Womanly Woes

 
   Wysocki -- Doug, you told me I would like her for a reason. I love when my majors crossover.

   In Photography, we call it "modern," "abstract," "organic," "edgy," "blended media." In Writing, we call it "multi-modality." My mom, an art teacher, calls it "Mixed Media." Wysocki calls it dehumanization. While I agree that it is women's forms and/or bodies that are often made the subject of advertisements, art, media, writing, etc. and all its various forms of objectification, I would push back and say that it is not only women. Obviously, we are in this constant state of give-and-take when it comes to feminism. It's about the equality of the sexes, yes, but when it comes to topics such as imagery, we (as a society) tend to focus on the female form.

   However, there is trend I'm not sure we are all aware of that is happening in photography and art. These modalities, or mediums, or whatever you want to call them, are all becoming extensively accessible due to technology. At the touch of a button, tumblr and pinterest have placed thousands of artists' images in our grasp. With it, has come the movement of abstraction. We have dissected the human being to an image. We have changed it to a form, a silhouette, a blend of colors, a shape and a texture. Yes, some may argue that this is dehumanization. I call it "art." I know its cliche. I know that Doug will push back, saying he doesn't get it. But, that doesn't stop the fact that I think its beautiful. Of course, I hate the way that women's bodies are portrayed in the media -- but I hate the way that men's bodies are portrayed too. I think its too easy for us to see a picture of a woman's breast (like that pictured below) and say its objectification. We've been programmed to think/say that. If she were holding her breast, or touching herself provocatively, I may disagree, but I think that its beautiful for us to be able to see the human body in pieces and parts and allow our imaginations to see the rest.

   Jamieson's article just made me mad. Not because of what she said, but because of the content of the article. I am a smart, out-spoken woman, dammit! And I am not "squeaky!" In fact, I'm quite sure that a number of people (probably those in this class) would call me anything but. I've been called many things, but squeaky is not one of them.

   End rant - Enjoy these images of dehumanization. And try to see them for "art." Then, feel free to pick them a part.