner life again. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHere is my board! (This is my first experience with Pinterest -- it was easier than I thought!)
DeleteHayley's Pinterest Board
The Easy Bake Oven is classic! And I'm glad you found Pinterest pretty easy to deal with. I think it's a great medium to play around with in regards to girlhood because there is such an emphasis on collection and display in many versions of girlhood (doll collections, stickers, shoes).
DeleteWhat made you choose the images you did? I notice lots of shoes and bows. I agree they are pretty iconic - maybe especially the pink ballet slippers - of certain kinds of girlhood.
Yes! I totally forgot about the Babysitter's Club books! I remember scouring the library's rack for them every summer! Looking back, I find it interesting that the author choose to include one tomboy-ish character, but mold her into a stereotype of female duties by having her be a babysitter--makes me think of a modern day Jo March having to live up to certain expectations.
DeleteThe patent leather mary jane's are iconic for me. I wore them for years, and I have the sound, texture, shine of them still embedded in my memory. Other sensory memories of girlhood: the burn of a curling iron on your forehead or neck, the feeling of swinging . . .
DeleteSo the experiences of girlhood shape our brains as the neurons create paths with these memories? Talk about construction!
I like your point about the Jo Marsh character.
It's probably autobiographical -- from my first ballet class around the age of three or four, I was acutely aware that I did not fit the girlhood "mold", and I did not act like other girls. For my third Christmas, all I asked for were army men and a dump truck -- and I didn’t think these were unusual gifts for a girl to request until the adults around me pointed it out. This isn’t to say I really fit the tomboy description, either -- I just kinda did my own thing early on, and didn’t make a real effort to fit gender stereotypes.
DeleteAs a result, however, I think I became acutely aware of what a girl “should” be. I’m racking my brain now … I think the first time I was aware of a difference between me and the girlhood ideal came that aforementioned Christmas. I can also recall a couple of girls in my preschool class, and I remember thinking at the time that they were somehow “model” girls (petite, curly hair, pretty faces).
The difference didn’t affect me negatively until I reached grade school, and I was immediately labeled “different”. I’m sure a big part of that label came from my lack of obvious femininity. My best friend in grade school was similar to me -- she was pretty far removed from the societal girlhood model. In retrospect, that’s probably why we bonded.
I can’t really say that not behaving like a traditional girl bothered me in and of itself: save a few lukewarm attempts, I never tried to fit the mold; what bothered me was that not acting like a traditional girl led to ostracization.
So … I guess this was a long and overly-autobiographical answer to a simple question … being far removed from identifying as a “traditional” girl, even as a young child, forced my awareness of the more stereotypical aspects of girlhood.
My Girlhood Board is a combination of different media with strong gender messages (TV shows, commercials, pictures, and magazines). One of my favorites (not because I agree with the message, but because it is the perfect example of the reflection of a male-driven society) is the Mexican Snickers commercial of a pregnant man (a man who hasn't had his Snickers, therefore, acts like a pregnant woman). Fortunately, women organizations complained and the Mexican TV stations stopped it (It is still in YouTube, though). There is another Mexican Snickers commercial about a teenage boy "acting like a girl" because he hasn't had his Snickers. Here is the link to my board:
ReplyDeletehttp://pinterest.com/nkrivera/girlhood-board/
Nora
Toddlers and Tiaras makes my skin crawl. I cannot believe that's an actual show! Jen put it aptly:childishness and sexuality mixing together. I always think the show can't be real. Then I think about the terrible habits these children are picking up. They value looks and their idea of the perfect body way too much and placing these sexualized ideas onto young children is just wrong.
DeleteToddlers and Tiaras could be the topic of its own class. Great thing to include. It's such an interesting mix of childishness and sexuality. Strange.
ReplyDeleteI also like what you have to say about Katy Perry. She is a great example of the mixed messages - the fallacy of the ability to have everything - that girls now face. They can be independent and fierce and strong, but they also need to at least look gentile and slim and slight.
Finally populated my pin board. Surprising abundance of modern girlhood images on the Internet; likely indication of how the market for its representations continue to thrive.
ReplyDeletehttp://pinterest.com/bobbygutierrez/engl-582-representations-of-girlhood/
Nice work Bobby. Can't believe the BK creative team took that ad in that direction! How insulting.
ReplyDelete