blog 7 week 8

The dignity and equality of women in contemporary society is at the heart of this week’s reading. The way Merskin illustrates her argument is through highlighting how females are exploited in advertising today. Merskin brings many examples to our attention, advertisements for ‘Marc Jacobs shoes’, ‘Gucci’, ‘Opium fragrance,’ etc. however even though Merskin discusses this issue rather well her tone throughout the paper seems to be one of radical feminism.  She agrees with other writers’ description of the “United States as a rape-prone society” (Merskin 2006, p 213). She also claims that the “eroticization of the female body supports an ideology of male superiority” (Merskin 2006, p 199). These views are too radical and slightly ridiculous. Just because models pose in a certain way does not insinuate they wish to be raped or to be dominated by male. How individuals come to that conclusion in culturally subjective. “Thinking in those terms and pairing the words “youth” and “erotic” together is deeply disturbing” (Merskin 2006, p 212) the vast majority of Westerns would accept this quote as I do however in many cultures around the globe as soon as a female begins menstruating she will mate (these societies tend to be patriarchal ones). This is again suggesting that interpreting images and the non-verbal communication that one reads off images is culturally subjective.

Those who had a greater desire for sex had more sex then those who didn’t therefore their particular genes (the gene for a greater desire to have sex) were passed down to their offspring and so on and so forth. This is the process of evolution called ‘natural selection’ where certain types of genes are favoured over others. Natural selection is the sole reason for why we are here today and also the reason why advertisers preach “sex sells” (Merskin 2006, p213). Instead of criticising ‘pornographic’ advertising it should be celebrated, it highlights the fact we are just animals that still have primitive instincts to mate. A perfect example of how strong the human desire to mate is in the early 2000s Kylie Minogue released a new range of underwear. A billboard was erected on Dandenong Road near the intersection of Chapel Street St Kilda as you are heading away from the city that displayed her wearing only underwear. The instinct of sex for a lot of males was so great that the local council had to take it down because there were too many accidents of male drivers not looking at the road. It’s not that advertisers are degrading females or males (cover of men’s health magazine normally has a topless male) they are simply playing into our innate want to mate with the opposite sex.

Bibliography

Merskin, D. 2006. Where are the Clothes? The pornographic gaze in mainstream American fashion advertising. In: T & Lambiase, J. Reichert, (ed). Sex in Consumer Culture, London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pg 200-217.

Blog 6- watching

This week’s reading is all about Panopticon surveillance and the affects it has on society and individuals.

When reading this week’s reading a movie came to my mind as an example of this type of surveillance. Enemy of the state (1998), in this film the protagonist is tracked using a wide range of surveillance equipment. 

Panopticon surveillance is not just present in fiction and gaols. It is with us almost all the time, when we have our phone on, when we update our status, use a credit/student car, Drive our car on a toll road. Traveling in any major developed CBD you will discover many CCTV cameras which have become the modern tower in the centre of the panopticon gaol. No one has to be watching the CCTV monitors, the cameras don’t even need to be real but the fact they are there acts as preventative discipline. That is they modify the behaviour of individuals through the fear of being seen doing wrong.

Bibliography

Foucault. M, 1977, ‘Panopticism’ in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Penguin, London, pp 195-228.

blog 5- speaking and listening

How the internet works as political space and also a political sphere is the topic of this week’s reading.  In simple terms this article is about how the internet works as a forum for people from all over the world to get together, discuss and exchange political ideas. 

“connectivity does not ensure a more representative and robust public sphere” (Papacharissi, 2002, p. 13) “access to more information does not necessarily create more informed citizens” (Papacharissi, 2002, p. 15) I have chosen these two quotes because I think they sum up the argument Papacharissi is trying to make. She acknowledges the fact that the internet has given humanity (humanity meaning the 28.7% of the world’s population (internet world stats, 2010)) an extra and more accessible political space but criticises the internet heavily for not being a political sphere.  To assert this claim Papacharissi cites the irrational/radical special interest groups that are out there, white supremacist groups and the like. She also turns her attention to capitalism as being detrimental to the internet as a political sphere 

The recent events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya etc and now in Croatia I think demonstrates the ability of the internet to mobilise large amounts of people to engage in democratic practises. Although I am not suggesting the only reason it happened was because of the internet   but I do believe it had a massive impact on the speed of the revolutions and for those revolutionary ideas to spread throughout North Africa and the Middle East.

Bibliography

Internet world stats, viewed 4^th April 2011, http://www.internetworldstats.com/

Papacharissi, Z., 2002, The virtual sphere: The internet as a public sphere, New Media and Society, Vol 4, No. 1, pp. 9-24.