“See No Evil, Hear No Evil,
Speak No Evil”
Eisen Bernardo, a Philippian graphic artist, did a series where magazines covers were juxtaposed on the top of famous and classical pieces of art. He described the project as “[a]
way of giving homage to the magazines—as venue of human artistic expression and
vehicle of popular culture." I was delighted and impressed by his work, and I
felt inspired to take a similar artistic approach on my own project, but I applied it in a completely different way. I wanted to take this comparison and
demonstrate an element of “popular culture” seen in the magazine and model
industry—the objectification of women.
Growing
up, I had little to no opinion about the sexual portrayal of women in the
media. I took it in stride as a fact of life, thinking so little about it that
I hardly recognized it when I saw it. It wasn’t until my first few years of
college that I really became aware of its presence, as I witnessed it and even
became victim to it on several occasions. Reflecting on why this topic had
never really been addressed in my home, I wondered about how my mother was
raised and what complacencies to sexism she inadvertently developed.
With
Eisen’s magazine theme in mind, I researched images of photographers and
paparazzi during the 1970s, when my mother would have been growing up. I was
horrified by the invasive nature of the journalists and their one-dimensional
goal to get a good picture. To me, these hoards of men were committing the
definition of objectification. Their soul focus was on body, disregarding the
subject’s thoughts, feelings, or personality.
In
Jenkin’s article on “How Texts Become Real,” he discusses how avid consumers
often take the elements from a favorite text or media and detach them from
their original source to create something they envision. For this reason I
wanted to work with classical art, a symbol of the history of sexism, and the
70s paparazzi that represented the media influences my mother experienced. Together, they
make a somewhat shocking comparison. I chose nude paintings to emphasize how the
only censorship going on is of women’s communication and expression.
I don't think my mother nor my grandmothers would share my perception on this issue. Whatever generational differences or exposures they experienced has led to very different social conclusions. I simply see sexism in places that they don't. My pieces represent my perspective, which is partially a result from my own experiences as well as observing the generations that have come before.
I don't think my mother nor my grandmothers would share my perception on this issue. Whatever generational differences or exposures they experienced has led to very different social conclusions. I simply see sexism in places that they don't. My pieces represent my perspective, which is partially a result from my own experiences as well as observing the generations that have come before.
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