The New Yorker, with 47 publications each year, often generates some debate. In July 2007, the literary magazine released its latest issue. The cover included the title, price, edition, and three differently dressed women sitting on a bench. The first woman’s face and body are covered, except for her eyes. The second, with long blonde hair, is wearing a halter top, short shorts, sunglasses, and flip flops. The third is wearing a tunic and veil. Our first impressions are often stereotypical, and we must look deeper than the cover. Immediately, different conclusions are drawn based on each woman’s appearance. Just from this magazine cover, we can assume different things about each individual: including her religion, self image, and family life.
The woman on the left is wearing a niqab, which is typically worn by observant Muslim women, so you automatically assume that she is Muslim and follows Islam. In the Muslim faith, this is a requirement for how to dress. When they are out in public, their whole body must be covered, except for their hands, face, and feet. The niqab is not always required, but women should still dress modestly. The woman on the right can also be identified due to her religious clothing. Her traditional religious habit is easily recognizable among Roman Catholics. The large crucifix dangling from her neck also gives us reason to believe that she is a nun. The habit is also not required, but nuns must dress modestly if they do not wear it. The woman sitting in the middle, however, shows no indication of a religious belief. Her racy clothing does not have a certain religion attached to it; perhaps she has no religion at all.
In addition to drawing conclusions regarding each woman’s religious beli...
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...onde” woman. Being very “different,” the women were easily identified and set apart from each other. Their religious views, self image and family life are all very different. At first glance, there does not seem to be very many similarities between the three women; however, they may be more alike than they are different. Each of the women may have different beliefs, and dress in agreement with their beliefs and culture. But like the majority of society, they just want acceptance and respect regardless of what they are wearing. As children, we were taught not to judge a book by its cover. As adults, we realize that it is easier said than done. Even though these women do not seem to have many surface traits in common, the underlying fact is that they are just three ordinary women trying to fit into a world where society thinks that they are completely different.
“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” is what been told around and what most people still don’t do. How we decide how something is worth by just looking at it without getting to know someone or something even closer. John Steinbeck wrote a book in 1937 about two farm workers moving place to place trying to find their happiness. By going through things together and keeping each other’s hope by reminding one another about their motivation on even trying and ways how the farm workers, Lenny and George are more different than similar. Lenny and George are more different because of their maturity, their attitude towards Curley’s wife, and behavior.
Another issue that the writer seemed to have swept below the carpet is the morality of women. First, women seemed to have been despised until they started excelling in mass advertising. Also, the author seems to peg the success of the modern woman to clothing and design. This means that women and cloths are but the same thing. In fact, it seems that a woman’s sex appeal determine her future endeavours, according to the author. It is through this that I believe that the author would have used other good virtues of women to explain
Ed. Katherine E. Kurzman, Kate Sheehan Roach, and Stasia Zomkowski. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 1998. 242,243. Print.
According to the book entitled Ways of Seeing written by John Berger, the power of an image is extraordinary given that it can speak a thousand words. This has also been enhanced by the rapidly evolving technology that elicits more subconscious views about an image by anyone who sees them online or in real life. Some professional writers like Susan Bordo have emphasized that pictures of men often receive a wide range of negative tones or opinions due to the physiological effects that are fashionable to society or any other individual who approves or disapproves the beauty in a portrait of two men or women (Berger 38). This essay offers my opinion concerning the pictures of the Doloce and Gabbana, the gay Italian designers, as well as that of
Even today, despite much debate, we live in a patriarchal society—we live in a world ruled by men and their thoughts, feelings and ideals. Women are a large part of a man’s life, and there are standards and inferences made about them. Berger explains man’s view of its counterpart through art. The earliest depiction of nudity is in art surrounds the biblical story of Adam and Eve. In the tale, Eve is pictured as a temptress and because of her rebellion against God; she is a lesser being. This is what kicked off the prejudice against the female race. The discrimination reflected in society by the roles women are given in the world. They are objects owned by men. Women are expected to clean, bake, cook and please their men in anyway possible. They do not hold jobs; their job is to obey and dote on their husbands. Women are passive members in art, so they become ...
Much discrimination and misogyny still permeate our social stratosphere, but while reading written words one cannot help but to be placed in the author’s shoes, and therefore accept their words as our own. Cain writes, “Many of the texts written by women during this time reflect the idea that there are natural differences between the sexes. Usually a female narrator…privately addresses a mainly female audience about issues that might seem mainly to concern women” (825). Because the text is written in a female voice, the reading adapts themselves to that voice, and gives credit to the
One of the most fascinating elements that female authors bring to light is their use of perspective—something that’s most commonly illustrated through the eyes of a man, a male author, or, more often than not, both. Women writers offer a different voice than their male counterparts, even if it’s simply by the subtle inclusion of their own experiences within the narrative of the central character. With that in mind, the question must be asked—how do these female authors present their male characters? It’s common for male authors to stick to stereotypes and caricatures of the women they include in their works; but do female authors choose to follow this style as well? How do they represent the “modern man” within their texts? Through Woolf’s
...ce in society. And the effects of the ideals behind these magazines are all the more powerful because of their subtlety." Women walk away from these magazines with an empty feeling and feelings of many inadequacies and they really don't know exactly why. The subtle undermining of women's intelligence and cause strips away their sense of worth ever so slowly and leaves them feeling depressed and in search of something that really can't exist together. Growing old while staying young takes many years of complete and internal happiness not many years of collagen injections and the added stress of having to stay unattainably perfect. While some consider these journalists for women's magazines talented writers, I consider them horrendous displays of talent in which they sell out the naturally beautiful women of the world for a quick buck and a popular magazine.
Gregg, Joan Young. Devils, Women and Jews. New York; State University of New York Press, 1997.
Firminger examines the ways these magazines represent young males and females. She reveals that these magazines talks about the physical appearance of young girls but also their sexuality, emotions, and love life. The author informs how the advice given by the magazines is negative. The author also argues that these magazines focus more on their social life than how their academic performance
Wear, Delese and Nixon, Lois LaCivita. Literary Anatomies: Women's Bodies and Health in Literature. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994.
Human behavior is influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion, and genetics (Wikipedia, 2011). It falls within a range with some behavior being common, unusual, acceptable, and some outside acceptable limits (Wikipedia, 2011).
Showalter, E. 1989. “The Female Tradition.” The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends. Ed. David H. Richter. New York: St. Martin’s.
EBSCO HOST. Web. The Web. The Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Madison, D. - Soyini, S. "Pretty Woman Through the Triple Lens of Black Feminist Spectatorship."
Gentlemen Quarterly, like many other magazines, implements the gender binary onto its readers through its advertisements and articles. They market solely toward male and female people, dividing into “...suits and dresses” and “action movies and chick flicks” (Wade, p. 5) and dictating specifically what is feminine and what is masculine. Men’s fashion trends are centralized on suits and hair grooming, all of which fall under the masculine category. On the other hand, the female section doesn’t seem to dictate fashion but rather advice and celebrity news, which contrasts it’s sole purpose as a clothing magazine. In this sense, GQ obeys the “gender rules” of what it means to “appear and behave as a man or a woman” (Wade, p. 61) but there are few