Critique of Gia's Blog: Week 6

With the term coming to a close, we have been asked to look at a peer's blog and critique their work. This is meant to show how each of us has grown from the class. I had the pleasure of critiquing Gia's blog; you can find her blog at: http://www.blanknirvana.tumblr.com. 

I chose to critique the blog entry from week 6 (February 11th) that addresses mediated examples of masculinity as specifically sexualized. I think that Gia did a very nice job on the images/artifacts she chose for this entry, and discussed each of them. The only critique that I could offer her would be to use the text more to support why the artifacts she chose are relevant. That said, I have chosen the first three images to examine from her blog entry from week six and add specific examples of where the text would have been useful in supporting her argument. 

The first image is of a "Sports Illustrated" magazine cover with a beautiful blonde model on the front. Gia did a nice job of addressing the concept of the male gaze, however, I feel like she could have gone into more detail and used quotes from the text to support her argument a little more. For example, I would have liked to have seen some mention of the Krassas article, which specifically talks about the male gaze: "magazines depicts sexuality, sexual attractiveness, and sexual practice in a limited way that reinforces the objectification in the male gaze while privileging white heterosexuality" (99). Also, in the Brooks article, he discusses the "centerfold syndrome." The element that discusses objectification would have made this images importance that much strong. Brooks says: "centerfold women are left devoid of real personalities, portrayed as superficial cartoon characters" (444). This quote would have worked in perfectly with Gia's comment about how the woman lacks depth, because there is no mention of her personality or intelligence. 

The second image is a picture of Donald Trump and his young wife. Again, Gia mentions the idea of the trophy wife, but doesn't go into much detail. In the Brooks article, there was an element of the "centerfold syndrome" called trophyism. Brooks explains that female bodies are trophies, that they are "living testament to a male's prowess as financial success... trophies, once won... (are) a permanent physical symbol of accomplishment and worthiness" (443). 

I struggled with the third image, because the idea of "trophy husband" does not seem to go in with this weeks particular blog assignment. Gia mentions the Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, which would have been a much more appropriate image because both are very attractive, and in this image, the woman is not what I would consider a trophy. However, the element of men's need for validation (Brooks) would be the only thing I could apply to this. Brooks discusses how women's bodies are often a medium for validation and that the hotter a woman is, the more validation power she has (441). One could argue that having an older and more experienced woman (a cougar) validates your importance. After all, if an older woman is noticing you, you must be doing something right.