from: Jamyla
Just as a mannequin has no identity, and cannot retrieve one from a mirror, neither can a girl find one through a reflection. Society seeks to tell peoplewho they are and where they belong, based on mere appearances and where life has placed them.
Female children are placed in front of a mirror and told, "This is where your value and identity lies, this will shape you, you need these tools." Makeup, hair products, media, clothes; these things seek to give the girl definition, but they are distractions that lead her away from who she is. She becomes a form to be dressed, and many times her identity cannot be removed from her reflection.
It's unnatural for a mannequin to wear a bra and pose in the mirror with makeup and magazines, but the mannequin is like a child playing dress up. Wearing the bra represents an idea of femininity and maturity. The pearls are an example of how possessions can determine worth. The makeup, a way of bettering self. All these things can be connected with childhood. As a child breasts are almost laughable, girls wait for their first training bra to say, "I've arrived." Playing dress up with costume jewelry, wearing makeup, the color pink, all these things get a girl adjusted to and set up for the identity she's supposed to assume.
Why use a mannequin? If I had used a human would the picture have looked any different? Would the demands and expectations of her be broader than the mannequin's. Society seeks to teach girls to be the same as mannequins- shut
up and play your role. The form is just doing what she has been positioned to do.
1 comment:
I think the use of the mannequin is interesting. In my mind, I view it as a young girl. When she looks in the mirror she is not trying to see or be herself. If she was herself she wouldn't need to wear makeup, she wouldn't need to worry about if her clothes matched. She would be comfortable being herself. The mannequin in a way represents how she has lost her identity through societies pressures. You can no longer see the girl...you see what she is wearing. The accessories become more important than the person itself.
Post a Comment