The first image, “Your body is a battleground” by Barbara Kruger was originally used in a march in Washington DC supporting a pro-choice position and reproductive rights for women. What I like about Barbara Kruger’s work is that it is not always self-explanatory and is open to interpretation. I would argue that the metaphor of a women’s body being a battleground not only relates to the battle of abortion but that it goes deeper. As I initially look at this picture I see two sides of a face, one being positive and one being negative. The underlying photograph represents to me the two sides of a person: the outside appearance and the inside emotions. Her makeup and shaping of the eyebrows represents the ideal woman in the 1950’s. This picture discusses the body being a “battleground” from all sorts of angles. Women are put under an enormous amount of pressure on how they are supposed to look, act and be. The phrase “sex sells” is so true in that through advertisements, the most common message is that if you buy a product you will get a girl, or if you buy a product you will look like this girl so you can get a man. Our perception on beauty and attraction is completely fabricated by the media.
The next image “Memory is your image of perfection” also by Barbara Kruger only reinforces what I have been saying. The way we are brought up and through what we are exposed to as we grow is what creates our image of beauty. There is no original choice of what we individually think of beauty, these images are an influence to society as a whole. The image plays with the idea that the body or actual person is transparent while the high heels and jewelry stands out symbolizing that the outward appearance and that material things are what really matter.
Below is a video that I immediately thought related to these two images. It is a commercial done by Dove to inspire natural beauty and bring awareness of today’s false image of beauty. I feel like the video speaks for itself and is very inspiring for people to be happy with who you are and know that everyone is beautiful in their own way.
1 comments:
I think you are one of the few people who actually 'got' Kruger and the other female artists. Thank you for this post. I feel better about the world now.
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