From: Branden
In this photo I wanted to highlight and demonstrate how the “Smurfette Principle” affects women in later years past childhood. Katha Pollitt who is known for her article, “Hers; The Smurfette Principle” describes the Smurfette Principle as woman in children tv shows who are a rarity and only exist in reference to men (Pollitt 1991). This not only affects adolescent girls but also when they grow into womanhood. The principle makes woman feel insignificant and persuades woman to abide my men’s standards (Pollitt 1991). This typically is shown by women serving men when it comes to nuclear household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry.
The photo depicts this as the model is shown to be cooking and cleaning before her man gets home from a “long hard day at work” (Dr. Rellihan 2022). She is expected to serve him as a king, her hard work is outshined by her man and is viewed as expected and insignificant (Dr. Rellihan 2022). There are many examples of this scenario in the media such as Disney movies (Pollitt 1991). Specifically, the well-known movie, “Beauty and the Beast”, shows a young woman named Belle who abides by many standards (Pollitt 1991) (Dr. Rellihan 2022). She enjoys cooking and cleaning, and later is seen to be cleaning an abandoned house for her own pleasure (Dr. Rellihan 2022). Women are seen to be figures who enjoy cleaning, which later creates gender stereotypes (Pollitt 1991). The model shown in the image above shares many
similarities with Belle, regarding how their childhood has shaped their adulthood. The model is comfortable and enjoys cleaning, similarly to how Belle acted in the movie, for her “prince charming”. Another example of a Disney movie that shows heavy stereotypes is from, “The Little Mermaid” (Pollitt 1991). The main character is a young mermaid named Ariel. Ariel is faced with many challenges throughout the movie. Specifically, she is told to give up her voice to fit the typical beauty standard (Pollitt 1991). Ariel abides by these standards to have a chance to find her prince charming. As Ariel sacrifices her voice for beauty, she pushes the narrative that woman should not speak, and that beauty holds more importance (Pollitt 1991). My model is shown to be wearing a feminine black dress, which is significantly influenced by the media and movies. For example, most Disney movies show female characters in dresses and feminine clothing regardless of their role (Dr. Rellihan 2022).
There are hidden characteristic in the image taken that can provide further insight and meaningaselaboratedby LaurenGreenfield’s“photoessay,GirlCulture”.Acommonphrase that many individuals known is that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. This is apparent in the photo because the background of the image, the gaze of the model, and symbolism within the photo, provide additional information (Greenfield 2017). The symbolism I used in the photo is the cigarette that she is smoking, this is to show an underlining emotion that she is unhappy and stressed. Cigarettes are used as a physical representation of stress and unhappiness (Greenfield 2017). She is unhappy because she worked hard all day in the house doing stereotypical womanly duties such as cleaning and cooking but gets no recognition as it is expected (Dr. Rellihan 2022). Another hidden element of the photo from girl culture is the background. The background in the image is a kitchen, the kitchen shows that she is cooking and cleaning (Greenfield 2017). She is partaking in common chores that is ingrained in her to do by the Smurfette principle (Pollitt 1991). This tells us that this is what woman are expected to do and what they should do, because it is the new norm. Finally, my last element from Girl Culture is gaze (Greenfield 2017). Gaze is the expression on the person’s face in the photo, which allows viewers to create a deeper understanding (Greenfield 2017). In my photo she looks uneasy but seductive, which is shown in many Disney movies. Woman in most photos are seductive, which can be translated to how Disney represents and values woman (Pollitt 1991). She is also uneasy about her significant other coming home soon and dinner not being ready when he arrives (Dr. Rellihan 2022). Also, the image depicts a woman trying to prepare dinner while in a tight feminine dress. Although this is not ideal, woman will wear what the men want to see them in, regardless of the discomfort (Dr. Rellihan 2022).
2 McGuire
Work Cited
Pollitt, Katha. “Hers; The Smurfette Principle.” The New York Times, 7 Apr. 1991.
Greenfield, Lauren. Girl Culture. Chronicle Books, 2017.
Dr. Heather Rellihan. “Gender and Woman Studies” Lecture, Gender and Woman Studies, Anne Arundel Community college, Arnold, Fall 2022
1 comment:
From: Maura
Hi Branden, I LOVE your photo! The Smurfette Principle is perfectly depicted in the sense that our purpose, as a woman is to serve men. The housewife trope that was seen across the country throughout the 1950s demonstrates that a woman’s happiness was a dependent variable to how well she served her husband and kids and how happy he made her. Your image reminds me of the role that Barbara Billingsley played in Leave it to Beaver, where she sported heels and pearls and met her husband eagerly at the door when he came home from work.
I think your creative elements help you achieve the ultimate goal of your photograph, with symbolism being the most effective through my frame of reference. I think the fact that the model is dressed up to cook dinner for her theoretical “husband” sets the perfect scene of a 50s housewife. I also think the model smoking a cigarette (indoors) is great symbolism for a common trend during this period of time and also the fact that people smoke in order to reduce feelings of stress or anxiety. These feelings, along with unhappiness were common amongst housewives because they were led to believe that something was wrong with them for being so dissatisfied with living the “dream lifestyle” of being a housewife: a lifestyle that was represented in such a uniform manner that every woman believed they had to follow the same sets of rules or codes. They became bored with their overt purpose in life and their own fulfillment was discarded. I also think another use of creative evidence is body language, and how the photo is taken from behind, almost like she was caught off-guard. This makes me feel like scenes in a reality show, where although the cameras are there, the actors and actresses pretend that the cameras are not there and still go about their daily lives, carrying out tasks they would be doing regardless. Your photograph is very well-executed.
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