Shirin Neshat and Renee Cox come from different backgrounds. Cox is an African- American and Neshat is from the Middle East (Iran). Both artists use their bodies in different ways to express what their cultures are like.
Neshat, born in 1957, came from a culture where a person was free to express themselves until an Islamic overthrow, “Returning for a visit to Iran in 1990 after a twelve-year absence, Neshat was stunned by the magnitude of change. Women everywhere now wore the head-to-toe black chador, the version of veiling characteristic of Iran, which had been abolished in 1936” (Neshat 153). No longer did women have the freedom to do as they pleased, everything is dictated by the government. Shirin Neshat is shown wearing a chador and the writing on her face, while holding a gun. The work is called “Rebellious Silence.” Now the woman must wear chador, and do as the government says, but the gun represents that she is rebelling from the culture and wants things to be restore to the former, and reinstate the freedom that the she once had in Iran. That the women will no longer be subjected to wearing what the
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Using her body, she is showing what is was like, what African- American were subjected to, “She uses her own body in an attempt to reverse the objectification of black women and claim self-empowered subjectivity by freely presenting her own body in any pose for any purpose she wishes” (Cox 107). Cox’s “Hott-En-Tot” with fake breast and buttocks is bringing to light how the African- American culture was belittled and poorly treated. She does this image and many others not to keep black women stereotypes in place, but to show the negativity of the past. So, that she can continue to be an advocate it the African- American community. She is free to do as she wants, and African- Americans since that dark time in history have new found freedoms, no longer controlled by slave
Miss Mathews is still haunted by the incident. She continues her fight to get the video that was released and became viral off the internet. She’s asked websites to take down the video of her that went viral off their pages, but they all refuse, which is why she must purchase the copyright to the video of her own body so that she’s armed with it when demanding that the sites delete it. She has stated that when the video was first released, she was embarrassed, ashamed and because she did not want to disrobe at all, she did not change her clothes for a few days. She...
She illuminates the hidden causes of the harsh sexism in rap music lyrics and argues that one needs to look deeper to understand why the misogyny exists and how women in her culture need to respond and also start taking responsibility for its existence in order for changes to begin to take place. In the article “ From Fly -Girls to Bitches and Hos “ the dysfunction of our black men is evident, but somehow it’s seen and admired manliness and success. For example the life of Notorious BIG was one of the rap kings that live a life of jail, sex , drugs and murder that “ the seeming impenetrable wall of sexism in rap music is really the complex mask of American often wear both to hide “ . Joan Morgan was vivid as to show the pain men must be feeling so badly that they had to use disrespectful slurs and hateful comment says their music lyrics. I agree with the fact that in today’s society the "bitches and hos" have become the norm. From my perspective that many guys often believe that is how all women act and that they are all pimps and
Fakhraie launches her essay by explaining how Muslim women struggle every day because of what they wear. In her essay, she talks about a teenage girl that was killed by her father because she refused to wear her hijab. Also, many women that wear a hijab are being banned from sporting events in the United States. A hijab is a “traditional Muslim garment” (Fakhraie 461) that several Muslim women wear every
The article “My Body Is My Own Business” by Naheed Mustafa is about an Islamic women’s principle that putting on her usual headscarf, or Hijab, actually empowers her as a female, contrary to the popular principle that the hijab represents male oppressiveness. She ex...
In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black women. As hip hop music continues to become more popular, the sexist messages presented in lyrics and music videos are becoming more common to the everyday public, including young black girls developing a self-image. Instead of these girls being exposed to healthy, positive role models who encourage individuality and that there is more to a woman than her body they are given hip hop video models whose only purpose is to look sensual on screen. The strong women that do exist in the hip hop genre are pushed to sexualize themselves or their lyrics to sell records or stay relatively unknown. Although Perry’s arguments are logical, I believe that she is creating a slippery slope of logic. A genre of music cannot destroy the self-image of black women that has existed for generations.
Lila Abu-Lughod’s article titled, “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” takes a closer look at the problematic ethnocentric approach many have when trying to gain an understanding of another culture that may be foreign to that individual. In this analytical paper, Lughod looks at women in Islam, specifically the treatment of women and how it might be utilized as a justification for invading into a country and liberating its people. The country Lughod refers to in her article is Afghanistan, and Lughod points out the misunderstanding from the people to the Bush administration like First Lady Laura Bush who believed that intervention was necessary to free women from the captivity of their own homes. It is important to consider the role that different lenses play into all of this, especially when one’s lenses are being shaped by the media. Depictions of covered women secluded from society leave a permanent image in the minds of many, who would then later support the idea of liberation. This paper will discuss that the practice of using propaganda when referring to the lifestyle in the Middle East is not exclusive to the U.S; rather it has been utilized throughout history. Additionally, we will take a closer look on the importance of symbols, such as veils in this case; help to further emphasize the cause to liberate. Finally, we will analyze Lughod’s plea towards cultural relativism and away from liberal imperialism.
Muslims, Sikhs, and many other religious affiliations have often been targeted for hate crimes, racial slurs, and misfortunate events. We are all different in our own ways some are good and some are bad yet one event changes everything for everyone affiliated with the group. The book The Politics of the Veil by Joan Scott a renowned pioneer in gender studies gives a detailed and analytical book of about the French views towards the Muslim females in France during 2004. The author talks about why the French governments official embargo of wearing conspicuous signs is mainly towards the headscarves for Muslim girls under the age of eighteen in public schools. The main themes of book are gender inequality, sexism, and cultural inequality historical schools used in the book are history of below, woman’s history, cultural history, and political history. In this essay, I will talk about why Joan Scotts argument on why the French government’s ban on wearing conspicuous signs was
One of the works of art that particularly stood out to me from the chapter 4 online
Her confidence is well illustrated in the music video “Who Runs the World (Girls)” by her fierce, focused expression while dancing in skimpy, feminine clothing. In addition, she embraces her powerful feminine identity by comparing herself to a variety of powerful animals in the music video. These elements combine to illustrate Beyoncé’s acceptance of her own femininity but also show how she allows that to empower her, not weaken her. Her actions in the music video are complemented by her actions in real life such as posing in the GQ magazine in only her underwear. On the other hand, some such as Hadley Freeman feel that Beyoncé is too powerful to need to stoop to posing in such magazines; in Freeman’s words, “It’s another if you are professedly one of the most powerful women in the entertainment business who has no need of such tactics” (4). While it’s true that Beyoncé does not need such tactics, it does not necessarily follow that these tactics are in fact a bad thing and purely a publicity stunt. Rather, these tactics are her way of embracing her feminine identity in order to promote feminism in her own way. While perhaps untraditional in her methods, by fully embracing her feminine body, Beyoncé promotes a confident feminism that empowers women in order to eliminate
The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
The subjects are not aware they are being filmed. The eloquent voice -over introduces us to the concept of two separate and unequal entries: one for men, and one for women. For the men, they are searched for mobile phones and weapons; women only have to deal with a strict dress code they must obey. And no lipstick! (absolutely) This is a clear indication of a culture that segregates and degrades women. The women are not even seen a potential for violence let alone dissent, the women are silenced and their words are but lip service (unadorned) to a crowd (unmoved) that listens but does not feel. The film shots suggest that women are able to discuss matters that affect them: marriage and beauty are important. But, paradoxically the women cannot enter the courtroom with make-up. They have to take it all off. They open up and speak removed of what it is that alledgely makes them women: what it is in the realm of Iran that gives them power. They are not putting on a show for the overtures of humanity in their ordinariness: they are naked despite their many layers, they are victims complacent in a system that was never meant to serve them. The body language of the men, most obvious in the initial scene, shows us a patriarchal society run amok: this is not a problem unique to Iran. A silenced minority can speak loudly, if given the proper time and space and audience. Throughout the
Shirin Neshat is a filmmaker and photographer. She was born on march 26, 1957 in Qazvin, Iran. Because of the westernization in her family, her parents sent her to America for college. Shirin’s career of artist began after she came to America. She got her bachelor of arts and master of fine arts from University of California Berkeley. In 1990, she returned to Iran and was shocked by the change of society due to the Islamic revolution and the war between Iran and Iraq (Sheybani 1). The style and characteristics of her photographs and video installations also were inspired by her journey to Iran, which focus on contemporary Islamic cultures, women’s identity and women’s right in Islamic society (1).
...n use your body like a “corporal capital” (Waicquant : 2000, p. 125) and make use of body techniques (Mauss : 1934) to be accepted in this world controled by men. Stepahnie Birnet who followed “video girls”, she noticed that the hip hop culture invented a new norm, the norm of the new “black female”, which it's completely different from the manequin world. Women who want to play in music video have to be not too slim, in another words they must have very obvious feminine attributes (Birnet Stéphanie : 2007). Tricia Rose in her book Black Noise. Black music and black culture in contemporary America ask why black men show so often the feminity of black women ? She give several anwsers, first to oppose to the whiteness feminity : slim body, long legs, little lips. And to fight against the stereotype of the sinewy female slave. Rose tells that : “Black man assured the
The way they dressed quickly changed as shown when Marji asserted that “In no time, the way people dressed became an ideological sign. There were two kinds of women. The fundamentalist woman [and] the modern woman. There were also two sorts of men. The fundamentalist man [and] the progressive man” (75). Satrapi uses the two frames on page 75 to illustrate the idea associated with the two different ways in which both men and women chose to dress whether it be tradition, or not. Satrapi expounds how their choice of dressing then depicts their view on the Islamic Revolution. She explains how the modern women rebelled by wearing heard scarves, instead of the traditional full veil, along with letting some hair slightly fall out to show opposition against the Iranian regime. She continues with how the progressive man also showed their opposition by tucking their shirts in and shaving their facial hair, in contrast to the fundamentalist man who leaves his shirt hung out, along with a full beard. Satrapi denotes that both genders of characters take the risk of not dressing like a fundamentalist, in order to show their form of rebellion in a settle way, knowing of course that there is always a possibility of
To understand the changing role of women starting during the Islamic Revolution, it is important to briefly review the lives of Iranian women and the role of Islam during the final years of the secular regime of the Shah. Mohammad Reza Shah was disliked by the majority of Iranian population, but his secular and prominent Western attitude allowed for some reforms of women’s rights in Iran. For example, in 1963 he created a reform program which would eventually be known as the “White Revolution,” which included suffrage for women (Beck and Nashat 114). This decision led to a violent reaction, especially from strong Islamic leaders such as Ayatollah Khomeini, whom would eventually play a pivotal role in the revolution and women’s rights. Although the Shah allowed for women’s reform, he was popularly known as a dictator and appeared to be in complete favor of maintaining a traditional patriarchal society.