our-perspec-tive-blog

[our-perspec-tive-blog]

Blog Post 6: Television/Moving Images Analysis

(I apologize in advance for the vulgar and explicit language of the clip provided)

This is a clip from the movie Easy A, a romantic-comedy (produced by Will Gluck and Zanne Devine) that was first shown in theaters on September 17th, 2010. The movie is about a girl named Olive Penderghast who receives a bad reputation at school for being an “easy girl” or in other terms, promiscuous. Although her reputation stems from falsified rumors, she plans to take on the school’s judgmental and gossipy students by exaggerating her reputation to use at her own benefit. The emphasis on sex and flirtation in this clip helps to depict how we, as a society, interpret one another’s sexuality.

The movie does a great job of using symbols, icons, and indexical signs to show the message of open sexuality. In this specific clip, Olive wears a black lingerie corset and high socks, two items of clothing that are typically icons of sexuality in modern culture. She does this to overstate her sexuality to gain attention from her fellow classmates, and it’s easy to see the message she’s trying to get across. In a broader perspective, this can be seen as a symbol of open sexuality in society because we can used context clues to conclude what idea she is trying to convey.

This goes on to support the stereotype that women are looked at as sexual objects and only that. Playing onto this stereotype, it goes hand in hand with the idea that a woman’s sexuality is judged more than a man’s sexuality, in today’s society and past times, too. In a sense, the movie emphasizes these stereotypes in an attempt to bring the real message of the film to light: women should be able to openly show their sexuality without harsh judgment.

Being a play on the novel The Scarlet Letter,this particular clip is easy to look at in a historical perspective. In short, Nathaniel Hawthorne’sThe Scarlet Letter tells a story about a young woman named Hester Prynne that has a baby through an affair. This creates issues within her town, as people have a problem with her promiscuity and nontraditional sexuality, which forces Hester to live a life of struggling to gain dignity and respect from her peers. The town’s fellow patrons then force her to pin a scarlet red “A” on her clothes to mark her as an adulteress. Not only does this movie reference the novel in its title, but it also makes an allusion to the symbols used in the book. For example, when Olive hears of the rumors going around about her at school, she starts wearing promiscuous clothing like lingerie and corsets with the letter “A” sewn into them. This historical pull from literature draws a connection between the reputations of Olive Penderghast and Hester Prynne, making the concept of open sexuality abundantly clear and easily digestible among viewers.

Looking critically at this movie, the theme perpetuates the concept of gender inequalities regarding sex, but it also does a good job of providing the lesson of acceptance of sexuality among society. In this particular clip, you can see all of Olive’s classmates staring at her as she walks down the hallway in risqué clothing, and this exemplifies the message that people will judge you based on the sexuality you show to the public. The visual cues like such highlight the theme of the movie and reflect a new idea of gender norms and stereotypes.

[our-perspec-tive-blog]

Blog Post 5: Cartoon/Comic Book Analysis

This is a comic strip written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon from a comic book by Marvel Comics. This is an adaptation of a very well-known scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, published on May 17th, 1980,in which Princess Leia is captured by Jabba the Hutt, one of the most powerful gangsters in the comic’s universe that has connections to other dark and evil forces in the galaxy. Upon capture, Jabba the Hutt forces Leia to wear a gold metal bikini and restrictive chains to assert his dominance over her, both physically and sexually. While analyzing this comic strip, I saw it as a symbol of sexuality because it is obviously emphasizing Leia’s curves, breasts, and other physical features that are typically sexualized by men. The chains wrapped around Princess Leia in this scene are a direct icon of restriction and limitation of a woman’s body, but indexically, the chains can represent societal male empowerment over woman as well.

Although this comic was written as a form of entertainment and imagination cultivator for children, it still breached the line between adolescent tendencies and full-blown sexual innuendos; however, this was not a shock at time. Historically, it was common for comic book illustrators to exaggerate a woman’s body parts in order to gain sex appeal among readers. Marvel Comics illustrators were especially famous for emphasizing the sexuality of a woman, making anything produced by them a popular topic of interest. This specific interpretation of this Star Warsscene became an infamous symbol of sex among many generations, both in the past and the present. It is also important to note the progressive movements regarding sexuality and sexism in the 1980s and the second wave of feminism that struck the country around this time. In the mid-1970s, women went on strike across the nation to gain and protect their equal rights as women in a similar fashion of the first feminism movement in the early 1900s. These movements were focused around voting and labor rights, but they also made a point to express their bodies as free and untamed, just as a man could at that time. This common over-exaggeration of a woman’s curves in cartoons can be referred to as assimilation, and it is a heavily used concept among realistic comics.

Regarding the layout of the comic strip, I noticed that the different sizes of the panels emphasize different aspects of the comics. Pertaining to my topic of sex and sexuality, I noticed that the largest panel of the comic strip is a detailed drawing of Princess Leia’s body. The message of Leia being a sex symbol is highlighted within the comic scene because of the bigger size of the block, so a reader’s eye is typically drawn to that section of the strip. Another thing I took into account is the typography of the comic strip. The very first set of words in the comic are placed in a square bubble, whereas the other words are placed in a round bubble. I assumed this meant that the words in the square bubble were thoughts, and the words in the round bubbles were actual conversation. This variation in display of words is very common among cartoons, both now and then, and it helps to denote feelings, emotions, and thoughts of characters that couldn’t necessarily be expressed in conversation written on paper.

Unfortunately, I would say that this comic strip promotes the stereotype that women are weak and easily controlled by men, whether that be through physical, sexual, or mental manipulation. Through a critical perspective, the comic is, in some ways, teaching the audience that women should be used as objects and only that. Although I do not agree with the message behind the comic, it was a very common theme among the 1970s and ‘80s, hence the second wave of feminism during that time.

[our-perspec-tive-blog]

Blog Post 4: Newspaper Graphic Analysis

This is an image of an article called the Exploitation of Marilyn Monroe by Rod Macleish featured in the Fort Collins Coloradoan. This article was written on August 12th, 1973 and its purpose was to emphasize how the media and the public had sexualized Marilyn Monroe, a famous actress and icon, at the time. In the article, the newspaper chose to use three different, but very similar, still photographs of Marilyn Monroe that give off sort of a sexual innuendo vibe. With her mouth slightly poised open, heavy makeup being worn, and an off-the-shoulder dress, the pictures do a good job of framing the woman as a sexual object, and eventually, Marilyn Monroe would go on in history as one of Hollywood’s greatest sex symbols. The image of Monroe to the far left shows a glowing, smiling woman who seems to take on the energy of happiness, while as the photo to the right shows a sultrier side of her. The usage of these two images and their subtle differences hints that a woman has many different sides but still has the ability to maintain a sense of pleasure aimed at men.

When looking at this article and its images in a deeper sense, I approached my own analysis in a historical manner. In the 1970s, when the article was written, sexualization of women was a new thought among society. It had started to become more and more talked about as feminism boomed through the previously repressed sexual state of woman. Historically, women had been taught, or maybe coerced, into hiding their bodies and skin in order to be perceived as modest, respectable people, but that all changed with this new wave of rebellion; however, this brought on the new problem of over-sexualizing women and making it seem as if their only purpose was to be used for sex and a man’s pleasure, a common stereotype in history. It is still a huge issue today, hence the rise in movements such as the #MeToo Movement, and this article goes above and beyond to unmask the hidden sexism that lies within society, back then and now.

As I began to look further into the images used for the article, I noticed how their layout correlates with the typography of the title line. Seeing as the publisher placed the images at the top of the article rather than within the text, the reader automatically draws their eye to those photos. This technique helps to bring attention to the title, a line already written in bold. The typography and location of the title shows that it is significant compared to the rest of the words on the page, and it does an efficient job of letting the reader know the main topic of the article within a short amount of words. If it weren’t for the title being in bold, I probably wouldn’t have stopped on this article in the first place, and that shows just how important typography can be if used correctly and efficiently.

In conclusion, I drew out one main point, or lesson, the article’s author was trying to convey: Women everywhere, especially those in the public eye, are constantly scrutinized for how they look and how they could possibly effect men. The point the author is trying to make is that it is unjust for women to be sexualized so openly to the point of exploitation, whether it be by men or women committing this social crime. Any viewer of this article should walk away with more knowledge towards how women are affected by such behaviors regarding their bodies, and any reader that can see the author’s direction in writing this piece and using these pictures, will realize the implications of sexism in society.

[our-perspec-tive-blog]

Blog Post 3: Art Museum Visual Analysis

https://www.high.org/collections/untitled-332/

This is an untitled artwork by artist Eugene Von Bruenchenhein. Bruenchenhein (1910-1983) is a self-taught artist from Milwaukee that spent his whole art career photographing his wife, Marie. His photographs mainly consisted of a variety of poses of his wife typically set to emphasize her sexuality and pin-up likeness, and he focused on making her sexuality a normalized subject of conversation among the public; his artistic goals for most of his pieces revolved around his sexual fantasies of his wife as well. This particular piece caught a lot of attention when it debuted in the 1940s because of its openness regarding sexuality of a woman. From a historical perspective, the 1940s and ‘50s were times of heavy misogyny and the start of feminism in the United States, so this picture broke through boundaries no one was even thinking about crossing at the time. The photographs in Bruenchenhein’s portfolio follow a pattern of using his wife as an icon for sex, and viewers everywhere became fascinated with this unfamiliar side of woman.

This can contribute to the cultural perspective of the photo as well. I asked myself, “Who would be the villain and who would be the hero in this image?” and I came to multiple conclusions. As an indexical sign, the image could portray the openly nude woman as the bold face of early feminism in society, where as the poise of her body and smile on her face could represent the confidence of the women coming forward as feminists during the time. Sex culture was very questionable back then, so the publicity of this photo caused a stir among genders in the 1940s and 50s.

The visual cues only help to emphasize the message and theme behind the image. For example, notice the only colors used in the photo are black, white, and grey. Technically, photographs during this time could not be taken in color because of technological advances that wouldn’t be discovered for years later, but the colors still help the viewer look at the serious side of the image’s message. Typically a monochromatic color scheme of an image helps preserve the somberness of an image, but I found it very interesting that the colors contrasted so much with the actual mood of the woman in the photo. This contrast can be taken as a symbol of the struggle between men and women to understand the equal balance of their sexuality’s power, especially in this time frame in history.

After analyzing the various components of this photograph from a critical perspective, one main lesson can be taken away from the image: a woman’s sexuality is not something to take lightly, nor something that should be ignored. The message that this photograph sends to society during the time period can maybe be offensive to males because of unspoken social norms regarding females interacting with males. Historically, human sexuality is a closeted subject, but this artwork helps to transcend the message of open sexuality in public and how it should be normalized among people. We are all humans, aren’t we?

[our-perspec-tive-blog]

 Blog Post 2: Representative Image Analysis         

          When I first scrolled past this image on Tumblr, it immediately caught my eye. I chose this moving image because it is a symbolic representation of a woman’s state of sexuality in everyday life. When I first saw this picture, I thought “personal freedom” and as I analyzed the picture more, I created new meaning behind the image. From my perspective, I saw the girl in the picture as basically liberating herself from the face-value definition of what a woman’s sexuality should be. A very common stereotype in today’s society is that a woman must look sexy or physically attractive at all times, but I believe this image dispels that stereotype right off the bat. Symbolically, instead of displaying her physical sexuality that is so often publicly scrutinized, she is embracing her inner sexuality: what makes her who she is, what feelings make up her psyche. A person’s sexuality can be shown in a number of ways including physically, emotionally, socially, or spiritually, so this image is a good example of a symbolic sign. I say this because the image itself is very abstract and can be perceived in a number of ways. It also has no obvious representational connection to what I personally perceived from the image.

           Any number of viewers can look at this image and come up with a million different things to think and say about it. An individual might notice certain visual cues based on their memories, identity, and surroundings. This is called cognitive theory. I took many different visual cues from this image. The first thing I noticed is the girl covering herself in the first 2 seconds of the moving image. In my opinion, this represents an indexical sign because it is common sense that the girl doesn’t want to be so physically vulnerable to the world around her. The ripping open of the chest is symbolic of her freeing herself from the box society has put her in. Another thing I immediately noticed was the colors of the image: black and white. Whenever I see a black and white photo, whether it be moving or still, I automatically associate a sense of drama and seriousness to it. People perceive colors in different ways as well, and this is what I associate with the combination of black and white in a picture.

           I also want to make a point about projection. In class, we learned that projection is when a person’s mental state affects how they see an image and what they make of it. My projection of this image may be different than, for an example, a male. I say this because women often gather deeper meanings of sexuality than men when it is displayed right in front of them. As a woman myself, I can relate to the feeling of being judged by outer beauty and the stereotype that we only express our sexualities through what we wear and how we do our makeup. It all revolves around the pressure to “look sexy” for not only men, but our fellow female peers as well, and we don’t even realize the impact of this archetype in society.

[our-perspec-tive-blog]

Welcome to my blog!

Sexuality, in oneself or towards another, can be portrayed in a multitude of ways: emotionally, physically, erotically, socially, etc. That's the beauty of it all. People can display their sexuality in a plethora of behaviors and communications, even if it's sometimes a subconscious action. Sex and sexuality can be drawn from many different mediums and subjects throughout society. That is why it is important for my intended audience of young adults and any curious souls out there. As common as sexuality is in our society, not everyone sees the different sides to showing sexuality, and people tend to denote sex as a vulgar act that shouldn’t age discussed; however, the truth is that sex is very normal and should be a topic of discussion among teens and adults. I'm looking forward to exploring and analyzing the implications of sexuality in our everyday lives. I hope this blog can open up the eyes of people whom are closed off to conversing about the topic and maybe knock down the barriers that people have subconsciously put up from a young age. Showing sexuality in life is normal. Through different art forms and mediums, I hope to expand my understanding and outlook on sex in every day life.