Miranda Devine’s opinion piece ‘Modest Middleton Girls Impeccable’ published in the Sunday Herald, May 8th, 2011, argues that todays society had become “pornified” and role models such as The Middleton sisters are bringing back “sexiness by implication”. A patronising tone is adopted when Devine refers to the “over-peroxide” and “over-cleavaged” appearance of Generation Y girls. But when the author talks about the Middleton's sisters, she uses juxtaposition by adopting a more sensitive tone of appreciation and respect, commenting on the modesty and classiness of Kate and Pippa. Devine attempts to get her readers, older people in particular, to re-evaluate dressing and popular fashion culture, by commenting on the desirability of a female that …show more content…
Words such as “pornifed”, “vulgar” and “barely there” are repeated by Devine to reiterate her point of the disgusting nature of popular fashion, and the negative effects it has on young, innocent girls. Subsequently, this positions the reader to agree with Devine and her opinion, by instilling a sense of disgust. Devine carefully crafts her arguments and focuses on a large demographic by implementing different age groups and points that would be relevant to them. As this article is published in the Sunday Herald it is most likely the target audience is older people, as they are likely to agree with her contention. Although interlaced in this article is emotive language that appeals to family values to gauge a large pool of interest. Parents are positioned to feel a sense of fear as Devine argues that “no matter how hard fathers and mothers try… they cannot protect their daughters of our pornified culture”. This technique is largely effective as it is almost guaranteed to peak the interest of concerned parents as they begin to worry about the pressures society and the fashion industry has placed among their young, impressionable
Anne McClintock wrote her essay “Gonad the Barbarian and the Venus Flytrap: Portraying the female and male orgasm” to examine pornography and how it has changed throughout history and its effects on how women perform as sexual beings. McClintock focuses on the various roles of pornography such as its emphasis on voyeurism, pleasure, and the male ego. She wants her readers to know that women are still not represented in pornography to satisfy their own desires, but they are there to cater to men and their subconscious. I will analyze how McClintock argues that due to the history of sexism towards women, the roles that men and women have in pornography are inherently different because of the societal belief that women are only seen as objects of sexual desire and are solely there to satisfy the male audience.
Treays, the director of the 1996 documentary ‘Painted Babies’ has presented the idea that the beauty pageant industry is promoting the over-sexualisation and exploitation of young children. Forcing children into the beauty pageant industry is forcing them to grow up faster and lose their childhood, something that is irreplaceable. Furthermore, it incorrectly teaches young girls that they need makeup and clothes to be beautiful, which has a detrimental effect on their self-esteem in the long run. Treays has effectively used an array of techniques to suggest these ideas, including dialogue and camera angles. Treays has used documentary techniques, including ideational montage sequences, dialogue and actuality combined with dramatization, to present
The objective of this essay is to examine the female character Nancy Astley in the Television Series ‘Tipping the Velvet’ in relation to theories of modernity, feminism and the expanding city. Originally a book by Sarah Waters and then adapted into a television series for the BBC Tipping the Velvet is set in Victorian England during the 1890s. Nancy Astley is a young girl from Whitstable who works in the family oyster parlour. During an attendance at the local variety show, Nancy falls in love with a male impersonator, Kitty Butler. Following this night, Nancy eventually pursues her love to London where they have an affair only to be heartbroken and then goes on to find her own means of living in the City.
Luce begins with a lighter and subtle tone, calling the women, “Sisters” and presenting on how women “still have lipsticks, and even silk stockings… [and] have gone into uniforms… [that] are made of good cloth and are well cut”. By providing examples of women’s lavish outlook, Luce defines women’s lifestyle as “glamorous”, expressing how fortunate the women are.
In "Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect", Stephanie Hanes makes the argument that Disney princesses and modern day media influence young girls in negative ways. Hanes suggests that sexualization is everywhere including cartoons. She points out that any detail such as Ms. Piggy showing cleavage, leads girls to assume that doing so is okay and natural. Furthermore, Hanes asserts that allowing girls to see themselves as sex objects is a contributor to depression, eating disorders, and many other health problems for young girls.
In this the year, which marks, the centenary in which, women won the right to vote; this essay will be to ‘Discuss the presentation of the women in ‘The great Gatsby’. One cannot understand the writing of ‘The great Gatsby’ without considering the era in which it took place. The role of women first started to change after the First World War in United States of America. Before this war, women did not enjoy universal suffrage. However, that was to change.
Imagine being told as a female in today’s world you must look or act a ¬¬certain way in order to be accepted. Being what you want to be is not allowed and changes have to be made in order to be included. They say “pain is beauty, and beauty is pain” as they way a woman looks today are completely different from ten or even fifty years ago. In this paper, the reader will understand the mind of a woman in today’s society and the difficulties to be not only accepted but being her own person as well. Not only has the appearance of a woman changed but also role titles and job descriptions as well.
Women have social pressures to conform to particular ways of behaving and looking. The pressures are so huge not all women are aware of such situations. The women are so use to living to conformed ways we label the ones who actually act normal as “weird and abnormal”. Piercy shows how we are unconscious of what’s happening, how a regular girl that is going through puberty judge so badly for being normal. Our social and cultural construct on women’s values society has created has only been about making a profit.
This essay will discuss the ways in which Angela Carter employs fashion as a thematic device that deconstructs rigid perceptions of gender roles in the short stories ‘The Bloody Chamber’ and ‘The Tiger’s Bride’ with regard to Entwistle’s statement. Halpin writes, “The women of The Bloody Chamber are not simple or idealized feminist restorations. Instead, each is crafted from a dark and intricate human framework (the same from which Carter creates her male characters) that allows them to transcend conventional gender roles. Across the collection, both female and male characters have been depicted as cruel or kind, passive or possessive, victimized or villainous.” (2015:1).
A Modernist Approach of Fashion and Identity in Mrs. Dalloway Shopping in the early twentieth century had become part of daily life but that establishment was caused by a development that occurred one century earlier already. From the ‘boom in textile trade’ (Benjamin 3) around the 1820s onwards, the demand for clothes was rising. One of the most well-known novels on shopping in London was written in 1891 already by William Morris and is called News From Nowhere which addresses shopping in ‘late nineteenth-century capitalist society’ (Beaumont 192). During the first two decades of the twentieth century, ‘women’s clothing was revolutionized’ (Andrésdóttir 4) which resulted in shorter flowing dresses that literally gave women more breathing space. Virginia Woolf’s
Hanes’ purpose is to provide facts to parents so they understand what will happen if they do not censor the images their young girls see. In the article, Hanes explains that these images will lead young girls “down a path of self-objection to cyberbullying to unhealthy body images” (483). The statistics listed in the article help the author grasp the attention of the reader, causing the reader to feel a sense of urgency when understanding this issue. Stephanie Hanes, author of the essay “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect”, explains that our society should be worrying about the increase in sexualization amongst young girls.
The model highlights the beauty in her looks, placement and positioning of her body in a suppressive manner. This emphasizes the manner women were to portray, due to male authority over women. This shows that the value of the magazine as it encourages the reader to look at the beauty standard as the social norm. Furthermore, the background vs foreground background flowers evokes a sense of purity, innocence and grace emphasising how women were expected to display conservative and high standards of morality. For example, a guide written in 1955 called ‘The good wife's guide.’
However, this ‘beauty’ comes from the clothing and the societal class she appears to belong in. Clothing that is flattering is seen as vital to a woman’s success; while for men it is to display success and high status (i.e prince of the kingdom). The transformation of Cinderella going from rags and low class to riches and royalty is seen as ‘beauty’ because she is doing everything expected of her— keeping her physical appearance and having the ‘natural’ dependency on a male to save her from her slave-like lifestyle. All which, according to Maity, is a “socially constructed notion that physical attractiveness is one of women’s most important assets, and something all women should strive to achieve and maintain” (3). Cinderella goes from rags to riches all just for going to a ball, wearing a sparkly dress, and being pretty.
American traditions and its culture have been revolutionized as we take and modify international culture to further stylize our modern society. The british culture and their traditions have always been the belle of the ball, from their extraordinary fashion, that breaks and bends traditional fashion, to their exquisite cuisines and intricate language. British’s iconic fashion inspires countries to further their creativity to meet fashion standards. Their language which has revolutionized, since it first got spoken, sets the basis for our American language. Some of the delicious dishes of the British culture have been Americanized into our very own recipes.
In contrast to the negative connotations, images of sexuality can be positive. Representations of the LGBT community have had a huge impact on many lesbian women and gay males, and have played a role in the fight for LGBT rights. Similarly, equality and feminism has redefined gender roles of masculinity and femininity as well as sexuality through the use of positive images and affirming choices, as opposed to passivity and submissiveness in pornography that has long been viewed as dangerous to women. Throughout history, there have been negative connotations of female fantasy. Whether it is the erotic material itself or the act of women being aroused by what was deemed to be a ‘profanity’, the theme is a recurring one and up to this very day, it is still fairly