The Body as a Political site

The Body as a political site (from web sources)

For many years now the body has always been a political site that's shaped around politics and culture. This is because today's generation is obsessed with the body and anything they say effects the way the media views this topic. . According to 'Elizabeth Ettore' this is because "There is an unspoken and sometime spoken push for us to be normalised. Any kind of bodies  that are seen as not normal are really excluded from society"

The use of advanced technology, particularly has a large influence on body politics as it is where a lot of the people get there source of information from. Things like video games, movies, Tv's, laptops and mobile phones are all different forms of media consumption. If you look around, a lot of teenagers today are slouched over there phones or hovered over there laptops. All different forms of technology have a hold of our body posture, and this is evident in the way that they also have partial control of our minds.

Women today, are especially being criticized by their appearance because of the 'male gaze', which is a man's point of view on how a women should look. A mans perception of what a 'perfect body' should like has always been taken to account and because of this a lot of women in the media and around the world are seen as sexual objects. Every fashion magazine we come across for example, either have models on the front cover or gorgeous looking celebrities. This just goes to show that Fashion photography delivers content about 'body image' like no other, as it not only shapes our society but also shapes our politics. The whole political economy is now all about or mostly about "Capitalism" as the exploitation of women and men's bodies sell products, magazines, photographs etc...

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman was one of the most influential photographers between mid 1970's-1980 as she challenged and raised important questions on how women were represented in society, media and art . Her photographs were inspired by female roles in movies, as she knew that this had a massive impact on the way people in society shaped their identities. At the young age of 23 she chose to photograph herself, experimenting with the idea of shooting 'magazine glimpse  in the life of an "Imaginary blond actress", that she created. The series of photographs were shot, in my opinion to get a visual of what the average women's life at home would be. Because of this, it created a massive stereotypes for women as the message being sent out, was women were "house wives".  Wanting this further,  Sherman then went on to photograph other characters such as, the chic scarlet at her seaside hideaway, the luscious librarian and a domesticated sex kittens. Although her photographs were stereotypical in the sense that they portray women as underdogs, they were interesting and eye capturing because they created scenes that are now considered to be cliches.

Vanessa Beecroft

Vanessa Beecroft's work is a fusion of conceptual issues and aesthetic concerns, focusing on large-scale performance art, usually involving live female models (often nude). At her performances, video recordings and photographs are made, to be exhibited as documentation of the performances, but also as separate works of art. The work and her conceptual approach is neither performance nor documentary, but something in between, and closer to Renaissance painting. She sets up a structure for the participants in her live events to create their own ephemeral composition. The performances are existential encounters between models and audience, their shame and their expectations. Each performance is made for a specific location and often references the political, historical, or social associations of the place where it is held. Beecroft’s work is deceptively simple in its execution, provoking questions around identity politics and voyeurism in the complex relationship between viewer, model and context.

Beecroft's performances have been described as art, fashion, brilliant, terrible, evocative, provocative, disturbing, sexist, and empowering. The primary material in her work is the live female figure, which remains ephemeral, and separate. These women, mainly unclothed, similar, unified through details like hair color, or identical shoes, stand motionless, unapproachable and regimented in the space while viewers watch them.

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ap2xnMcvpw 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHo3EViZrDY&playnext=1&list=PL7061ED2F44E5DD21&feature=results_video 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Beecroft 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Sherman 

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6016/Body-Politics.html 

http://www.fead.org.uk/video354/Elizabeth-Ettorre-on-the-Body-as-a-Political-Site.html 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5K_y-8qS5LAC&pg=PA67&lpg=PA67&dq=the+body+as+a+political+site&source=bl&ots=7TS6ny8YmL&sig=moOmIRdLtivZZOteHy6Jrztit2Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7lMFUY6GB4LU0QWJ3YDAAg&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAjgU