Youtube full video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDVB4881c2I
http://www.popculturepost.com/wp-content-uploads/2009/01/calvin-klien-ad-12909-1.jpg
Man Ray Trust (2004). From http://www.manrattryst.com/
Man Ray Trust (2004). From http://www.manrattryst.com/
Ludacris Chicken-n-Beer retrieved January 9, 2010.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=7854000&page1 = Calvin K. video/article on abc.
From these multimedia images you can see how women are being objectified. Their bodies are being used to either sell sex and/or create assumptions of women. I chose these images because of the diversity of how women are being objectified, as objects or items to sell goods, and are being marketed. I chose a famous art piece, from Man Ray, which depicts a woman’s backside as an object, a violin. Depending on assumptions and one’s own opinions this women might be “empowered” sexually by being able to show her backside as art. But Dworkin would argue that she is being dehumanized and viewed as an object more than a human being. Man Ray’s art piece ties together the rest of the imagery I posted on this week’s blog.
The other images from Bacardi advertisements to Ludacris eating a woman’s leg like a piece of chicken can be argued in various ways. Dworkin would say that these images are objectifying the women making them into objects, giving males’ power over the subhuman women. McElroy believes that if the women in these advertisements had a “choice” in the matter about how to sell their bodies then women have the right as individuals to freely express their own body.
Dines and Jensen bring up this controversy of how different views of women’s rights vs. objectification and degrading to women are a major issue in Pornography in a Pornographic Culture. Dines and Jensen discuss the different kinds of feminist and their beliefs about women in porn and using their bodies sexually. These images in my blog are not porn but they are still shots of how women are being used in current media today. This kind of advertising and use of women affects everyone differently in our culture. We all come from different cultures where we have created our own belief systems, values, and perceptions.
In my own opinion I believe that Man Ray’s women artwork is demonstrating the empowerment of a woman’s body while objectifying her as a violin; if I were to see it in context of his other art at a museum though I would consider it to be more of an empowerment piece rather than an objectifying image. The Calvin Klien billboard advertisement shows how seductive a woman can be while sexually exposing her nude body. She is overpowering the men who are positioned below her, grabbing at her, as if she is desired as an object of lust. This billboard is harder to understand and that is why I included another reference about an ABC news segment they did. This segment is a video about how people on the street are reacting to the billboard.
Finally I perceive the Bacardi and Reebok shoe advertisements are objectifying and degrading the women as subhuman. Their bodies are being used to either stamp a brand on or to create a stereotype/ image other women have to live up to and/or achieve. These images make me angry and the true feminist comes out. I really dislike ads like these. But I believe the worst image of them all is the Ludacris cd cover. This cd cover is having the artist/rapper act like he is going to eat a woman’s leg like a chicken leg. This not only objectifies women but is also allows fans to see how to treat or respond to women as objects.
The images are perceived differently through the eye of the beholder. So you decide.
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