From: Nick
In this
photo, we are looking up to a man reaching for success in his career. He looks
the part, wearing a button up and tie. We are looking up to him because the
photo is taken from a child’s point of view looking up to a role model or
parent. He’s supposed to be on a pedestal, and why shouldn’t he be? He’s a
successful guy, getting ready to go do successful guy things. He’s looking
towards mogul status. However, if you examine his actions, he’s tying his tie
too tight. The tie itself, is a symbol of the masculine standards and ideals,
the way a man like Steve is supposed to dress if he wants to be considered a
“business man”. The fact that he is tying the tie tightly around his neck is
supposed to show the suffocating nature of these standards. His face is
strained with pain of the effort and you can see the muscles in his neck
pushing against the tie. The elements of pink in the photo serve to represent
two things. The first is individuality. The model of the working man is in many
ways a caricature. Hegemonic masculinity tends to look the same: straight,
white, male, and middle/upper class. Every man wears the same suit in neutral
colors. This uniform is meant to portray professionalism and status, but in
many ways, it dulls many forms of individual expression. Most masculine people
nowadays are pinned into expressing individuality through smaller accessories
like socks or ties. Many don’t bother with it at all. The second reason I chose
to have Steve wear pink in this photo is to show the elements of femininity
that exist in all human beings but are actively suppressed in men. I had Steve
paint his nails specifically to nail down the point (pun intended) that while
Steve is a man’s man there are so many elements of himself that make him unique
that need to be pushed down, lest he incur the ridicule and rejection of his
male colleagues.
In C.J.
Pascoe’s Making Masculinity, she explores the idea that masculinity “is a
configuration of practices and discourses that different youths (boys and
girls) may embody in different ways and to different degrees.” (Pascoe, 45) This
photo represents the child’s view of adults in society and how the embodiment
of masculinity in male adults shape the views of children who will eventually
embody those same standards.
Works Cited
Pascoe,
C.J. " Making Masculinity: Adolescence, Identity, and High School."
Introduction
to Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and
Intersectional
Approaches, edited by L. Ayu Saraswati, Barbara Shaw, and
Heather
Rellihan, Oxford Press, 2018, pp. 43-52.
2 comments:
From: Capri
In Nick’s photo “Ties that bind” I thought had a very strong message. The creative elements he used in the photo makes it even more powerful when displaying the masculinity standards amongst males. In his essay he describes the pink tie as individuality and professionalism. I agree with his statement that majority of males wear neutral colors in hopes of being masculine. In this photo he goes against that trend and wears pink. The creative element of the camera angle makes the tie appear bigger and bolder than it probably is. The background helps as well. The white background along with a white shirt helps the audience only focus on the pink tie. Thus, furthering it’s significance to the message of the photo. I do however wish that the man Steve in the picture did not hide his painted finger nails. I like the idea behind it, but it is kind of hard for the audience to see his nails from the angle and because it is hiding behind the tie. This could lead to another symbol within the photo. Perhaps Steve is hiding his painted nails behind the tie because he’s just not that comfortable with being as bold as he already is. Maybe him hiding that hand could represent the little bit of doubt that men may get when they decide to go against societal standards of masculinity. His use of face, another creative element, in the photo shows that he is very confident in what he is about to do.
From: Lexi
Nicks photo of the guy fixing his tie gives off a very strong message to the viewers. I like how Nick mentioned the way the photo was being taken such as if a little boy was looking up to the boy in the photograph as a role model. Some people when viewing this photograph might question themselves and ask, “why is a man wearing a pink tie?” “Isn’t pink a girls color?” This is all because of society. People are known to think that blue is a boy’s color and pink is a girl’s color. But that isn’t always true. A color shouldn’t determine gender by no means at all. The boy in the photograph might have received names such as pussy or faggot. There is also a saying “Only real men wear pink” so maybe the man in the photograph is looking towards that saying rather than what others would be calling him. The way the man in the photograph is standing, is looks like he is very confident and does not care what others have to say about him. Not just the way the camera is positioned but the fact that the man in the photograph is looking up makes him look even more confident in himself. I like how Nick also mentioned that society would classify him as the “average male”, such as being white, being straight, and looking rich and intelligent. The man in the picture would represent a guy who doesn’t let peoples words bring him down.
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