Feminism Eating Itself—Rob Long

 

This, from the Guardian, must represent the hilarious nadir of modern feminism. Two women, both feminists, are photographed for a magazine. They are depicted with their hands on their hips.

Chaos ensues.

First, the Guardian tries to put this kind of patriarchal photo-aggression into art historical context:

What we know well is that there are hidden ideologies in visual images; every picture counts whether mundane or iconic. That has to be at the heart of Baxter and Cosslett’s thesis because it’s where the power of the women’s media lies, in the Look. As [English author] John Berger argued so eloquently in Ways of Seeing, deciphering the look is a political act with huge potential clout.

“The unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that it still structures the consciousness of many women,” Berger wrote in the 1970s. “They do to themselves what men do to them. They survey, like men, their own femininity.”

Fascinating. But, of course, it bears noting that it took a man to utter those words. Or does the Guardian only quote male authority? I demand an investigation! But it’ll have to wait until these questions are answered:

It’s ironic then, if every picture tells a story, that Baxter and Cosslett are pictured in The Guardian, each with her hand on her hip. Is this the direction of the photographer? Their instinctive choice? Or does it also reveal how deeply embedded is that unequal relationship of the active male viewer and the passive object of his attention?

Given the strength of their feminist beliefs, it’s unlikely the two campaigners realised, that what they are semaphoring is the classic pose of the “look-at-me” beauty queen; the unnatural strut of every woman on display for the pleasure of the male eye. The question is, does it matter?

Of course it matters!  Everything matters!  Two women were photographed with their hands on their hips!  How can anyone look at this and not be outraged!  I demand an outraged hashtag! 

 

 

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  1. Pilli Inactive
    Pilli
    @Pilli

    I remember my best friend’s wife chewing out a guy that had just bumped her car in parking lot.  That hand on her hip was no beauty queen pose believe me.  Talk about #Outrage.

    • #1
  2. Fricosis Guy Listener
    Fricosis Guy
    @FricosisGuy

    Nikon-aggression.

    • #2
  3. c.k.barthold@gmail.com Inactive
    c.k.barthold@gmail.com
    @BasilSeal

    Only the oppression of the patriarchy could drive two women to invest a blog with a name as insipid as “The Vagenda.”

    • #3
  4. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Rob Long:

    Given the strength of their feminist beliefs, it’s unlikely the two campaigners realised, that what they are semaphoring is the classic pose of the “look-at-me” beauty queen; the unnatural strut of every woman on display for the pleasure of the male eye. The question is, does it matter?

    Of course it matters! Everything matters! Two women were photographed with their hands on their hips! How can anyone look at this and not be outraged! I demand an outraged hashtag!

    Meh. They are not posed like beauty queens. Posing a woman like a beauty queen involves having her stand straighter and emphasize her natural waist more. If anything, this photo frumpifies them.

    • #4
  5. user_189393 Inactive
    user_189393
    @BarkhaHerman

    I am not sure what I am upset about more 

    Guardian wrote the article
    You wrote an article on the article (I know you are just looking for some comic material here)
    I read your article.

    • #5
  6. danys Thatcher
    danys
    @danys

    Generally when I have a hand on my hip or arms akimbo, some deserving soul is about to receive a verbal blistering. That has never been part of my come-hither strategy.

    Agree with MFR, the two women look frumpy. That’s outgrageous.

    • #6
  7. tabula rasa Inactive
    tabula rasa
    @tabularasa

    Ah, the post-modernist world.  Or are we now in the post-postmodernist world?  No one ever tells me when we move from one epoch to another.  

    This is the one where we spend more and more time worrying about less and less.

    Up next week in The Guardian:  Is it OK to write an article entitled “Does it matter if two feminists pose with their hand on their hip?”

    Next month:  Can men legitimately comment on an article asking if it’s OK to write an article entitled “Does it matter if two feminists pose with their hand on their hip?”

    • #7
  8. ParisParamus Inactive
    ParisParamus
    @ParisParamus

    I saw this this morning and got nauseous:
    http://www.prospectpark.org/calendar/event/butterfly-brooklyn

    • #8
  9. ParisParamus Inactive
    ParisParamus
    @ParisParamus

    I saw this this morning and got nauseous .  Unfortunately, I was taken to the “art” referenced in the museum.  Sick date.

    • #9
  10. user_189393 Inactive
    user_189393
    @BarkhaHerman

    I wonder if this lady in the sculpture done in 2500 B.C. was semaphoring the sculpture?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dancing_girl.jpg

    • #10
  11. user_473455 Inactive
    user_473455
    @BenjaminGlaser

    It must be so confusing to be a liberal from day-to-day.

    • #11
  12. user_86050 Inactive
    user_86050
    @KCMulville

    This sounds like something from The Hitchhiker’s Guide; surely the Vogons are moments from blasting our absurd little world from the galaxy.

    • #12
  13. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    As some of you know, I have a degree in Communications Studies.

    I’m surprised you’re even willing to let me hang around with y’all, knowing that fact.

    Anyhoo, I really enjoyed my education, and I think there is value in a good communications studies program. Deconstructing media imagery, understanding how memes propagate, understanding the principles of message design and becoming media literate. That’s what a good communications studies education is all about.

    However.

    The biggest pet peeve I had about my education was the common practice of a textbook or a professor presenting us with a particular image to deconstruct, and then getting mad at us when we interpreted it “the wrong way”.

    For example, one time it was an advertisement for London Fog, in which an immaculately made-up man and a woman are wearing expensive trenchcoats and posing for the camera.

    I deconstructed the image as “two ambitious, highly-paid professionals wearing high quality outerwear. It’s about wealth and status.”

    Apparently, I missed that the man was “obviously” a dominant figure and that she was his submissive “little woman”.

    I really wish I still had the image to post for you.

    • #13
  14. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    tabula rasa:

    Ah, the post-modernist world. Or are we now in the post-postmodernist world? No one ever tells me when we move from one epoch to another.

    This is the one where we spend more and more time worrying about less and less.

    Up next week in The Guardian: Is it OK to write an article entitled “Does it matter if two feminists pose with their hand on their hip?”

    Next month: Can men legitimately comment on an article asking if it’s OK to write an article entitled “Does it matter if two feminists pose with their hand on their hip?”

     Whoa. That’s so meta.

    • #14
  15. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    This is how “real” women pose for the camera:

    • #15
  16. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Misthiocracy:

    This is how “real” women pose for the camera:

    Ah, I see. Glaring meaningfully at you with a rubber glove in hand. Makes a certain amount of sense.

    • #16
  17. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Midget Faded Rattlesnake:

    Misthiocracy:

    This is how “real” women pose for the camera:

    Ah, I see. Glaring meaningfully at you with a rubber glove in hand. Makes a certain amount of sense.

    Also, standing in a Russian bread-line.

    • #17
  18. flownover Inactive
    flownover
    @flownover

    ” Such wide targets ” he pleated .

    • #18
  19. Mama Toad Member
    Mama Toad
    @CBToderakaMamaToad

    Does anyone else remember the outrage over John Bolton during his confirmation hearing/debacle, in which he was accused of being a really really angry person, as demonstrated by his putting his hands on his hips during a discussion?

    • #19
  20. Mike H Inactive
    Mike H
    @MikeH

    Seriously, am I the only one who read a little too much into the title of this post?

    • #20
  21. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Mike H:

    Seriously, am I the only one who read a little too much into the title of this post?

    Uh, phrasing!

    • #21
  22. Midget Faded Rattlesnake Member
    Midget Faded Rattlesnake
    @Midge

    Mike H:

    Seriously, am I the only one who read a little too much into the title of this post?

    No.

    I thought it was going to be about eating disorders or… something else.

    • #22
  23. DocJay Inactive
    DocJay
    @DocJay

    Hashtag penis envy.

    • #23
  24. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    #thepicturemakesY’alllookfat

    • #24
  25. user_11047 Inactive
    user_11047
    @barbaralydick

    Derrida, de Mann, and company would be thrilled with the construction (then deconstruction) of that first sentence.  The author learned their philosophy well in his classes…

    • #25
  26. TeamAmerica Member
    TeamAmerica
    @TeamAmerica

    Am I the only one who thinks the Guardian should be located in Portlandia?

    • #26
  27. Richard O'Shea Coolidge
    Richard O'Shea
    @RichardOShea

    Misthiocracy:

    This is how “real” women pose for the camera:

     I think was taken at my last family reunion!

    • #27
  28. tabula rasa Inactive
    tabula rasa
    @tabularasa

    “What we know well is that there are hidden ideologies in visual images; every picture counts whether mundane or iconic.”

    That’s the first line from the article.  Let’s assume, hypothetically, that someone snaps a pic of me picking my nose (not that that has ever happened).  Can anyone enlighten me on the “hidden ideology” disclosed in that picture? 

    Or is that statement as stupid as it sounds?

    • #28
  29. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    I’m not telling him.

    GGSPJTR

    You tell him.

    teddy-roosevelt-rough-riders

    I’m not telling him, either.

    • #29
  30. user_409996 Member
    user_409996
    @

    If I recall correctly, Walter Bishop accused Faux-livia of having a Vagenda on FRINGE.

    • #30
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