Week 13: Apply and Reflect
Representation matters in all forms of media and needs to include subcultures it tends to leave out. There is no way to dodge the expectation each person has to see someone that looks like them or has the same feelings as them. It can bolster confidence and reassure an individual they are valued and matter to others. Reality has a whole lose pieces when others pick and chose what is shown and what is not shown because that does not make reality it makes a false narrative. Jan Zita Grover’s “Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs” calls for the change of idealizing images in a photograph because it is not the truth. Photographs are made to influence a person feeling when they view that photograph. It is why mass media photographs tall, thin, blonds it invokes the desire to be a tall blond or have a relationship with a tall blond.
Grover
points out this flaw by how in the early stages of lesbian photography it was
about seeing lesbians as a non threat. They were photographed as heterosexual would
be photographed in a quaint house with pets and house planets. Because homophobia
was rapid the thought of two women together made heterosexual women and even
men clutch their pearls in distress. Those photos do show some truth but not the
whole truth. “But what these photographs managed to ‘forget’ - that sexual
desire is what drives a great deal of lesbian identity,” Grover explains sexual
desire is a reality in its own case and it needs to be viewed in order to call it
reality. Lesbians need to see themselves photographed in a sexual matter because
it represents how they are.
I
could not agree even more to Grover’s statements about removing what people do not want to see we especially when
it came her expressing how her photographer friend was removing Cuban and
Nicaraguans’ photographs form an exhibit about Nicaragua. And it made me think about
pictures of the ghetto. Nice pictures of the ghetto like children playing, a family
gathering, or the clean section does not make it those pictures of the ghetto.
It removes the fact that those pictures are in the ghetto.
This post really captures what the author what trying to get across. I appreciate how you highlighted the importance of representation in a general sense before going into the specific culture of lesbians. I wish you tied in your photo a bit into your argument like referring to the idea that if Barbie was a living person, her skeletal system would never be able to support her. Just looking at the comparison warps my way of think as if 'real woman' Barbie is the odd one out rather than vice versa. Do you think lesbian representation has improved today?
ReplyDeleteYour example of Barbie photograph is a great one because when we think of what society has been brain washed to believe as perfect, this is what it looks like. The first version, because being thin is a pressure that is not only pushed on women but men as well. How do you think we can change the way people look at what is perfection or happiness.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that you chose the barbie photographs. Interestingly, Mattel has expanded their selection and is now providing dolls of varying sizes and weight. People seem to think that this will encourage kids to be unhealthy. Personally, I think kids need to learn about different body types and how to be healthy before associating healthy with body types.
ReplyDelete