Author Archives: Brianna Cierra Johnson

Exploitation and Degradation of Women

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During the second episode of Berger’s media series, Ways of Seeing, Berger talks about how women are depicted as more so objects than actual people in art. He mentions many times that the way that the artist draws the women in subservient/suggestive positions that would cater to the male audience’s desires. Although people may try to deny the idea of art being as suggestive as it is, they cannot deny that even people’s desires leak into our art. One example is the controversy of the Portrait of Madame; a painting by John Singer Sargent that was a public outcry due to the woman’s position. Her strap was falling from her shoulder, and due to this, many people were disgusted by her seemingly dishonorable pose. This forced the painter, disgraced and unable to get more people to commission his art, to move to London.

 

The influence of women being used for sexual interest goes far beyond the arts; it is present throughout human history. From Hollywood to even common people land, people have taken advantage of women under the guise of friendliness for centuries. One example of this is the recent media coverage of R. Kelly, An American singer and songwriter, and the allegations of sexual abuse of young women at the peak of his popularity. Under the guise of wanting to help these women, these GIRLS, R. Kelly took them from their families and held them captive. Lying to the parents, R. Kelly made it seem like he was helping these women further their own careers, while he sexually abused and fulfilled his own darkest fantasies with them.
It could be compared to how the women in art are depicted and how easily R. Kelly used his status to take these girls. Like art, R. Kelly pretended to be a savior, a creative genius that wasn’t capable of evil and was highly respected. Also like art, R. Kelly exploited these women for his own interests and denied even knowing what his charges were.

So, as I am very interested in immigration policies, I was just browsing through many articles until I came to this specific one;

In English, it means ‘Stop Islamization’. The basic summary of Islamization is the process of bringing someone or something under the influence of Islam or under Islamic rule. Although it is incorrect, this image was manipulated in order to show the message. It shows Islamic women, dressed in their traditional clothing, shopping in presumably somewhere in Germany. This image is tied to a book called The Strange Death of Europe, where the author believes that the mass amount of Islamic immigrants is decreasing the predominantly white population, making them a minority. The picture is colored in black and white to symbolize jail, at least to me, or something to avoid or be afraid of. 

It subconsciously supports the campaign’s message of Muslims being the enemy by the use of color, although the true portion of the photo had nothing to do with breaking the law. The book itself is in support for anti immigration in Europe. It is cited by many anti immigration politicians in America while we are having immigration issues. The author blames immigrants for Europe’s massive rape and murder crime rise and blames Europe’s somewhat lax immigration laws. It is unfortunate that even in this day and age, the presence of short-sightedness is still around and inciting anger against those who did nothing to deserve it.