The Affect of Cultural Ideology on The Way We Perceive Images
The relationship between language and image provides us with the means to seek the roots of our own ideas. In the essay, "When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision", written by Adrienne Rich, she uses varying images in her poetry to describe women and the voice open the window into her self-perception and how cultural ideologies change. John Berger writes in, "Ways of Seeing" that the relationship between the image and the person is an individual interpretation. "Hunger as Ideology," by Susan Bordo, tells how the image is used to show cultural ideologies, especially for women. In art, literature, and in the media, images that are perceived visually or through the images produced by language are used as a form of expression that quite unavoidably reflect cultural ideologies that impact us in intentionally strong and deliberate ways. Cultural ideology affects how we perceive images; both visual and those produced by language. These images impact our perception of reality.
The images that infiltrate our lives appear to focus on maintaining the status quo or the norms of society. They are designed to show what is expected in life. Berger states, "Images were made to conjure up the appearance of something that was absent"(107). Berger argues "images" are "conjured up" or imagined to represent what is "absent" or what the individual wants to see as reality. There used to be a tendency to over exemplify the way in which women were thought to be, but "today, that opposition no longer seems to hold quite as rigidly as it once did (women are indeed objectified more than ever, but, in this image-dominated culture, men increasingly are too)" (156). Regardless of so...
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...ion on which all others are based" (604). Using images to change the perception of gender relations and gender roles poses an interesting possibility. Using the images may be the only way to shape any change at all in our society. Rich has used her experiences to grow and evolve. Her poetry gives voice to her pain, to her victimization, to her past and to her future. She uses the images in her poetry to shape awareness if not change. This all may be very difficult because, "We have inherited some of these representations from of former era" (Bordo 156). The timelessness of these images may be hard to eliminate or alter. There is hope though, because if images have been used to maintain cultural ideology, then images can also be used to change our perceptions. This would have a destabilizing effect and as a society, we are resistant to such a drastic change.
To elaborate, Scott argues that as a picture interpreter, we must make a distinction between the “ideal and the real,” to understand the true meaning of an image. She argues how the Gibson Girl and the American Girl were two idealised visions of modern beauty and femininity which made women to try to be like them. These two girls became markers of their decade, ...
...mple of imagery is when Richard’s friends run up to him with his article in their hands and a baffled look on their faces. This shows that Richard is a very talented writer for his age and that Richard is a very ambitious person because his school never taught him to write the way he does. This also shows that Richard took it upon himself to become a talented author and wants to be a writer when he grows up.
An essay exploring how important image is to society and how it leads to silence.
Women in today’s society seem to be having a very difficult time expressing themselves without dealing with lots of criticism. Common values are standing in the way of women’s drive toward molding themselves into whatever they desire. Our culture has made standards about how should women look, act, and conduct themselves that greatly limits what they can do, and still gain respect. Martin S. Fiebert and Mark W. Meyer state that, “[there are] more negative [gender] stereotypes for men than for women.” This idea doesn’t seem to have a great amount of validity in our present society. Society set certain standards that men are supposed to live up to such as strength and confidence, which are more behavioral characteristics. Women seem to be more trapped than men by societies standards because they are supposed to live up to standards dealing with beauty and size, which are more physical characteristics These specific guidelines have been set by society that are sometimes unattainable for a majority of women. The women that follow the specific criteria are greatly respected, and the ones that try and be innovative usually are criticized if not disliked.
Gender roles in society are very prevalent and impacting in our current society, good or bad. In the poem, “Respect”, by Melissa Studdard she tackles this subject head-on with her own take on the life of a women. In her writing she uses multiple poetic devices to convey her messages, two included being personification and imagery. She first starts the poem using imagery when she compares a woman's body to a cave, saying that there is a fire inside that somebody forgot to put out (Studdard 1-3). These lines are a great way to convey the message of what I believe is that a women has a fire inside of her like a burning passion, and Studdard’s use of imagery makes this very easy to understand for the reader. I believe that this use of imagery can
...ation of men and women to the reader; we accept the cliché’s and gender-roles as the collective standard.
Have you ever seen an advertisement for a product and could immediately relate to the subject or the product in that advertisement? Companies that sell products are always trying to find new and interesting ways to get buyers and get people’s attention. It has become a part of our society today to always have products being shown to them. As claimed in Elizabeth Thoman’s essay Rise of the Image Culture: Re-Imagining the American Dream, “…advertising offered instructions on how to dress, how to behave, how to appear to others in order to gain approval and avoid rejection”. This statement is true because most of the time buyers are persuaded by ads for certain products.
Apart from the use of symbols, the use of characterization also depicts the social convention and expectation on women as patriarchal oppression.
In society, women are sometimes viewed in contrast to men. Women are judged heavily on appearance and are pushed to conform to mankind’s stereotype. To His Coy Mistress, Barbie Doll, and The Stepford Wives are three prime examples of texts and film that have a main theme of making women into objects.
These cultural strictures come in a number of forms. First, the artist attacks intellectual conformity, choosing art over all other means of self-expression even though it is not widespread in his or her society. Though it is not explicitly stated - and is perhaps even subconscious - the artist chooses art over either academe or high society. The artist questions society's customs, making this choice explicit in their daily actions. The artist rejects ostentatious displays of wealth and the cultural emphasis on money, replacing it with a frugal simplicity more conducive to authentic experience. Finally, the artist calls into question the cultural construct most important to any understanding of human interaction - the binary conception of gender.
Society tries to place many rules upon an individual as to what is acceptable and what is not . One must decide for themselves whether to give in to these pressures and conform to society’s projected image, or rather to resist and maintain their own desired self image. In the story “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, Munro suggests that this conflict is internal and external and a persons experiences in life will determine which of these forces will conquer. In terms of the unnamed protagonist’s experiences in the story, it becomes clear just how strong the pressure of society to conform really is, as it overcomes and replaces the girl’s self image.
2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a
Gender stereotypes and biasses exist in media. In most situations, women are associated with more negative stereotypes and their portrayals can “undermine their presence by being “hyper-attractive” or “hyper-sexual” and/or passive” (Smith, 2008). In The Wolf of Wall Street women are objectified. They are treated
Alexandra Scaturchio, in her article “Women in Media” (2008) describes the media’s idea of beauty as superficial. She supports her argument by placing two pictures side-by-side; a picture of a real, normal-looking woman and her picture after it has been severely digitally enhanced. Her purpose is to show young teenage girls that the models they envy for their looks are not real people, but computer designs. She also states, “the media truly distorts the truth and instills in women this false hope because…they will live their lives never truly attaining this ideal appearance”. Scaturchio wants her readers to realize the media’s distorting capabilities and feel beautiful about themselves, even with flaws.
Strong and outstanding Political and Feminist poet, Adrienne Cecile Rich, captivated her audience with her true and soft words. She is a prime example of uncovering hidden struggles for more than one community and responsible for delivering so many eye-opening pages to read. The most stable way to describe her tremendous gravitational pull would be to quote the woman herself, “Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage”. She is a creative individual to me because of her courage with standing up for Women’s Rights for so long, and unveiling what should be in everyone’s line of view to begin with.