From: Claire
This photograph represents the various facets of a young woman’s identity in our present era of feminism and the pressures and images she must navigate in order to be not only respected, but admired. I set the objects on a flannel background to signify the subconscious knowledge that all women possess—masculinity is power. In addition to the fabric as a representation of masculinity, I included the image of a guitar, an instrument which until quite recently has been reserved for primarily male musicians. Ironically, the guitar is covered in “Deery-Lou” stickers, a Sanrio character renowned for its cuteness and loved by young girls. The teddy bear in the corner is also representative of childish femininity, however he appears to be strangled by the fishnet thigh-high stockings attached to a pink garter belt—implying the transition of females from “girl” to “woman.” Such a sexualization is impacting girls at younger and younger ages making it impossible to really know when childhood ends and adolescence begins. The shoes in this photograph are varied—the mud-caked boot a symbol of apathy towards ones looks, a rejection of traditional femininity and perhaps even rebellion. The pink flowery platform displays a very girly pattern on an adult shoe incorporating the idea of the infanilization of women. Lastly, the black patent leather high heel ties in with the pink garter belt and budding sexuality. The beaded purse and makeup represent the vain insecurity of teenage girls who are quite often desperate to be considered pretty and delicate even if they must mask their true selves. The pills shown are Adderall, a prescription A.D.D. medication often prescribed to children, but more often abused by girls trying to lose weight as it is essentially speed (the generic title is “Amphetamine Salts”). These were borrowed from my friend’s fourteen-year-old sister who has admitted to crushing up and inhaling the drug so that she does not have to eat the entire day when she wants to “drop a few pounds.” The girl weighs no more than one-hundred pounds. Scattered throughout these contrasting images of the contemporary girl’s experience is feminist literature. This connotates the strength and independence that all girls are able to possess, but some may be unwilling to access. I intended to have the eye drawn immediately to the central image of the Ms. Magazine, pills and face powder as I feel that it is a strong combination of the images in the entire photograph.
3 comments:
From Delight
Of importance to me in this picture are the A.D.D. pills and its use for losing weight. It shows the effort of the teenage girl that owns it to conform to the society’s picture of an ideal beauty – a slim figure with a big burst. This, of course, we have come to realize is unattainable without a plastic surgery. Would you say that this is another harm the society is doing to the feminine gender? You did not give us information on what efforts that teenage girl is putting in place to increase her burst size.
This photo is very strong in portraying almost every aspect of being feminine and how in every aspect of our life it is the more masculine power that controls it and dictates what is and isn’t feminine. The plad stands out as being masculine and how that is what controls and determines everything on the plad blanket. I like how you used the teddy bear to show a more typical girly childhood and then used the fishnets stockings around its neck and the other more sexualized objects around it to show the transition in a girl’s life from being a girl to becoming a woman. This transition is clear that we are to go from sweet and innocent, to a sexual object/fantasy. Even objects like the guitar and the dirty shoe that you would think to be masculine are made to seem rather feminine by the objects around them. The dirty shoe to me says that yes it is okay to be a tomboy but you must be all of these other things as well. These meaning that as long as you can still appear as a sex symbol you are still an acceptable woman and are feminine. The guitar shows that while that is considered to be more masculine, in order for it to seem feminine we need to make it appear cute and girly in order to be considered feminine and acceptable. When it comes to the pills, this shows that when we are striving to appear feminine and acceptable to society we can at times go to far in our efforts. This shows how the now impossible standard of beauty effects us to the point that we feel this is necessary. This not only shows that, but also that it is apparently acceptable for a woman to go to such lengths to achieve this image to be considered feminine. Over all, this photo was amazing in showing every aspect of what it is considered to be feminine in our society, and the transitions we as women are told and even forced to make through our lives to fit in.
i thought this was a very significant photo this show how in her younger years she lived up to this sterotypical female and as she got older she start to rebell against the normal girl and started to explore more.This photos shows this sort of transition that this young girl may have went through in her life. for trying to be the ideal beauty to trying different masculine things.
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