Essay ideas...

Texts to look at for my essay:

Lorraine Marshment, Margaret Marshment, (1988) The Female Gaze, The Womans Press, London.

I have begun to read this book. At this stage I would say that this is my most helpful source as it deals specifically with the discussion of the active female gaze which is something that I want to investigate as a part of my essay.

Maria Elena Bussek, (2006) Pin up grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality and Popular Culture, Duke University Press, London.

I think that this book could be relevant because the pin-up is the embodiment of the sexualized idealized woman.

Whitney Chadwick, (2002) Women, Art and Society, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London.

This book offers some perpective on the position of women within society as well as within art.

Linda Nochlin, (1999), Representing women, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London.

I think that this book is relevant because I am looking at the way that women are represented in graphic design.

Laura Mulvey, (2009), Visual and other pleasures, Palgrave Macmilllan,  Basingstoke.

Mulvey's essays offer some deeper information into psychoanalytic theory which is something that I need to do some more reading on.

Tony Nourmand & Graham Marsh, (2005), Exploitation Poster Art, Auram Press Ltd, London.

This book will prove to be an extremely useful source should I decide to focus on film posters as the area of graphic design that I decide to investigate.

Ideas for my essay:

-I want to centre my essay around the ideas, theorys and concepts disscussed in the essay and seminar on 'The gaze'. 

-More specifically I am interested in the 'active female gaze' and graphic design in relationship to this. I am struggling to specify a particular area of graphic design to focus on, at the moment I am interested in film poster art pre-about 1970 or advertising. Obviously I need to specify this far more....

-In terms of the active female gaze; I want to investigate the concept that 'men watch women, whilst women watch themselves being watched' as well as the way that the media and the way that other women appear both act as 'mirrors' for the individual woman.

-If I am to look into advertising, I am particularly interested in the ways in which feminist ideas are utilized to sell, and how this exploitation, whether deliberate or not, could potentially be beneficial. 

-I want to discuss how men and women get their dominant definitions through popular culture.

-Men dominate the prodution of nearly all of popular media, which I think is something crucial in this investigation of presentation of women in the media.

-Perhaps my ultimate question would be whether or not a female perspective can truly be produced within the mainstream.

Ideas for my essay title:

"It has been suggested that 'Men watch women, whilst women watch themselves being watched'; in a culture where men dominate the production of popluar media, is this the result of domination and pressure from men, or do woman"

"In a culture where men dominate the production of nearly all of polular culture, can a female perspective truly be produced within mainstream graphic design/advertising?"

"How has the representation of women changed in posters for film since 1970?"

Possible images to discuss within my essay:

Film posters....

'Girls on probation' film poster 1940s

directed by William McGann

'Blonde bait' film poster 1956

directed by Elmo Williams

Both these posters would be perfect for analysing the ways in which images of women were exploited prior to the women's liberation movement in 1970. I could potentially compare and contrast these images to that of some more recent films in which a woman is the protagonist, or at least feature strong, dominant female characters... (despite still using their sexuality as a weapon), such as the films of Quentin Tarrentino or Robert Rodriguez.

'Planet Terror' film promotion 2007

directed by Robert Rodriguez

'Kill Bill' film promotion 2003

directed by Quentin Tarrentino

Advertising/graphic design....

L'Oreal Glam Shine lip gloss advertising campaign fearturing Cheryl Cole

This could perhaps be used as an example of the way that images act as mirrors to other women

'The Nipple Bra'

This ad is an example of how I could investigate the way that women's products are promoted to them.

'Levi 501' ads....

This is an example of the way that mens bodies are presented within the media.

'Nuts' magazine cover

this image could be used to illustrate the way that women are presented when the audience is male.

'Elle' magazine cover

...while this image could be used to illustrate the way that women are presented when the audience is female.

SEMINAR NOTES: The gaze

Essay ideas...

“To what extent is a female gaze possible within patriarchal visual culture?”


Introduction


-outline aims of essay and layout


- introduce the concept of the female gaze (as oppose to male gaze) in contemporary patriarchal visual culture and define.


-questions to address :


True freedom lies with men?


Women have been presented in this way for hundreds of years, so is this why we deem them as more asthetically beautifull than men?






In a society where 'men dominate overwhelmingly in the production of nearly all popular genres' ( 'the female gaze, p.3), it seems that contemporary visual culture is dominated heavily by a male gaze, while the female gaze seems almost inexistent. This can be supported to some extent simply by the lack of theory relating to an active female gaze.






Concept of the pin up and the ‘New Woman’





^


^


Adah Issacs Menken & Lydia Thompson (both pin ups who fought to exert control over their own images)










Para 1 :










Initially, I want to investigate the possibility of a female gaze being present in contemporary visual culture, where men are objectified rather than women. An interesting example of this is erotic magazine 'Filament', self proclaimed through the tagline as 'The thinking women's crumpet'. This magazine is not only aimed at women but is also produced by women. Also, unlike other publications of this nature Filament includes articles and discussions non sex related in an attempt to replicate the way that some mens pornographic magazines do.












At first glance, this cover for the magazine features a far more sexually subdued image in comparison to say the cover of a mens pornographic magazine which usually features a lot more nudity. In addition to this, I think that the models body type is significant. He is not a typical adonis with rippling muscles. Mens magazines tend to use models with accentuated physical characteristics, while Filament don't always choose this option. Looking through back catalogues of covers, it is clear that the body type of the model varies enormously. However there is still certainly a huge amount of objectification of the male form. Firstly the models face is not shown, making it even less personal and more about his body. I think that this could be interpreted in more than one way; that the photographer is trying to objectify the male body as much as possible, focussing on his body rather than having a personal connection between him and the viewer. Alternatively, this could be a way of maintaining the gender power relationship; while the man isn't allowed to connect directly with the viewer in the same submissive and doe-eyed way that men's pornography does, he remains in control of the situation. This may seem peculiar that a woman-run magazine would want to portray a man in this way, but it could be that women like the idea of the man asserting an element of control. > Back this up with relevant quote!


Ultimately this image is extremely voyeuristic as oppose to a women essentially presenting herself for a mans visual consumption as in the case of a men's magazine. I think that this suggests that women prefer this more subtle, less aggressive way of seeing. > Back this up with relevant quote!


Another interesting characteristic is the choice of setting for the model. The composition is set in a casual domicile environment. This along with the active gesture of the models arm gesturing fondly outside of the main composition implies that there is more than one person in the room. I think that due to his casual nudity it would be fair to say that the setting implies that there is only one other person present, potentially a wife or girlfriend. It think that the props within the composition are extremely relevant in terms of what they are suggesting to the viewer; the wine glass not only suggests that this is a relatively sophisticated man and also suggests an indication of class and ultimately wealth. I think that this introduces the theory that women fantasize about the ideal of a loving husband and that acting suggestively and submissively is simply a way of attracting attention and a route to getting what they really want. > Back this up with relevant quote!


My final observation relating to this cover is the design decisions made in relation to type and layout. The image fills the entire cover with very little supporting type or other information. The use of dramatic ligatures in the title font makes it extremely flamboyant and the colour palette is fairly muted with an element of intensity enforced by the large areas of darker colours. The cover is essentially very artistic and romanticized rather than loud, bright and eye catching like mens magazines of this nature tend to be.









This evidences suggests a strong and independant female gaze succesfully, however the size and scale of the women's pornography industry by comparison to the men's could create the argument that this gaze is somewhat insignificant. It is by comparsion a niche market. > %statistic to back this?


The diffence in the way that women choose to present men for womens visual comsuption in comparison to the way in which men objectify women for magazines aimed at men of the same theme means that men 'men remain in control of desire and the activity of looking'.






This difference in the way that women choose to present men for women's visual consumption in comparison to the way that men choose to completely objectify women in the equivilent industry suggests that men are asserting their 'control of desire and the activity of looking' (the female gaze, p.46, ros Coward). I think that this suggests a fear of loosing control of the power gender relationship between men and women. > Berger ?


























Para 2 – Discussing an image that tries but fails to portray/deliver a female gaze:






This second image depicts a front cover of a women's' fashion and lifestyle magazine 'Glamour'. Again the target audience is women, and the gaze presumably female. The reason I chose this particular cover is because it features pop star singer Rihana as the featured celebrity. I think that this provokes an interesting discussion when put into context alongside her very public private life; this magazine was published not long after her boyfriend Chris Brown was convicted of hitting his Rihana. This cover features Rhianna allegedly opening up to the readers about what happened now that she is 'Stronger and wiser'. This ultimately indicates that Rihana is standing up for herself against her oppressor and essentially giving him the metaphorical finger. However this image of Rihana complies to the ultimate men's ideal of a woman. Her outfit is tight fitting and extremely revealing in favor of her undeniable feminine assets. The way in which her head is tilted and her facial expression are quite coy and flirtatious rather than giving off any impression of power and control. This could be argued that this is almost entirely male gaze and is actually completely patriarchal.









Women, much more so than men, are constantly reminded of how they appear to each other and the opposite sex by the constant visual reminders in the media (Berger quote ? ). These images act like mirrors for women. How women see them






Points to raise and discuss :


-Women appear.... "Men act, women appear"


-How a woman sees herself and reflects herself conotes her success in life


-Presenting herself - aware that she is presenting herself.


-Magazine run by men?


-Media acting as a mirror -(Berger)


-The more that people behave/present themselves in this way, the more it becomes the norm?


-Women act up to male ideals self regulate... because they think that


- this is how they will get attention - get what the ultimately want - ironically, security ?






-If 'men and women get their dominant definitions of themselves through popular culture' (the female gaze', p.2). then this could explain the masses apparent facinsation for objectification and consumption of the female body, but less of the males, allowing men to stay in control. ^






Key Terminology :


-Self regulating, automatic, onminpresent gaze - panopticism


- Narsasitic identification - identifying with the character....






































Para 3 – Image that successfully depiects a female gaze?


Cindy Sherman?


Annie Sprinkle?






Conclusion






-True freedom lies with men?

Task 2 - On popular music

Adorno believes that popular music for the masses is 'a perpetual busman's holiday' (Adorno, T.,1941, On popular music,p81). He believes that a 'concerntrted and conscious' (p80) experience of art is only possible to those who are not exploited by the working class system. According to Adorno these workers need relief from their boredom and tiredness and 'cheap commercial entertainment' (p76) is one of a few things that fills this void. 
 This 'boredom of mechanical labour' (p74) is manifested in pre-sructured beats which reflect the mechanical rhythm of industry. Adorno believes this 'standardization' (p73) is audibly present in the thrity-two bar chorus and limited range. The 'rigidity of whose pattern is understood' (p.73) in a way that the listener automatically connects to it. In many ways the 'composition hears for the listerner' (p77) in the way that the music is written and promoted with the advantage of being able to predict the response of the masses. 
 The irony in this 'pre-digested' (p77) listeing experience is that enjoying it leaves the consumer with a feeling of individuality. The 'halo of free choice or open market' (p79) promotes pseudo-individuality, allowing the listener to feel as though they are defining themselves through associating themselves with a particular music, when in actual fact each individual listerner is lead to the same standard experience. The listener can only engage with what they are given. 
 The band 'Hard-fi' illustrates Adorno's steotype perfectly. They appeal to an extensive target audience for mupliple reasons. They represent the ulimate working class dream of escape to fame and fortune in their very existance. There music is heavilly reliant on a mechanical rhythmic beat, a simple five note structure and repetition of a chorus. In addition to this, the actual theme of the song is the five day week and the concept of 'living for the weekend'. Adorno mentions that this music creates a 'distraction' (p80); installing a sense of 'fear and anxiety about unemployment and loss of income' (p80). This is a subject matter within popular music 'whose pattern is understood' (p73) by the masses.