Women Susan Sontag Analysis

In 1972, sociologist Susan Sontag wrote an essay regarding, what she called, ‘The Double Standards of Ageing’. The phrase ‘double standards’ refers to a rule or principle that is unfairly applied to different people. In her essay, Sontag’s 'double standards' refers to older men and women and the inequality that appears to come with ageing, showing how some principles only affects one gender and not the other. There are several different types of double standards regarding older men and women mainly those towards appearance but also including, sexual feeling and class. In this essay, I will be discussing what Sontag’s argument appears to reveal about the relationship between individual agency and wider social structures when it comes to

This essay will discuss how women were represented in the portraiture during the Renaissance period. It will explain how the women’s body was pictured in portraiture as; marriage celebrant, husbands beloved, figures of fertility, mothers, display of wealth, paragons of virtues, husband’s passive representative, indication of fashion and more (Brown, 2003). Next, it will include analysis from the two female portraits of Leonardo de Vinci’s Ginerva de’ Benci and Sandro Botticelli’s Portrait of a Lady. First, I will explain what portrait means and then represent my own interpretation of Botticelli’s Portrait of a Lady by referring to instructional “activity dialog” that details how to analyse the body’s subject in the portrait (Mckennee et

In “Why We Take Pictures,” Susan Sontag discusses the increase use of technology and its ability to impact the daily lives of mankind. Taking pictures is a form of self-evolution that slowly begins to shape past and present experiences into reality. Sontag argues how the use of photography is capable of surpassing our reality by helping us understand the concept of emotion, diversity, and by alleviating anxiety and becoming empowered. Moreover, according to her argument, people are able to construct a bond between the positive or negative moments in life to cognitively release stress through reminiscing. Therefore, Sontag claims that photography itself can help with reshaping individual’s perspectives of reality by being able to empathize with the emotions portrayed through an image. Thus, giving

In "A Woman's Beauty: Put-down or Power Source," Susan Sontag portrays how a woman's beauty has been degraded while being called beautiful and how that conceives their true identity as it seems to portray innocence and honesty while hiding the ugliness of the truth. Over the years, women have being classified as the gentler sex and regarded as the fairer gender. Sontag uses narrative structure to express the conventional attitude, which defines beauty as a concept applied today only to women and their outward appearance. She accomplishes this by using the technique of contrast to distinguish the beauty between men and women and establishing a variation in her essay, by using effective language.

In the documentary “killing us softly 4”, Jean Kilbourne discusses the toxic environment that leads to the dehumanizing of females. She goes into intense details on how females have been misrepresented in advertisements over the years. She explains that in advertisements, females have been subjected to inhumane ways such as being a product of sexually expressive methods. Even though in recent years men have been subjected to the same media exploit as women, Jean Kilbourne expresses that it is not as half as bad as what women have been going through, and it is now worse than ever. Jean Kilbourne also expresses how Photoshop is the newest tool in promoting women. Using Photoshop as an advertisement tool allow authors to make women look unrealistically slim.

Susan Sontag worked very hard throughout her life to get her voice out there. She also made it very clear that an education was important to her and unless she obtained that high level of education, her voice may not have been heard by as many people, and this essay may not have been written. Sontag’s time spent in school for years as well as a human rights activist has a strong role in her essay A Women’s Beauty: Put-Down or Power Source. The fact that she was so goal oriented, and went to many years of college lets her readers know that beauty was not her power source, it was her brain. Sontag’s intended audience for this essay is very broad, intended for mostly young women, but relevant to men and women of all ages for ages to come.

Photographer, Sid Avery has successfully showcased his views on gender stereotypes through the means of photography. When looking at plate 1, we are able to see that through the use of subject placement and composition, we are able to see the assumed role of a woman being depicted by the male. This concept challenges several stereotypes of this time, as well as conflicting against the idea that ‘A woman's place is in the home’. Sid Avery may have chosen to publish this with the saturday evening post, so that his perception of gender equality could be exposed to all members of the general public in the hope to break national stereotypes. Another work by Sid Avery can be seen in plate 2, where we see a realistic photograph of Marlon Brando taking

Stereotypes are widely-held images and characteristics imposed onto certain groups of people, typically due to physical appearance. For centuries, stereotypes have been used consciously and subconsciously to categorise individuals into simplified, societal groups. In response to this, many artists have created works that expose and challenge such socio-cultural labels. Evelyne Axell and Nan Goldin are two visual artists that use their work – in contradictory ways – to confront and oppose restrictive gender stereotypes.

It is should be noted that most works of art use pictures and symbols related to women to depict their parental obligations as well as the role that they play in society. As principle characters, women are liable to be included in a sentiment or family or are demonstrated as youthful, single, independent, and free of work and family issues. At the point when presented with numerous sexual orientation messages, kids are more prone to embrace stereotypes and such stereotypes can contrarily affect and limit opportunities, particularly for women, by bringing down self-pride and body fulfillment, and also

Garry Winogrand was best known for his portrayal of American life, and social issues within America. One of his most famous, and well-known bodies of work that was very representative of his style of photography was the series of photos known as “Women are beautiful”. His primary concern with the series was to show not only the beauty of women in situations where beauty was expected or common, but also within the average life of independent women of the era, the latter is displayed very well in the photo Bag Lady. This photo contains a women making her way down the street in casual clothing carrying some personal belongings, her intention is not posing, or conveying her beauty, she is simply going through her day to day life, and Garry’s message

While men have been consistently involved in family photography for decades, and are ultimately responsible for the establishment of family photography as fine art, “family photography” as a genre is assumed today to be “women’s work.” There is in fact a prominent and compelling collection of photographic work that exists and illustrates the way men capture family within a frame. For better or worse, male photographers were crucial in the establishment of family photography being accepted as a genre of fine art photography. Family photography can serve as a means to form a human connection. While the darkest moments of family life might not be included in a family album they are relatable at the deepest, purest level. Male and female family photographers alike were responding to a need to depict domestic pains felt through the universality of family. The images retained within a family album diverge from fine art photographs because they attempt to only memorialize the idealized stories of childhood and family travels and traditions. The ways men and women grapple with public and private spaces are inherently very different. Consequently, the perception of family work that brings the private to their eyes of the public falls along gender

“Literature might be described as the history of human responsiveness” (Susan Sontag). Many might remember Susan Sontag (1933-2004) as a filmmaker; others may have seen her as an artist, and some as a writer. Sontag was profusely educated, having earned her Bachelor of the Arts from the University of Chicago and continuing her graduate studies in philosophy, literature, and theology at Harvard University. She was an intellectual, which allowed her to create a steady impact in the realm of art and literature, aside from the fact that social norms had discouraged women from such roles during most of her life. Susan had a very successful career as a filmmaker, writer, and even human rights activist. Some of her works include In America, as well

In Sontag’s essay “A Woman’s Beauty” she illustrates this different standards between men and women. She makes several points in which she sees that men receive less pressure than women when it came to physical beauty standards by providing examples in where it seems men aren’t pressured or are free from any criticism. It’s not clear if it was her intention was to give men so much credit to the point where it seems like none exist. I do believe the pressures and disparages of genders exist on both sides. There are moments when these standards can have grave psychological effects for men and women. A closer look will allow us to understand clearly how these standards can affect individuals.

According to Wang Xiaohong(王晓宏 2008), Sontag advocates human rights, emphasizes human's value and dignity, and despise the desire not to betray the personality, conscience, dignity, feelings, as well as the soul, the body of freedom. It makes us understand that today's attention to material prosperity, while simultaneously must pay attention to people's spiritual world, to enhance the moral realm. In the process of promoting the development of human freedom, adhere to the scientific concept of development, it is essential to liberate human nature and not even stifle human nature. Sontag, with her keen insight, profoundly reveals the dark side of the society, just as the Grameen points that in the tradition of the west, the concept of freedom is the core of any society that has a complete political theory.

Visual portrayals of females in mass media have been a focal point of discussion for many scholarly articles and debates for more than 5 decades (Mager & Helgeson 2010).