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Week 13 - Discussion with Lecturer

When getting feedback from my lecturer Becky, we started looking at children's literature that showed a contradicting element to Potter's stories - ones that could've been evidently gender stereotyping when originally published but were altered to show inclusivity. Stories like Richard Scurry's work - 'Busy, Busy Town' that when first published had very stereotypical and sexist drawings that would not be socially acceptable within modern times. However, these were updated by the author in 1980 and changed to show more diversity not only in gender roles but culture as well.

Pictured above Richard Scarry's Busy Busy Town - the original illustrations on the left - altered illustrations on the right.

Pictured above Richard Scarry's Busy Busy Town - the original illustrations on the left - altered illustrations on the right.

I also looked at a few episodes of the Peter Rabbit cartoon made in 2012, the stories this show portray seem to be a bit more progressive than the original books they are based on - with the inclusion of a female bunny rabbit as one of Peter Rabbits 'best friends'. It does make me wonder whether or not there is a demand for the books to be re-illustrated to be less stereotypical but there is that element of should we actually reconfigure these past artefacts and almost erase history. I am a firm believer that we should not erase the past to hide mistakes but to highlight them and exhibit how much society has changed and that there is still changing to do. This is the same logic for a lot of significant historical events within the past 200 years.

If I was a mother of a child and had the option to read these stories to them, I would probably think against reading the original versions and certainly stick to more progressive stories. However, if they were rewritten or illustrated I would be more likely to incorporate these into their childhood.

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References for Essay

Allen, H. (2018, November 4). What does the hands behind the back pose mean? Owlcation. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/What-Does-the-Hands-Behind-the-Back-Pose-Mean#:~:text=It's%20also%20a%20strong%20position,the%20body%20as%20a%20target

Appell, F. (n.d.). Victorian Ideals: The Influence of Society’s Ideals on Victorian Relationships. Victorian ideals. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm#:~:text=Women%20in%20the%20Victorian%20society,were%20of%20a%20wealthy%20family.

Brieske, V. (2017). The Golden Heroine: An Analysis of the Domestic Heroine in Golden Age Children's Literature (thesis).

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, December 18). Beatrix Potter. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Beatrix-Potter

Coulson, S. (2009). Victorian notions about femininity in 19th century Britain. GRIN. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.grin.com/document/280437

Craig, P. (2006, December 30). The tale of Beatrix Potter. The Irish Times.

Grace, E. (2018, January 2). What was life like as a victorian governess? Penguin Books UK. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/what-was-life-like-as-a-victorian-governess.html

Ha, T.-H. (2015, November 11). Spot the difference: This update to a classic children's book reimagines gender roles. Quartz. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://qz.com/545860/richard-scarrys-update-to-a-classic-childrens-book-reimagines-gender-roles-for-boys-and-girls/

Holmes, R. (2015, September 21). Why White is a colour of purity that might just have killed you. The Guardian. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/21/why-white-is-a-colour-of-purity-that-might-just-have-killed-you

Kalita, K. (2014, October 9). Behavioural characteristics of Domestic Ducks. Academia.edu. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/8716797/Behavioural_characteristics_of_domestic_ducks

Lear, L. J. (2016). Beatrix Potter, a life in nature. St. Martin's Griffin.

Ochoa, C. (2018). Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) (1903-1917). Towards Emancipation? Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://hist259.web.unc.edu/socialandpoliticalunion/

Potter, B. (1901). The tale of peter rabbit. Frederick Warne.

Potter, B. (1905). The tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle. Frederick Warne & Co.

Potter, B. (1908). The tale of Jemima Puddle-duck. Frederick Warne & Co.

Rabon, J. (2021, February 1). Brit history: Ten of the most important events in British history from 1900 – 1910. Anglotopia.net. Retrieved May 7, 2022, from https://anglotopia.net/british-history/brit-history-ten-of-the-most-important-events-in-british-history-from-1900-1910/

Rosenberg, S. (2017, October 3). October 2‪, 1902: Beatrix Potter published "The tale of peter rabbit". Lifetime. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.mylifetime.com/she-did-that/october-2-1902-beatrix-potter-published-the-tale-of-peter-rabbit

Scarry, R. (1994). Richard Scarry's busy, busy town. Golden Books.

Thomson, K. (2019, April 29). Beatrix Potter, conservationist. American Scientist. Retrieved June 6, 2022, from https://www.americanscientist.org/article/beatrix-potter-conservationist

Uther, H.-J. (2006). The Fox in World Literature: Reflections on a “Fictional Animal.” Asian Folklore Studies, 65(2), 133–160. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30030396

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Week 13 - In class session 2nd June

For our last Design Research session, we were to continue writing our essays and gaining feedback from our lecturer Becky. I found this session helpful as I was unwell the last week and was unable to get any feedback on the work I had currently done.

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Weeks 11 & 12

A continuation of my essay and the ideas I am refining for the paragraphs

In this paragraph I go in depth with the semiotics shown within the illustrations of Beatrix Potter’s that I am analysing.

Looking at Beatrix Potter's biography written by Linda Lears

This biography goes in depth into the life of Beatrix Potter, including her childhood, adulthood and her many accolades as a children's literature author.

Lear, L. J. (2016). Beatrix Potter, a life in nature. St. Martin's Griffin.

pictured above is Beatrix Potter.

I found this book quite helpful in terms of getting a comprehension on Beatrix Potter's early life and the occurrences that shaped her perspectives that are depicted within her stories.

Beatrix Potter research

Information from an assortment of organisations

https://beatrixpottersociety.org.uk/about-beatrix/?doing_wp_cron=1654570123.2196459770202636718750

Beatrix Potter, the writer of one of the most beloved children’s book of all time, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902), was a woman of immense talent, indefatigable spirit, and generous heart.  Helen Beatrix, the eldest of the two children of Rupert and Helen (Leech) Potter, was born on 28 July 1866 at 2 Bolton Gardens, South Kensington, London.  Although Beatrix and her brother, Walter Bertram (1872-1918), grew up in London, both were deeply influenced by long family holidays in the countryside, first in Scotland and later in the English Lake District, and by their northern roots.

As was the custom in families of her class, Beatrix was educated at home by several governesses.  An eager student of languages and literature, she grew up loving classic folk and fairy tales, rhymes and riddles.  Her talent for drawing and painting was discovered early and encouraged.  She drew her own versions of such stories as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Lake District UK

Where Beatrix Potter drew inspiration for her books

Beatrix Potter's art style

All of Beatrix Potter's illustrations begin as sketches. She creates the line work using pen and ink, then paints over it with watercolours. Her watercolour work is delicate and whimsical, with a smooth feel. The animal characters get a lot more attention than the backgrounds. The backdrops are also devoid of any pen work; they are simply light and loosely coloured. It's a straightforward procedure, but she masters it and makes it her own. She also makes extensive use of the paper's white by allowing it to shine through. (Zoeliner, 2009)

Potter's work was characterised by a delicate use of watercolour. Half pans were used to create this texture, with a soft layer in the background and more layers of colour in the foreground.

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Week 10 - Book Issued from AUT Library and Lecture Notes

On Thursday, I visited the aut library in hopes to find a book that related to my essay topic. I managed to find a book called 'The Art of beatrix Potter' written by Enid and Leslie Linder. In this story, it primarily focuses on the art of Beatrix Potter and a lot of her earlier work before the success of Peter Rabbit. I was able to form a few more key points after my reading of the book that I believe to add to my essay

The Art of Beatrix Potter - Enid and Leslie Linder

‘Beatrix Potter’s animal fantasies date back to her early childhood as can be seen from the picture of rabbits drawn dressed as humans, drawn at the age of nine in one of her early sketchbooks’ 

‘It was not until her twenties that she began to develop this particular aspect of her work - the gift of portraying animals as humans. They are never caricatures but drawn with charm and artistry. 

‘The Mrs Tiggy-Winkle in the story was inspired by kitty McDonald, the potter’s old washerwoman (servant) at dalguise 

‘Mrs Tittlemouse’

Mrs Tittlemouse was a wood-mouse and is described by Beatrix Potter as ‘a most terribly tidy particular little mouse, always sweeping and dusting the soft sandy floors’ of her burrow 

The picture chosen to represent this book shows mrs tittlemouse opening one of her store room cupboards 

Female characters all pictured with quintessential items associated with women - broom/hairbrush/pink clothes/ hair bonnet/ pages 282 - 283

Pages 312 - 313

Images of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle performing household chores - ironing clothes - hanging them up ‘and she hung up all sorts and sizes of clothes’

Pages 330 - 331

Images for Jemima Puddleduck and Mr Tod

Tabitha Twitchit 

334 - 335

Always female's looking after the children - washing, feeding them etc.

Cecily Parsley - original version of the opening pages pages 350 - 351

‘Cecily Parsley lived in a pen, and brewed good ale for gentlemen.'

Week 10 Lecture notes

Design research lecture week 10

Bauhaus 

History and timeline

Founded by architect Walter Gropius in Weimar 1919

Fought in the war - near death experience 

Existential crisis when a building fell on top of him

Inspired by William Morris

He united Weimar academy of fine arts and the school of applied arts

Bauhaus momento

Bauhaus - build + house

No essential difference between the artist and the artisan - 

architects, sculptors, painters - we all must return to craftsmanship

Free of the divisive class pretensions

1919 - 1933 - 14 years only

Three directors and three locations - Weimar, desseu, Berlin

Walter Gropiu , hannes Meyer, Miles van de rohe 

Bauhaus - spirit

Progressive - rebelled against societal norms

Wild theatrical parties and performances

Playing with gender identity, women cut hair short, dressed androgynously 

Relationships - students + staff

Bauhaus babies born out of wedlock

For the time it was considered outrageous to the general public

Bauhaus curriculum

Everyone starts at a preliminary or foundation course  - forget rules learnt of traditional academies 

Progress to workshop (3 years)

Haus/building (at centre) only for the most talented - post grad after workshops - only here could you study architecture

Students could eventually become workshop assistants

Workshop assistants could progress to masters/teachers

Preliminary course

New revolutionary teaching model in 1919

De-learn/re-learn

Designed to put all students at same level

To learn the properties of material, form and movement to make best use of them in the future

Johannes Itten 

believed in the relationship between sound + colour + movement

Loved colour theory

Very spiritual - follower of mazdaznan 

started to bring too much of this into curriculum and was asked to leave

Laszlo moholy Nagy 

Studied the effect and use of light 

Embraced the potential of photography

Combining art technology

Play and experiment

Josef Albers 

Was a student that progressed to master

Materials must be worked in such a way that there is no wastage 

Students no longer permitted to work with materials at random

“To forever remain a student looking for further problems to be solved”

Wassail Kandinsky

Form + colour

Kandinsky had the condition synaesthesia 

Could see music

Universal language of form and colour

Dynamic triangle is inherently yellow

Static square is intrinsically red

Serene circle is naturally blue

Connotations - there cannot be a universal language 

Women in the bauhaus 

Gropius quite sexist

At start 51% students were women

Gropius believes women’s minds were created differently 

Women only allowed to advance to workshops in textiles and weaving

Annie Albers - weaving workshop student - progressed to head of weaving

Marianne Brandt - eventually managed to get accepted into metalwork - progressed to metal workshop assistant

Lucia Maholy 

Was an established book editor in Berlin 

Overshadowed by her husband

Worked with Moholy-nagy to develop the photogram technique 

Became the bahuas photographer 

Not credited for any of her work 

Bauhaus books 

Only authentic records of 14 years of education

Only 14 titles realised 

All had design restraints

Bauhaus - type - Herbert bayer + universal bayer

Typeface to mimic machines, not the human hand 

Sans serif built from geometric blocks 

In contrast to blackletter type used everywhere in Germany at the time and derived of medieval calligraphy

Used only lower case letters

Radical in Germany where every noun is capitalised 

Bauhaus - GmbH and commercial design 

Good design should be accessible and affordable for all - to improve ones lifestyle 

Establish the rights of work designed in Bauhaus which could then be developed by industry 

Application to practice 

Process - be playful + experiment

Back to basics 

Materiality - celebrate and respect the qualities of material

Respect resources - less material wastage

Don’t accept that the way things are is the way they should be - challenge the norm

Inclusivity - design shouldn’t be exclusive - good design is for everybody

Bauhaus additional research

Becky's Bauhaus lecture was really interesting to me as the influence of their design has proven to be quite significant in terms of my learning of fundamental design. I went home that weekend and looked through the Bauhaus book that my parents own and did some further research.

The Bauhaus -Masters & Students by Themselves edited by Frank Whitford

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Beatrix Potter Illustrations redrawn by my mum

These illustrations were created by my mum for my very first room when I lived in England. They are recreations of the illustrations done by Beatrix Potter.

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Additional Research

Women's Social and Political Union

Because I am starting my essay on the WSPU and what they stood for, I wanted to ensure I had thoroughly researched this organisation

The Pankhurst family is very closely conencted with the militant battle for women's suffrage. Emmeline Pankhurst and others concluded that more direct action was needed in 1903, when they created the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) with the motto "Deeds not words."

In 1880, Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) became involved in the fight for women's suffrage. She was a founding member of the WSPU in 1903 and served as its president until 1918, when it was liquidated. The WSPU was a well-organized organisation under her leadership, and she, like other members, was imprisoned and participated in hunger strikes.

'However, the suffragette movement, in particular the militant WSPU, should be regarded as violent, a distinction which distances suffragettes from peaceful suffragists. Their ‘outrages’ – escalating to bombings, arson, and chemical attacks – caused harm to individuals, as well as to public and private property, and potentially had a detrimental effect on the outcome of the suffrage campaign.

‘They were got by hard fighting and they could have been got no other way’- Christabel Pankhurst giving a speech at the St. James’ Hall, October 1908.'

1913 cartoon, showing “Dame London” welcoming a suffragist, while behind her a suffragette holding a bomb threatens London

'The protesters often clashed with police and with the public. For example, at demonstrations outside the Houses of Parliament on 18 and 23 November 1910, there was violence and arrests. The police were accused of behaving with unnecessary brutality and the 18th became known as Black Friday. In 1913, the campaign stepped up and Emmeline Pankhurst was imprisoned for three years for her part in planning protests. On 4 June, Emily Davison was killed at the Epsom Derby.

However, protests were put aside as the women joined in the war effort between 1914-18. In 1918, women were able to vote in general elections for the first time.'

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Additional Research

Gender Roles in Modern Society

To get a further understanding of how gender roles have progressed in the last 100 years or so I decided to do some additional research on Gender Roles in Modern Society.

Adaptive Upgrading

Adaptive upgrading concerns the best use of time, talent, space, information, and material resources. It can be understood as the individual’s or society’s management of human and material resources that leads to attainment of a greater benefit. In connection with changing life patterns and the modern gender revolution, for example, home appliances and modern amenities lower the amount of time required for domestic production. Improvements in health, longevity, and reproductive control reduce the portion of a woman’s life spent in bearing and rearing children. The gain in time can then be used for other pursuits outside the home.

Goal Differentiation

In the case of life pattern and gender system change, goal differentiation results in greater efficiency and benefit to individuals and society because freedom for self-determination rather than the conformity to prescribed social roles based on age and sex results in a better fit between interests and opportunities. Old-fashioned age and gender categories that are too confining for the variety of individual capacities and interests of women and men give way to expanding choices and opportunities. Thus identity and the sense of self become more flexible and less closely tied to past roles and experience (Johnson, 1989, p. 108).

Integration and Inclusion

Integration refers to the challenge of embracing and coordinating all the newly liberated individual or group options and opportunities in such a way that the social system maintains coherence and integrity. The new role patterns that are experienced by one sex or the other have to be tied into the existing system. In the world of contemporary gender relations, the principal process of inclusion is the acceptance of new role models: for example, the widespread presence of more married women in the labor force and more fathers at home providing care to children. Other examples are the removal of barriers to women’s eligibility for educational, professional, and managerial opportunities that were once available only to men, and the gains made by women in seeking and holding political office. For men, comparable changes are seen in the acceptance of them into female-dominated occupations such as nursing, and willingness to provide them with family leave for giving care to children and elders.

Giele, J. Z., & Holst, E. (2003). Advances in Life Course Research. ScienceDirect. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040260803080018?casa_token=w7g-Scg_nYAAAAAA:vWKdFDZfwRm9tKZjL-tGhl7xq9IojbMQNA-5lHlu27pDAMyLtlGv0KOqQrOBuZwS4RYqqgrHqYpn

One of the biggest mainstream media producers - Disney, has proven to be very influential to the minds and behaviours of young children. Over 80 years, there have been gender stereotypes in their films but in the past 30 years, Disney has displayed progressive media that is popular amongst children and teenagers whilst also being inclusive to a diverse range of cultures and gender.

Animating Gender Roles: How Disney is Redefining the Modern Princess

Juliana Garabedian

Abstract

A prominent voice in the entertainment industry, Disney impacts many facets of society, including how we define gender roles. For the past 80 years, America’s younger generations have taken social cues from their favorite animated movies, learning to act like their favorite princes and princesses. Over the past few decades, Disney has broken through the concept of the damsel in distress and transitioned to represent and even advance modern feminist ideals. From likable protagonists to prominent images and popular products, the movies reinforce the gender roles they present because children learn to imitate the characters during playtime.

Opinions on Gender Roles Findings of an International Comparative Study

The social role of men and women, the social expectations of gender roles, and the needs of those concerned have undergone significant changes in the course of history. These changes have been most visible in the labour market, with a steady growth in the proportion of active female workers. The employment of women gained momentum in the second half of the 20th century, as a result of a decline in the average number of children. Fewer children meant better opportunities for work outside the home, but it also limited fertility and the chances of a woman having a larger family. Alongside work, the reproductive function of women has remained; this does not stop at giving birth, but includes caring for and raising children. Inherent to performing both sets of tasks is the risk of conflict involving the individual, family and work. For social and demographic reasons, the dual burden of women is not expected to decrease, but rather is likely to grow. On the one hand, in ageing European societies, the ratio between active workers and dependants can be improved only by increasing the economic activity of women. Furthermore, the relative decrease in the proportion of older generations and the long-term sustainability of pensions funding can only be safeguarded by having more births and better fertility indicators. In other words, the fulfilment of the reproductive functions of women and families is becoming a key question of national strategy. - Marietta Pongrácz

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://tarki.hu/sites/default/files/adatbank-h/kutjel/pdf/a776.pdf

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Additional Research

Beatrix Potter Modern Renditions

To show further development of research, I have included my additional investigation of the modern renditions of the Beatrix Potter's stories. These include the 2018 Peter Rabbit film and the 2012 Peter Rabbit cartoon show on Nickelodeon.

I looked mostly at reviews for this cartoon as to get the general consensus as to what people thought of the show in regards to the original stories.

In terms of gender stereotyping, simply from looking at the poster for this show I can see that they have included a female rabbit and made her a main character.

Peter Rabbit movie

2018

Outfits worn by the females are not as exaggerated as in the original stories of Beatrix Potter.

The contrasting image of Mrs Tiggly-Winkle in the recent live-action film adaptions to the illustrations in the stories demonstrate a rather substantial difference to not only the clothing she wears but the idea that she isn’t shown with an object associated with her tendencies to over clean (her most recognized personality trait in the story books). Her apron is also lined with blue stripes and not pink, another nod to the development and disregard of traditional gender roles in today’s world. This goes to show the progression of society on the outlook on women and their place. The way she is dressed and portrayed is not nearly as exaggerated as it is in Beatrix Potter’s books 

As demonstrated in the first image of Mrs Tiggly-Winkle, it is clear that the portrayal of her character does show and display the ideals and standard of the Victorian lower classes woman. However, in the modern renditions of these story books, it is clear that the writers of these films have dialed down the excessive appearance that exhibits the idealogy of Beatrix Potter’s views on women and their place in Victorian era society.

Some people found the movie not so good while others really enjoyed it. I went to see the film in cinemas when it came out and I really enjoyed it.

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Introduction crafting

I have begun to construct my introduction for my essay.

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Design Research week 9

I have formulated my main topic question - How is Victorian social class sexism portrayed within children literature? I have also produced my three topic paragraph inquiries - 1. Sexism within Victorian society, 2. The children literature that displayed these elements and characteristics and 3. Contrasting media and modern renditions of these stories.

My next step is to start writing my essay introduction.

Week 9 Lecture notes

Russian art revolution (1910-1930)

The Theatre of life 

The Ballets Russes & Constructivism 

Ballets Russes - 1909 -1929

Constructivism - 1915-1930

Coronation disaster (1896) - 3600 trampled to death

Revolution 1905 - ‘Bloody Sunday’

Wide slavery, sex trafficking 

Russo-Japanese war & financial crisis

1904-1905 = small & victorious 

Russian culture in Paris : the ballets Russes - Sergei Diaghilev 

The ballets Russes : when art danced with music 

Posters for advertisement very illustrative 

Art: Leon Bakst 

Ballet : Afternoon of the faun (1912)

Nijinsky 

Art : Leon Bakst 

Ballet : The firebird 

Mikhail Larionov

Ballet: chout - the buffoon (1921)

Autocracy & serfdom 

Tsar Nicholas II & Rasputin

Boney M. Rasputin - 1978

Bourgeois Democratic revolution February 1917

Women’s rights revolution 

Socialist revolution October 1917 

Russian Civil War 

Constructivism - the art & dance of propaganda - art must not be concentrated in dead shrines named museums 

Russian avant -garde

futurism - in defence of free art/russian zines - a manifesto - a slap in the face of the public taste 

Suprematism - the supremacy of pure artistic feeling 

Proletkult 

Constructivism - architecture and structure 

Theatre 

Biomechanics 

Mechanics as applied to human beings 

Behaviour modification

Art of representation - meyerhold (1874 - 1940)

Art of experiencing - Stanislavski (1863 - 1938) 

Aleksandra Ekster 

Aelita - the queen of mars (1924)

Constructivism - Rodchenko 

Avant garde movie posters 

Stenberg brothers - hundreds of posters very prolific 

Gustav Klutzes - klutzes was executed on the 26th of February 1938 - most recognisable constructivism posters. 

Great purge  - purge trials (1930 - 1991)

Stalin hired private police to execute people that might pose a threat to his life. Stalin killed 20 million Russians socialist realism 

Constructivism inspired work in the 1991 - 2000s 

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Week 8 Lecture notes and research

After having gone over my feedback for my formative, I have started to look at texts that rather than support my specific question I am asking in my essay, ones that support the singular ideas (feminism, how we read images/text and make judgement based off of what we know, Male vs Female roles in Children literature). This way I have an overall understanding of the ideas I am talking about in the essay.

I have started to analyse a text about Male vs Female roles in children literature where I can identify some main reoccurring themes in the differences of the stories made for boys and those made for girls. For example, stories where the genre is focused on adventure and exploration of the world are marketed for boys - Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe was the example named in the text. For girls it was stories that were limited to the tellings of domesticity as stated in this text.

I have also looked at a text that communicates the idea that during the late 19th century and early 20th century, there is a show of a huge decline of women authors and as a result of that, the decline of women characters.

As a result of this, it will be a challenge to find children literature that could contrast against Beatrix Potter's stories that were written during the same time or a while after.

I am now looking at John Berger's The Way of Seeing as suggested by my lecturer Becky as an introduction into how we analyse and connect with visuals and knowledge vs sight. I have attached some sections of the text which I believe to resonate with the themes I am discussing in my essay.

The statement by John Berger 'An image became a record of how X had seen Y', furthers my understanding in terms of how an artist portrays not only their visual comprehension into their art, but also the ideals and beliefs that the individual has grown up with/learnt. This communicates to me that Beatrix Potter showed women's place portrayed in her stories as such due to her upbringing and the ideals she was taught to abide by, not due to maliciousness or spite against the examples set for these women or the feminists who opposed these beliefs. There is still the question of whether or not it is proposed as okay or acceptable to be ignorant in the idea that women were suppressed, as it is shown in history that Beatrix Potter was not a feminist and believed voting should be left to men.

Is there a connection between the idea that because Beatrix Potter's literature was so popular and demonstrated women's place that it disabled women authors that wanted to present a different, more powerful set of female roles to children from being published?

References and Texts -

Heywood, S. (n.d.). Gender in children's literature in Europe, 19th-21st centuries. DIGITAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://ehne.fr/en/encyclopedia/themes/gender-and-europe/educating-europeans/gender-in-children%E2%80%99s-literature-in-europe

Flood, A. (2018, February 19). Women better represented in victorian novels than modern, finds study. The Guardian. Retrieved May 10, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/19/women-better-represented-in-victorian-novels-than-modern-finds-study

Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. Penguin Classics.

Analysing key messages in a supplied essay

In class week 8 we spent two of the three hours analysing an essay's main idea in a group - pictured below is the work I completed for this task

Week 8 Lecture notes

Matauranga Maori - 1. (Noun) Maori Knowledge

The body of knowledge originating from Maori ancestors including the Maori world view and perspective Maori creativity and cultural practices. 

Kawa tikanga and Mana

Kawa are the unchanging principles from which tikanga (practices) are derived.

Te Reo Maori is the kata

How Te reo Maori is spoken (dialects) is the tikanga

Whakairo: Carving 

Which Maori god was the first carver? Tangaroa as the first carver of wood utilising it to tell stories 

Take god of the forest

Tangaroa god of the sea

Maori Design = Whakapapa

Purpose - why?

Shelter, celebration, store food, tell stories

Ownership - Who? 

Ariki, tohunga, rangtira, chief, tribe

Craft - What/how?

Tangaroa, carving, wood

Whare tipuna 

Learn the secrets of Maori woodcarving when illustrator Christoph Riemann visits New Zealand’s national wood Carving school.

Person: living. The whare represents a person - imitating body parts of humans, respect it to the highest degrees.

Significant common ancestor to those that all share whakaapa

Tapu: Sacred

Each carving holds a story 

Practice

Debate, discussions, funerals, weddings, accomodation 

Design Context 

How is Kawa, Tikanga and Mana used within designing and creating film

Mana comes from knowing who you are, it links you to your past, present and future

Te Ka nohi ki te ka nohi - dealing with it eye to eye

Maori Design is the reorganising and contextualisation of traditional and contemporary narratives and information

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101 Dalmatians - Pongo and Purdy

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Task 2

101 Dalmatians as a contrasting story to Beatrix Potter’s children literature

- Cruella

- Pongo and purdy not stereotypical

As a contrast to Beatrix Potter’s children literature, I looked at Disney’ 101 Dalmatians as not only an evolved piece of cinema but also to investigate the ideals presented to the children of that time period. 101 Dalmatians was one of the first films I identified as a representation of powerful female characters along with the eradication of stereotypes within a family shown throughout the humanisation of the two parent dogs - Perdita and Pongo. One of the more commonly known characteristics of Cruella De Vill was that of her scariness and dominating aura over men. This role for a woman was unpopular to see in cinema and and in children’s literature.

The two parent dogs were also not based on the stereotypical beliefs that a woman should be responsible for her children. Pongo the male Dalmatian was shown with just as much responsibility for his puppies as his mate Purdy. This goes against a lot of the traditional gender roles portrayed in many stories.

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Week 7. SDL

Bullet point list continued

- Female vs Male roles in children literature

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Week 6 - Semiotics and Question for Design Research

My question for design research is 'How was feminism and women’s place in Victorian society displayed within Beatrix Potter’s children literature and is this still evident within the modern renditions of these stories? How were men displayed as well?'

At first, I was unsure whether a question like this would be suitable for my design research academic paper, as I wasn't certain whether or not Beatrix Potter's children books (particularly the illustrations) could fall under the design bracket.

The topic first emerged when I was completing the mood boards for the socio-cultural, art and design and printing processes, I had the subject of children's literature come up quite early on in my research as it stemmed from my interest in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. I then was able to further my research in terms of what other children literature was occurring during that, books that came up were Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and The tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. The time period I had chosen to research (1903-1908) fell into the time frame of the suffragettes movement, a very significant period for the equality for women. One thing I found quite interesting when researching Beatrix Potter was the way she presented the characters in her story book and the way they were portrayed as animals but with human aspects (clothes, they spoke to each other, did activities and jobs that resembled those in the Victorian Era. This is what interested me, the idea that the characters (especially the women) were displayed as a perfect emulation of people in Victorian era society.

Because these stories were written around the time that women still had a very small place in society, it is understandable that they would of course resemble this time period and capture the aspects of sexism. However, in the modern renditions of Peter Rabbit and friends, you would believe that they weren't a positive representation of women (as seen in the new Peter Rabbit films where the women are portrayed the same as in the stories) and not something that a young child should learn to be an accurate representation of the ideals the world has now around women (women being taken advantage of and having her place be to take care of her household and have children).

Week 6 Semiotics and Reading Images

In this session we were given 40 minutes to analyse an image and the semiotics shown within the image.

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Week 5 Lecture notes and SDL

Week 5 lecture notes

The World War I-

20 million deaths and 21 million wounded. Many under 19 years old.

98,950 served in New Zealand units overseas. 80% were volunteers.

Spanish Flu Pandemic

From 1918 through 1920, the Spanish flu killed from 17.4 to 100 million people worldwide. In two months New Zealand lost about half as many people to influenza as it had in the whole of the First World War.

COVID 19

Deaths - 6.07Millions

Science

In 1916, Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. Changed the way we look at the cosmos and how gravity is a bend of space by mass and energy. "The idea of a special fourth dimension is such a liberating one for artists, " says Professor Henderson. "It's not surprising that styles like cubism developed, because all bets were off in terms of space and matter"

 - Linda Dalrymple Henderson

The Avant-garde Started in the 19th Century and ended in the 1920s and 1930s. The French term refers to something visionary and ahead of its time. In reference to art, the term means any artist, movement, or artwork that is regarded as innovative and boundaries-pushing, opposed to mainstream cultural values, and with social or political connotations.

Avant-garde designers were young people, on their 20's. They wanted nothing less than to change the world.

Italy had a very large debt, very few natural resources, and almost no transportation or industries. This combined along with a high ratio of poverty, illiteracy, and an uneven tax structure weighed heavily on the Italian people in the country.

Location:

Kingdom of Italy 1909

The futurists

Futurism was an avant-garde movement that embraced innovation, technology, and transportation-all components of the future they saw after WWI. The Futurists' celebration of war as a means to remake Italy and their support of Italy's entrance into World War I.

Innovation

Modernity

Speed

Marinetti, who admired speed, had a car accident outside Milan in 1908 when he veered into a ditch to avoid two cyclists.

Futurist Manifest at Le Figaro

The crash -to him a symbol of how the old ways (bicycles) must give way to the new ones (his car)is what propelled Marinetti to put into writing a theory of progress.

Passionate

Aggressive and

intended to stir

controversy

Manifesto is a written statement where artists often publicly declare their intentions, opinions and visions about the artistic movement.

His masterpiece work, Zang Tumb, Tumb excerpts in journals and an artist's book.

Marinetti used free verse to express the sensations of artillery assaults on Adrianopoli where he spent time as a correspondent in the Balkan War (1912).

He used neither verbs nor adjectives, only nouns scattered about the page, conveying meaning through size, weight and placement - a revolution in style that deconstructed traditional linear writing.

Tavole parolibere

(free-word pictures)

Typography mixed with imagery to create a kind of visual and aural cacophonv. As the woman depicted in silhouette reads a note from "her artilleryman; fragments of words both real and constructed, and distorted in size, shape, and form, thunder above her, reflecting the sounds of the war as well as the Futurists' fight against convention.

In the Evening, lying on her bed, she reread the letter from her Artilleryman at the Front. My revolution is directed against the so called typographical harmony of the page.

Reject the traditional past of book design. Reflection on the book's form stretched to materials. The idolisation of cars and planes suggested that metal was one of the materials most representative of the Futurist mindset.

Tullio d'Albisola (Tullio Spartaco Mazzotti)

Legacy

Use of materials.

Breaking conventions.

Influences on space and typography.

Asymmetry in compositions.

Visual effect of words: Words were

given a visual design; the text was transformed into images and printed in the same way as illustrations.

Focus largely on technology, and industrialism 

When Marinetti's political party - a combination of political and futurist views - failed, he tried to promote futurist views in other ways, but it was received in a negative Way.

"The Futurist is dead. What killed it? Dada"

Dadaism

Anti Art movement

Protest against traditional beliefs of a pro-war

society, cultural and political critique.

Satirical, nonsensical, irrational,

anti-bourgeois, Humorous,

Absurd, Spontaneous

Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings - The couple opened the Cabaret Voltaire where Dada was born. There Ball organized and promoted Dada events, including performances often reciting his sound poems.

Karawane

Ball wrote his poem "Karawane"' a poem consisting of nonsensical words. The meaning, however, resides in its meaninglessness, reflecting the chief principle behind Dadaism.

Marcel Duchamp Often include found objects and materials combined through collage and ready-mades. Calling repurposed everyday items "art'. Hannah Höch Höch used her collages to criticize societal institutions, explode gender norms and shows a distinctly queer, feminist perspective. Tension between humanity and mechanization/ machine and rapid industrialization.

Kurt Schwitters

Schwitters published 24 issues the periodical Merz.

"In the war, [...] Everything had broken down and new things had to be made out of the fragments; and this is Merz."

John Heartfield

Anti-Nazi and anti-fascist

photomontages.

240 political art

photomontages.

He was considered the number five on the Gestapo's most-wanted list.

ADOLF, DER UBERMENSCH: Schluckt Gold und redet Blech

Adolf the Superman: Swallows

Gold and Spouts Tin (1932)

A swastika replaces his heart, and his torso is an x-ray revealing gold coins flowing down his throat and collecting in his stomach. John Heartfield Engraving (Rotogravure) Heartfield would sketch out his compositions and then find appropriate photographs. When necessary, he would have new photos made. He would then cut them apart and reassemble them. They would be photographed and a printing plate would be made. From this, massive numbers of prints could be cheaply made and freely distributed.

Dada after the War

Dada was a hugely liberating movement

that inspired other art movements.

After the war ended, it was divided into

two parts.

One with André Breton, a French poet

and writer, which led to Surrealism.

Other, with Kurt Schwitters and John

Heartfield who continue to work on

their designs and photomontages.

Legacy

Duchamp once explained, "the spectator" who "makes the image." Their philosophy is that the idea of an artwork is more important than the work itself, and that art can be made of anything.

Typographic design and the concept of letterforms as concrete visual shapes, not just phonetic symbols.

Photomontage

Photomontage, a technique of manipulation found photographic images to created jarring juxtapositions and chance associations. Photomontage as a social critique.

Present reality in a peculiar, humours, unfamiliar and uncanny way.

Jarring juxtapositions and associations.

In class Text Analysis

Text Analysis for week 5 SDL

ttps://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/public/SS36470_36470_34325420

https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/#/asset/26293887

https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/#/asset/AMCADIG_10310847892

https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/5f683c78-d563-4772-8dba-182dc99a02d1

https://wordpress.org/openverse/image/93772b73-e36d-42f0-bbc0-3a07e831ff55

Social class feminism and children literature in the industrial revolution I

Is there still a show of women’s place within the modern renditions of Peter Rabbit and Beatrix Potter children’s literature?

Why was Beatrix Potter anti-feminist?

Was there a show of women’s place within Beatrix Potter’s children literature and is this still evident within the modern renditions of these stories?

How was social class feminism and women’s place in Victorian society displayed within Beatrix Potter’s children literature and is this still evident within the modern renditions of these stories?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/40842447@N08/4520015655

Cole, W. (2021, December 13). What did victorian servants wear? Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://cubetoronto.com/victoria/what-did-victorian-servants-wear/

https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm#:~:text=Women%20in%20the%20Victorian%20society,were%20of%20a%20wealthy%20family.

https://open.maricopa.edu/culturepsychology/chapter/stereotypes-and-gender-roles/

https://eige.europa.eu/publications/sexism-at-work-handbook/part-1-understand/what-sexism

https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/social-life-in-victorian-england/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Beatrix-Potter

https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/What-Does-the-Hands-Behind-the-Back-Pose-Mean#:~:text=It's%20also%20a%20strong%20position,the%20body%20as%20a%20target.

Worthy, L., Lavigne, T., & Romero, F. (2020). Culture and Psychology. Glendale Community College part of Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) Maricopa Millions, Phoenix AZ.

Appell, F. (n.d.). Victorian ideals. Retrieved April 14, 2022. https://www.mckendree.edu/academics/scholars/issue18/appell.htm#:~:text=Women%20in%20the%20Victorian%20society,were%20of%20a%20wealthy%20family.

Allen, H. (2018, November 4). What does the hands behind the back pose mean? Owlcation. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/What-Does-the-Hands-Behind-the-Back-Pose-Mean#:~:text=It's%20also%20a%20strong%20position,the%20body%20as%20a%20target.

Fox, C. (2021, July 16). Fox Symbolism: The ultimate guide. All Things Foxes. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://allthingsfoxes.com/fox-symbolism/

Potter, B. (n.d.). Illustration of Mrs Tiggly-Winkle from Beatrix Potter . Illustration by Beatrix Potter. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/40842447@N08/4520015655.

Discussion in breakout room in design research between Scarlett, Xiangyi and I where we summarised the many ideas shown in our moodboards we created.

Mine were

- childrens literature illustration

- underground posters

- Typography