Adele Pierce
OUIL 501 Context of Practice
‘Is modern culture welcoming a gap in gender equality?’
On the forefront it may appear as if we have progressed
hugely throughout decades in the fight for equality in gender roles; with waves
of feminism, movements into equal rights, equality within the workplace, female
masculinity and the birth of Androgynous dress. However, it can be argued that
with new cultures and trends escalating we may be going back over; eliminating
the fight for equality with such things as Lad Culture, nude photo leaks,
social media trends and the pressure to conform to specific gender roles,
opening up a division once again. As a culture are we welcoming and accepting
this behaviour because we know no different or have we lost the fight? This essay
will explore how gender equality is in a constant battle against culture and
trends.
“Like capitalism, masculinity is always in crisis, but like
the Phoenix, it continually rises again.” Abigail
Solomon-Godeau - A male crisis in
representation. This book explores the representation of male and females
within art, in particular focusing on female nudes. Masculinity is interesting
because it is not definitive yet as a culture we strive for it as a source of
power. Judith Halberstam questions, “What is masculinity?” In Female Masculinity (1998), which is a
fair question; how do you categorize what makes you masculine? “"If masculinity is not the social and cultural
and indeed political expression of maleness, then what is it?" The word
‘masculinity’ in itself and what it entails suggests male gender because in
Ferdenand De Saussere terms, as a society, we have come to a shared cultural
understanding that it is.
"Female masculinity has been blatantly
ignored, both in the culture at large and within academic studies of
masculinity. The widespread indifference to female masculinity, I suggest, has
clearly ideological motivations and had sustained the complex social structures
that wed masculinity to maleness and to power and domination." Halberstam
is arguing here that we understand masculinity to be a male representation
because we ignore any time a female takes on this role, or shut it down. Female
masculinity takes place in a separate category and females are seen to be
trying to emulate the characteristics of a male, rather than powerful females.
Art is just one form
of representation yet can also often pose a significant threat to gender. The
‘Guerrilla Girls’ are a group of feminist women artists that claim to ‘reveal
the understory, the subtext, the overlooked’ within art and are looking for
gender reassignment. One of their billboard posters features statistics about
nudes in art galleries. ‘Less than 5% of the artists in the Modern Art sections
are women, but 85% of the nudes are female.’ This is a comment on how women artists
are not being taken seriously within the ‘art world’ as credible artists; there
are such a low number featured within galleries yet their naked bodies are
considered a thing of art.
The real battle within today’s society is not being categorised
into certain genders; but gender roles and what it entails to be a female and
equally to be a male. How you dress, act, and represent yourself is under much
scrutiny whether it be in the public eye or daily in youth culture, social
networking. For example to be a man you must dress a certain way, be
successful, and have a certain hairstyle, a beard and act like a ‘Lad.’ If you
do not conform to this cult you face backlash from websites such as ‘Ladbible’
and ‘Thebeardly.com’ who pressurise
men into growing a beard in order to become more masculine. "I see you've
shaved, sorry the weight of manhood was just too much." "Shaving says
a lot about a man, like I'm not one."
To be a female you are expected to be powerful and classy
with strong messages delivered to us from the female music industry such as Beyoncé,
yet apparently seen and not heard according to men. If you dare to speak up you
will then be subject to sexual scrutiny and a victim of rape threats like
Olympic medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill when she spoke out against the rape
charges of Ched Evans. If you are a female in the limelight you can expect to
be stripped bare by the media – sometimes literally. For example, the actress
Jennifer Lawrence was a victim the 2014 Celebrity Nude photo leak, where 26
celebrities faced their naked bodies posted all over the internet much against
their will. This intrusion of privacy stirred many debates into whether
celebrities should expect to be subject of this treatment purely based on their
celebrity status and choice to be constantly in the public eye. . The Guardian columnist Roseanne Gray felt that the
2014 Celebrity nude photo leak was ‘just the beginning’ of this unspoken divide
and degrading of women in power. "In 1983, Vanessa L Williams was the
first black woman crowned as Miss America. She had little time to enjoy her
achievement, however, because Penthouse published naked pictures of her, and
she was forced to relinquish the crown. Williams has gone on to a successful
career in film and television, but her biography will always have this
footnote. She will always be reminded of the time someone decided to put her in
her place because she had the audacity, as a woman, to rise too far.”
"Don’t get too high and mighty, ladies. Don’t step out of line. Don’t do
anything to upset or disappoint men who feel entitled to your time, bodies,
affection or attention. Your bared body can always be used as a weapon against
you.”
Jennifer Lawrence was quick to fight back at the backlash
she received from the media for sending naked photos to her boyfriend and the
belief that she put herself in that circumstance. “Just because I am a public figure, just because I'm an actress, does not
mean I asked for this. It does not mean that it comes with the territory. It is
my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is
absolutely disgusting." This raises the view that our gender roles should
not affect our choice of sexuality and whether we wish to be portrayed in a
sexual manner. Carole Rossetti explores these notions in her artwork delivering
a more positive attitude towards women being sexual beings, non-conformative,
wearing baggy clothing if they want to, choosing not to have children,
tattooing their skin and having a female partner. She challenges the ideologies
of what it is to be a woman and the female role within society. One of her
pieces includes the quote, ‘gender does not define clothing, everyone can and
should wear whatever fits best their own identity.’
Interestingly fashion,
another form of representation, also poses subtle codes that influence the way
we view gender roles. ‘Fashion, culture
and identity’ by Fred Davis explores the popularity of unisex stylings from
the late 1960's to the 1970's where "some unisex shops absolutely refused
to make any gender distinction in the clothes hanging from their racks."
This was a step in the right direction for gender equality as well as the birth of 'Androgynous dress' where women wear
wearing masculine clothing. The garments would have "nothing to say on the
matter of gender or sexual role." However he also commented,
"The women in the sensible grey wool
suit and the frilly pink blouse is a serious hard-working mouse with a
frivolous and feminine soul. If, on the other hand, she wears a curvy pink silk
dress maker suit over a plain mouse grey sweater, we suspect her of being
privately preoccupied" showing how clothing can manipulate how gender is
represented in a negative light, hinting at sexuality.
Advertisement also offers cause
for speculation with the ‘male gaze’ whereby women are viewed enticing and
luring in the male viewer to buying products. Equally, the same can be seen
with males in underwear adverts using their sexuality as a tool to sell. They
lure us into thinking that if we buy these products we will immediately attract
the opposite sex and become irresistible, giving us a sense of power. However, The guardian wrote, “Eva Herzigova's
traffic-stopping billboard for Wonderbra has been declared the most
eye-catching advert of the past few decades. The image, part of the lingerie
company's 'Hello Boys' campaign, featured a huge photo of Eva's cleavage.” The
roadside poster caused a real stir back in 1994 when it was said to be the
cause for stopping traffic thus causing accidents, once again negatively
showing women’s sexuality to be dangerous compared to advertisements of men.
Some women chose the sex industry as their lane of career; pornstars, glamour
models and pin up girls. Feminists appear to battle against this, which can be
argued to be wrong, as it is the individual’s choice. An interesting argument
is the loss of Page 3 in the Sun. The women featured may have differing views
to the feminists such as MP Caroline Lucas battling for the ban it as it was
their choice to face the opinions of men who read; but it could also be argued
that including this category of sexualised females seems irrelevant within a
daily newspaper and should perhaps be kept in those specific genre of magazines
such as ‘Zoo’ and that way boils down to choice of the material you read,
rather than an argument of feminism. Similarly to this argument, ‘Bad girls and dirty pictures - The
challenge to reclaim feminism’ by Alison Assiter and Avedon Carol explores
females taking on powerful sexual roles and the consequences of this. It
states, “Many anti-porn feminists seem to feel that there is no middle ground
between a ban on photography and open, uncritical acceptance of it.” Once again
though the women standing up for these abolishment’s and reaching for equality
were under scrutiny; such as Lucy-Ann
Holmes who founded a campaign to end the publication of the topless page three
girls and received death threats. Assiter and Carol state "In the dominant
culture, women are so aware of being judged sexually in inappropriate
circumstances that we feel we must go out of our way to supress any sexual
thought or expression."
Is it only women fighting for
this right? As Emma Watson spoke in her ‘HeforShe’ campaign, feminism is a word
that seems to scare off the male population; viewed as a negative one, she
invites males to also share these views and fight for equal gender. This is an on-going
battle that coincides with the huge following of cults such as ‘Ladbible’
promoting degrading women. Comedian Daniel O’Reilly better known as ‘Dapper
Laughs’ received an on-going following of young males from his uploaded videos
of sexual advice for men and offensive ‘jokes’ towards women that resulted in
an ITV show. He referenced rape, and advice on how to ‘pull birds’ depicting
harassment of women. The show was later cancelled after 60,000 people signed a
petition to say it promoted sexism, and O’Reilly featured in an interview
apologising about his behaviour. These are the role models of today’s society
that feminists are up against in the fight for equality. This type of ‘Lad’
culture whereby men use sex as a weapon for dominance echoes a quote from ‘Bad girls and dirty pictures’ about men
being the voice of sex and women the mute, “In most cases it would have seemed
incredible to consult a woman on the subject of sex – decent women were deemed
never to think of the subject at all.”
‘The Everyday Sexism Project’ offers a website whereby people can
post sexist remarks or situations that they have encountered encouraging
discussions and a chance to tell their stories anonymously. They are fighting
to become a step closer to gender equality. “Women who complain about
disrespectful comments being made to female members in the House of Commons are
accused of ‘overreacting’ yet only 22% of MPs are female. Women who object to
the over-sexualisation of female celebrities are told ‘it’s a choice’ yet it is
almost impossible to think of a modern female singer who hasn’t bared all.” The
last point is an interesting one; female celebrities becoming more sexualised
especially within the music industry with more provocative music videos and
sexual lyrics, is it necessary? It promotes the wrong message to the youth of
today of sexualising yourself for power. Who is to blame for the constant
divide between the genders? The lack of male feminists? The media? Social
networks? Art? Or is it culture in
general? Should social networking and modern trends be welcoming more movements
such as ‘The Everyday Sexism Project’ as
a site for discussion rather than the ‘LadBible’?
A Youtube video by The Guardian on everyday sexism called ‘Get your arse out mate’ shows a young woman in stereotypically
‘male’ circumstances hurling sexist remarks at men; a metaphor of how females
daily receive this kind of treatment. Comments such as, “I really like your
trousers, they’d look better on my bedroom floor.” The reaction of the men
proves to be shocking as it highlights the situation is not the norm, women are
not expected to speak to men in such a manner. Again, hearing a woman speak
about sex so openly is viewed as shocking. ‘Gender
and Genius’ by Christine Battersby in 1989 explores the Gender Revolution.
It states in the 19th Century “middle-class ideology made believe
that nice girls didn’t sleep around because they didn’t have sexual appetites.”
Of course this notion is ridiculous.
In 1970, Shulamith Firestone
produced The Dialectic of Sex, one of the seminal works of
second-wave feminism. In chapter seven "The Culture of Romance,"
Firestone asserts that Romanticism ensures women’s position in society as
second-class citizens. Romanticism, she asserts, is comprised of 'Eroticism,'
'Sex-privatization' and 'The Beauty Ideal.' Romanticism combined asserts the
male desire to play the gentleman, giving women a sense of false-flattery,
encourage women to become individuals; paradoxically by doing what makes her
the same as every other girl and discourage women from developing real
character - thus making men appear more irreplaceable. 'The Beauty Ideal' has one
specific purpose: 'it is designed to keep the majority out.' Firestone asserts
that just when women begin to achieve the ideal, the beauty ideal changes (to a
naturally unattainable figure) to maintain the system. It can be argued this
notion of ‘ideal beauty’ is still apparent today influencing how women should
react within society and their role as sexual beings. Women are to be in
constant reach of a higher femininity.
Women taking on masculine powerful roles in
today’s culture would often be perceived either as a tomboy or a lesbian. This
is fostered by an uneducated and narrow-minded attitude towards equality. Anna
Coote created a book giving guidance to women about equality within the
workplace and knowing their rights in “Equal
at work?” 1979. This gave women a chance to see outside of Plato’s Allegory
of the Cave and ‘attempt to show up the unwritten rules about what is suitable
work for women ’ uniting the workforce. “Today there are still girls who grow
up believing that the biggest events of their lives will be getting married and
having children.” In a certain respect we have came a long way from this with
more women of power and women taking on more ‘masculine’ job roles but it can
be said that we are far from equal yet. There are also subtle hints at gender
segregation poured out to children in fairy tales and in toys. For example, in
the Argos catalogue one of the biggest stores in the UK for children’s toys; children’s
ironing boards are manufactured in pink, and advertised with females using it.
The same with pretend cookers and baking toys, all advertised with use of
little girls because these are household appliances stereotypically viewed to
be feminine. Do men not iron or cook? It echoes sexist jokes made by Lad
Culture that women are made to stay at the sink and cook. These are the
messages given out subconsciously to children from a young age that go
unnoticed, colour association. Toys ‘R’ Us in Stockholm, Sweden picked up on
this and decided to manufacture ‘gender neutral’ toys. They claimed, 'Children
are not coded to blue for boys and pink for girls – they should be free to
choose what they want to play with' similar to artist Rosetti’s message that we
should be able to shop in the male section of a clothing store if we are female
and vice versa.
To conclude, ‘Representation
in visual culture is inevitably bound up with ideology. Representation both
reveals ideological belief but, it could also be said that representation in
visual culture informs and constructs our beliefs and ideas on society’ –
Marcel Danesi. How we perceive gender is through codes used within art, film,
books and the media. How we represent ourselves and our gender is how society
reacts and represents us on a whole, creating an ideology of what our gender
should entail. If more women are free to be outspoken and dominant and more
males free to be sensitive and passive without the negative connotations and
scrutiny we could be a step closer to equality, but modern culture is hindering
that process. Social networking is used to perpetuate the male gaze and the gaze of
the media. It plays on teenagers being body conscious and have those
perceptions about life, how they should act as that certain gender. As Emma
Watson said in her HeforShe speech,
“It is time we see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals”
in order to end the battle between conforming to a cult and culture, and
viewing feminism as a negative attack on men. Women should be entitled to
celebrate their sexuality equally as men as a matter of choice. This new-wave
of Lad Culture is an attack on females of power and if we accept this culture
as the norm, we will be undoing decades of hard work to fight for equality,
right back to the suffragette movements, the push for equality in the workplace,
women’s right to vote, the androgynous dress, not just basic human rights but
how gender should be perceived and what we should be accepting.
Bibliography
Assiter, Alison & Avedon, Carol (1993) Bad girls and dirty pictures – The challenge to
reclaim feminism, Pluto Press, London.
Battersby, Christine (1989) Gender and genius, The Women’s Press Ltd, London.
Coote, Anna (1979),
Equal at work? Women in men’s jobs, Collins, Glasgow and London.
Danesi, Marcel (1999), Of cigarettes, high heels, and other
interesting things: An Introduction to Semiotics, Palgrave Macmillan.
Davis, Fred (1992), Fashion,
culture and identity, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
Firestone, Shulamith (2003) –
Originally published in 1970, The Dialect of Sex: The case for
Feminist Revolution, Macmillan.
Halberstam, Judith (1998), Female Masculinity, Durham University Press, Durham and London.
Solomon-Godeau, Abigail (1997), Male Trouble, Thames and Hudson, London.
Website Bibliography
Conlan, Tara. 'ITV Drops Dapper Laughs After
Criticism Of Daniel O’Reilly Misogyny'. the Guardian. N.p., 2014.
Web. 2 Feb. 2015.
Crouch, David. 'Toys R Us's Stockholm
Superstore Goes Gender Neutral'. the Guardian. N.p., 2013. Web. 2
Feb. 2015.
Facebook,. 'The LAD Bible'. N.p., 2015. Web.
2 Feb. 2015.
Gay, Roxane. 'The Great Naked Celebrity Photo
Leak Of 2014 Is Just The Beginning | Roxane Gay'. the Guardian.
N.p., 2014. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.
Guerrilla Girls, Inc. 'GUERRILLAGIRLS:
Fighting Discrimination With Facts, Humor And Fake Fur'.Guerrillagirls.com.
N.p., 2015. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.
Mail Online,. ''Hello Boys' Wonderbra
Billboards Voted Britain's Most Iconic Advert Of All Time'. N.p., 2011. Web. 2
Feb. 2015.
Thebeardly.com,. 'The Beardly'. N.p., 2015.
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YouTube,. ''Get Your Arse Out, Mate': We Turn
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Feedback - Meeting with Richard
From this draft Richard felt I had a sound essay and liked my style of writing. He said to submit this again I would be looking at a 2:1 but in order to take my essay further towards a 1st I should consider the structure. He felt that I needed to focus more on one area of my research and let the rest support that. We spoke about different books I could have focused on in order to sum up my essay points but each were not strong enough to be the main focus of the essay. I suggested using the Emma Watson 'HeforShe' speech and he agreed this would be a good focal point.
He also felt that I must reference my essay properly which I was unsure of. I will need to look into harvard referencing more.
