Skip to main content
By

Initial Thoughts on the Unit 



I’m a feminist, and not ashamed to say it, and from the moment I heard about this course I knew it would be interesting. An entire semester studying how women have been presented in society through history? Sign me up!
While women have always been present in texts, the roles they have played in these stories have varied through time. Ranging from nothing more than the love interest, to the main character in the story. The diverse content covered in this unit analyses texts from as early as ancient cave paintings, through to post-modern film and provides insight into the progression of female representation in society and its reflection in texts of the time.
One of the most thought-provoking topics we have covered in class was by far looking at the progression of beauty. The differences in what was considered beautiful by people in different time periods, both male and female, can be used to help understand the values and beliefs held in those societies.
For example, here is what was considered beautiful in 22000 BC:
The larger breasts and stomach suggest high fertility, which is what was considered desirable in that time period. Compare this to what is considered beautiful today:

What is considered “desirable” has been considerably changed. Focus placed on facial features and a small figure, almost the opposite of what was sought after twenty-four thousand years ago.
The part of the unit in which we study post-modern texts will also be a very interesting task, as stories that members of the class have previously encountered will be watched/ read with a different purpose. This will potentially change the perspective  the reader/ viewer had of the piece. 

Comments

  1. Unknown6 February 2018 at 21:10

    I agree with the changes and differences which can be seen. Well said.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best Actress 1976 + 1991 Academy Awards

By
A character analysis and comparison of the roles demonstrated in  the Best Actress category at the 1976 and 1991 Academy Awards  Background The two films under the spotlight are One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Misery (1990). Both films are film adaptations of the novels of the same titles. I decided to analyse the Best Actress Academy Award as this is in my opinion what Hollywood decides as the peak of female representation of that year and such deserves to be rewarded for its achievements. I chose too analyse these two films as they both feature a Woman as a Nurse and as the main antagonist of the films. 15 years was also a nice time gap that would create a more interesting and apparent difference in representation instead of a smaller time gap of only a few years. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Background information about the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) is a film adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same title by Ken Kesey. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Girl With A Pearl Earring

By
Girl With A Pearl Earring Johanne Vermeers' Girl with a Pearl Earring Painting In the novel "Girl with a Pearl Earring" the story rotates around the character "Griet" and her life as a maid for the painter Johannes Vermeers' family, and all the ups and downs of her life working for them, including when Vermeer paints her for his, now world famous, painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Griet comes from a protestant family with three children (Griet (15/16), her younger brother Frans (~14-15) and her younger sister Agnes (~12)) living in the dutch town of Deflt which is shown as a relatively small town. Griets' family falls to poverty after her father is blinded in an accident with a kiln explosion, taking his craft of tile-painting when he is blinded. This means Griet has to go and work for the Vermeers' where the painter needs a maid who can clean without moving anything and Griets parents volunteer her. There are a lot of small...
Post a Comment
Read more
By
Women Over Time Even before this unit, the representation of women had been a topic I was interested in. With social media nowadays, the subject comes up even more often, and has sparked many debates and protests. However, when the unit began, I realised that the sexism experienced by women was still a major ongoing problem in our society. Women are often portrayed as inferior to men. They are objectified, and pressurised to be physically beautiful, because society has forced them into believing that that is their role. Society has guided them from a young age, through books and movies and toys, to care more about their appearance than their aspirations and goals. Men, on the other hand, had whatever they needed to achieve their dreams from a young age. Wanted to become a police officer? Buy a toy gun. Wanted to be an explorer? Grab a pair of binoculars. And if a girl wanted to become any of those things, buying anything from the boys' section was frowned upon by society. Unle...
Post a Comment
Read more