In Bell Hook's "Cultural Criticism & Transformation," The
power of representation is that people want to deny the direct link between
representation and the choices they make in their lives. While that link is not absolute, images
matter in people lives; however, other people behave as if certain images don’t
mean anything and deny the power of representation to their society.
Hegemony is the leadership or dominance of a
social group or by one country. In Bell Hook’s “Cultural Criticism &
Transformation,” she displays the factors behind
and beyond media scenes mainly attribute one group over another. Best example of this is the “White
Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy” which is an interlocking system of domination that defines our reality
and these function simultaneously at all times in our lives. Sexism is also an example of hegemony. Though sexism is commonly refer to discrimination against women, this can also apply to men. Sexism is rampant around the world for centuries. Female are viewed lower than the male species; getting unequal treatment in jobs and sometimes resulting to violence.
Gaze is a psychoanalytical term to describe the anxious state that comes
with the awareness that one can be viewed (Jacques Lacan). In Berger’s “Ways of Seeing,” he says that the
Renaissance images were mostly consisted of nude women that were exclusively
for the male viewer. Women are often portrayed with their bodies turned
towards the viewer while their heads were turned away and looking at the mirror
and were aware of being the object of the viewer’s gaze.
Also, gaze can be defined as the relationship, between offering and demanding a gaze: the indirect gaze is the
spectator's offer, wherein the spectator initiates viewing the subject, who is
unaware of being viewed; thedirect
gaze is the subject's demand to be viewed
(G. Kress & T. van Leeuwen). In Lucy
Lippard's “Doubletake,” the way she deconstructed the
photograph as how it travels through time to meet the viewer, brings a lot into perspective regarding culture, race and gender. In each “take” Lippard discusses how one’s
view the picture. One may see the
picture as a tourist souvenir while the other sees it with deeper meaning like
the photographer has a connection with the subject.
Popular
culture is the entirety of ideas, perspective, attitudes and images that are
within the mainstream of a given culture.
It is heavily influenced by mass media.
According to Hook, popular culture is the primary pedagogical medium for
the masses of people globally who want to understand the politics of
difference. As much as we want to avoid
being influence with pop culture, we encounter pop culture in
our daily lives. Media extensively use pop culture in any
means and this influences us ideas and perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.