FEMINISM HO YEAH...?

Post no. 5




Alright, before I start critically analyzing this, check out the video I embed above.

The question today is, in what way does digital photography sexually idealizes women to appear in media and how are they perceived today?

But first, how are women portrayed in the media I consume?

Of course, Victoria Secret models.

Something I noticed when I googled perfume ads were that majority of the women in those photographs were nude.

Or somewhat nude, in this case this ad appears to have a little hint of 'women empowerment'. However, she being in a cat suit is a sexual innuendo all by itself. 

That video up there pretty much explains the matter on a one side type of view, but I have to agree on what it said about photographs that portray women like this get sales as it supports the idea of 'sex-sells'. We were already exposed to these ads at a very young age. Therefore, it molded and 'brain-washed' us to think that the women in those photographs were the perfect embodiment of that a female should be. Hence, insecure girls get make up and plastic surgery to look like those photo manipulated models in those images.

We could look at this from two points of views.
We could either blame the media from molding this idea of perfection or blame the public for wanting that idealization of perfection in the media.

Humans strive for perfection. And when they do see a product that would help them achieve that, they would get it. I've watched a recent documentary on the science of Lust in Discovery Channel which says that both men and women unconsciously succumb to lust whether they like it or not. Of course there's that 1% of 'asexuals' that are not affected at all. So, through these digital photographs, photographers are actually exploiting the existing dopamine in our brains that helps them sell products. Even you, briefly glancing at those images I have uploaded in this post, had already ignited your dopamines, therefore increasing the chances of you reading the whole post even though it's so wordy compared to the times when you were all 'too-long-didn't read'. Photographs like these sparks energy, increases your heart rate and patience for any activity according to one of the science researchers in the documentary.

The message in these photographs mention on how if you buy this product, you will look as perfect as the model, or that you would be wanted. Somehow if you gave me an un-photoshopped, out of shaped woman selling me dresses in the ad, I would find it a total turn off as I would not want to look like her. Shallow as it sounds, the industry indeed is very superficial and shallow. That is what the media shows, and that's how we perceive it.

If I were to be very honest, I'd pick the Victoria Secret Love My Body Campaign's photograph  compared to Dove's. I do appreciate the initiative and message Dove is trying to give but, the photograph above is definitely nicer to look at. However, if I lived in the 1600s, I would have chosen the Dove's campaign photograph as that was how beauty was popularized in those days. I would have said the Victoria Secret models were scrawny and ugly because they looked like lacked fertility and health. However, that's how the idea of beauty evolves. Who knows? Maybe in the near future the idea of beauty now reverses?

Well, to sum it all up, you can't really put a blame on the media or the public. Both contributes to some aspect.

How do I portray women in the work I produce?

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Angels/4573285

This is some of the foundation work I did, I think I have portrayed the model in a more demure way emphasizing the story more than the model's beauty itself. I guess I could get a little bit feminist without knowing so.  OR, it could be my Asian upbringing where conservative = good.

Where do I get these ideas from?
Photoshopped perfected models from digital photographed ads and digitally designed 3d characters from games.