"Porn-Chic"

This week, we discussed the blatant sexual imagery that society has become immune to. Fifty years ago, it was unheard of to even show a married couple sleeping in the same bed, now the images that are seen on television everyday makes my grandmother gasp. The following artifacts show our desensitization to pornography in mainstream media. 

Artifact 1: this image was taken from the Carl's Jr commercial with Paris Hilton. Granted, the commercial was pulled due to the idea that it was too scandalous for television, but the images and commercial are still accessible through the internet. 

http://regmedia.co.uk/2005/05/24/paris_hilton.jpg

Artifact 2: PETA is a well-known organization throughout the world. Many of their ads include a naked or barely clothed celebrity. According to Meredith Levande, to claim you are making a statement by taking off your clothes is really nothing more but falling in with the rest of society  ("Women, Pop Music, and Pornography" p. 305). Which is what PETA does majority of the time with their advertising. 

http://riannanworld.typepad.com/my_weblog/images/peta.jpg

Artifact 3: Kendra Wilkinson, as known as one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends, has always been a big sports fan. For one of the pictorial shoots featuring the Girls Next Door, Kendra dressed as a football player for the San Diego Chargers. While this particular picture is not the same one that was featured in the magazine, it is very similar. Regardless, Playboy released the photos, not Kendra, proving that Levande's statement that sexual portrayals of women's bodies are allowed, as long as it is by big corporations ("Women, Pop Music, and Pornography" p. 313). 

http://www.testriffic.com/resultfiles/11987kendra.jpg

Artifact 4: In "Fashion and Passion" the author, Feona Atwood, refers to "blurring the boundaries between pornographic and mainstream" (Atwood, p. 397). Here is a perfect example of this. The image shown here is of a woman at a high fashion show in Australia last summer, however the "clothing" she is wearing is really body paint. The first time I ever seen body paint was only a couple years ago on an episode of The Girls Next Door, at one of Hefner's birthday bashes. Seeing a naked woman with painted clothing is something that I would expect from the founder of Playboy, but definitely not in a high fashion show. 






http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/qi-pao-body-paint-australian-fashion-week.jpg

Artifact 5: "the female body is often depicted as a source of sexual discomfort rather than pleasure... the body becomes merely 'a display item--to be shown in the best poses, lighting, and in the most flattering lingerie'" (Atwood, p. 398). Victoria Secret definitely achieves this objective. If you look at the models face, her eyes do not convey a message of pleasure on her part, but more of a questioning look to the photographer if her positioning is giving him the shots he wants. Also, if you look at the positioning of her body, it is a submissive one--with her hands above her head and her legs clenched together off to one side and her back arched. The entire picture screams uncomfortable while many consumers take it for face value: sexy lingerie. 

http://blogs.jsonline.com/bogs/shoptalk/victoria_secret_small.jpg

Sexual Imagery as Social Critique

According to this past weeks readings, the porn industry has "crossed the line" (so to speak) on bourgeois norms. Meaning that a lot of the images in porn are coming out in main stream ads. Once upon a time, the idea of a white and a black person being together was almost sinful. Now there are special dating sites specifically targeted to those who desire, just like eHarmony, but much tighter target audience (an example is given below). Also, ads that include images of the same sex being involved in some way. Even celebrities are "doing it." For example, Heidi Klum and Seal, or Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi.

Artifact #1: Here is an ad campaign for volkswagen with Seal and Heidi Klum. Some of their most recent ads and commercials target families that want to keep them safe. This is no exception. Showing an interracial couple that is married and has a bi-racial child together in an ad for a "family-safe" car was intentional, and trangresses the traditional bourgeois norms. 
 

Artifact #2: This is a clip from the show Nip/Tuck with Portia de Rossi. She came out about her sexuality around the same time as this clip showing her and the main character Julia, who had been in a hetero relationship for years, making out. Talk about defying the bourgeois norms, Julia is a white upper-class woman who separates from her husband and ends up with another woman.


Artifact #3: I found this ad very interesting. When I typed in interracial ads, this campaign for an interracial dating site popped up. Now, the idea of meeting you soul mate online is a difficult on to grasp, the idea of one of these sites dedicated to interracial couples would throw many traditionalists overboard. 

Artifact #4: I found this ad on a website called pinknews.co.uk and apparently they are the largest gay magazine in England. Their articles ranged in topics, including one about our Mayor Adams. I picked this ad because it struck me. Obviously, there is a black man in the foreground on his cell, with his other free hand stuck in his pocket. However, there are another set of hands (white) that are going into another set of pockets. Based on what I can see, it looks to be another man, which would make sense because it is a gay magazine.  

Artifact #5: Lastly, I present the lyrics to Katy Perry's song "I Kissed a Girl." Now it isn't that appalling considering all the other stuff on television but this is mainstream and I personally hear little girls singing along to it that are too young to understand the lyrics themselves. So without further ado, the musical stylings of Katy Perry.

This was never the way I planned
Not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand
Lost my discretion
It's not what, I'm used to
Just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you
Caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

No, I don't even know your name
It doesn't matter,
You're my experimental game
Just human nature,
It's not what,
Good girls do
Not how they should behave
My head gets so confused
Hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it,

Us girls we are so magical
Soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it
The taste of her cherry chap stick
I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it
I liked it

Empowerment v. Objectification

The first blog posting is about empowerment and objectification. What constitutes as empowerment and what is considered objectification? Andrea Dworkin would probably say that empowerment is when you stop trying to fit into the gender roles, and allowing yourself to be part of the porn industry would make you an object. In contrast, Veronica Monet would argue that as long as you are in control and have the power to make the choice of participating, then you are not an object. As these two authors differ in their opinions, we will see that it really depends on your frame of mind. Let's begin, shall we...

Artifact 1: One of my favorite music artist starting from the time I was in middle school was Christina Aguilera. After she debuted with her "Stripped" album, I would get in these debates with my friends about whether or not she was selling her body or if she was trying to put it all out there. Granted, most of the girls I would debate with were Christina haters, so I guess there wasn't much debating cause I definitely was not going to change their minds. Either way, depending on which side of the fence you are coming from, she is either a complete object or empowering to other women. 

(http://www.noisputo.blogger.com.br/Christina%20Aguilera%20-%20Stripped%20Photo%20Shoot%20(1).jpg)

Artifact 2: The beautiful Jessica Simpson was casted in the re-make of "Dukes of Hazzard" in 2005. Personally, there were two different aspects to her in this film, the sexual object side that many men saw her as-she definitely put them in their place though. And then there is the other tomboy side-she grew up learning about cars, how to use tools and how to fix things around the house, all while wearing her tiny 'daisy-dukes.' Guess you don't have to be a boy to know about those kinds of things now... Regardless, Jessica Simpson can be easily viewed as either an object or empowering in that movie.

(http://wbab.com/images/morningshow/jessimp.jpg)

Artifact 3: Last spring, I spent a term aboard in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain. When I was there, I took over 1,000 pictures documenting my travels. When I was looking at the TA's blog, Noah, to get some ideas for my own blog, I though of a particular photo of some graffiti art that I took in BCN. It reads (in both english and spanish), "Once upon a time, when I shit on your face, and then I love you, after I fucked your mom!" This is far from a romantic poem, and there is definitely no question if this is empowering, it is absolutely an example of objectification. It kind of reminded me of that whole PR stunt a while back about the rapper, I think it was R. Kelly, and him doing his business on a girls chest... I don't really remember the whole story, but the picture reminded me of it. 

Artifact 4: There is a saying that more is better, and another one that goes something like everything is better in sets of twos... Everyone remembers the billboards plastered around town about five years right before the super bowl, right? Well say hello to the Coors Light Twins, also known as Diane and Elaine Klimaszewski. To me, this is a classic example of objectification. They are selling their bodies for a beer company! Then again, there are also those who would say that it is empowering for the exact same reason. Either way you cut it, Coors Light plastered the idea of selling beer to men by using two beautiful women, that also happen to be twins, and it actually worked. 

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2255/2101841175_3a8e641d6d.jpg?v=Q)

Artifact 5: For those of you who haven't seen the show, "Nip/Tuck", it is about two successful plastic surgeons in Miami, Florida. Obviously, these men make a living off of convincing women that they are not perfect and their lives would dramatically improve if they had X, Y, and Z surgeries. Granted, some of these women don't take any arm twisting to convince them that having the surgeries would make their lives better, but still, they make their living off of objectifying their patients. Nonetheless, this particular clip shows Dr. Troy explaining to Kimber, a potential client and one of his conquests, that she is only an 8, but could easily become a 10 with a few minor procedures. This is a cut and dry case of objectification, no questions asked. 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IQJewnDieo)