Flora Fauna: Girlhood Part I

FLORAFAUNA

March|2024 IssueI

ALETTERFROMDAISY

It is important to note that girlhood is interpreted differently for everyone. To some girlhood can be filled with clutter and life. To others girlhood can be a place of peace and quiet.

Rosie and I went over multiple ideas for our first theme over the course of a year. When girlhood began trending, it was clear to us that it was the perfect choice. The phrase “We were girls together” resonated greatly more specifically because we were in fact girls together. When I was younger, my family made a move to a new neighborhood. This wasn’t entirely obscene except for that a couple years down the line, Rosie’s mother would move them to a new state, into a little house right next to mine.

Rosie and I have gone on a multitude of adventures since the 5th grade. To put that into numbers, we are in our 20's now and we were 10 back then so we have an entire decade of quests under our belts.

It was clear to us we shared a similar affinity for creating and after years of confiding in each other for our endeavors, we ’ ve decided it’s time to share it with the world.

If you find yourself, like Rosie and I, welcome to Flora Fauna. We hope you find your home as we did in each other.

Sincerely, Daisy

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DO YOU HAVE A HAIR TIE?

I NEVER NEED NEW HAIR TIES. WE GO THE BEACH AND MY SISTER ASKS ME FOR A HAIRTIE SO SHE CAN ENJOY THE WAVES WITHOUT HER HAIR IN HER FACE. LATER, WE GO OUT TO PLAY IN THE FIELDS AND AS THE HEAT BEARS DOWN ALL I WANT IS TO PULL MY HAIR OUT OF THE WAY. THANKFULLY, MY FRIEND PULLS THE HAIR-TIE OUT OF HER OWN HAIR TO GIVE TO ME. HAIR-TIES HOLD THINGS TOGETHER. THEY ARE THERE ON OUR WRISTS WHEN WE NEED THEM MOST, MUCH LIKE OUR BEST FRIENDS AND OUR SISTERS. WE ALL SHARE OUR HAIR TIES AND NEVER HAVE THE SAME ONES. TINY MOMENTS LIKE A GIRL ASKING FOR ONE AT THE CLUB, A GIRL WHO WANTS TO ENJOY THE WINDS, OR A GIRL WHO NEEDS HER HAIR OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE SHE THREATENS TO CUT IT ALL OFF. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE ANOTHER GIRL RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER WITH A HAIR-TIE AROUND HER WRIST TO GIVE.

OURFIRSTLIPGLOSS

I REMEMBER ALWAYS WANTING TO WEAR

MAKEUP AS A LITTLE GIRL. MY MOTHER WOULD LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL PUTTING ON HER NYX

EYELINER IN THE MIRROR. I WOULD ASK IF I COULD WEAR IT TOO AND OF COURSE THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS NO BECAUSE I WAS TOO YOUNG. ONE DAY, SHE COMES BACK FROM THE STORE AND HANDS ME A CHEAP LIPGLOSS KIT.

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND GLITTERY AND I FELT LIKE A PRETTY PRINCESS WITH MY NEW SHINY LIPS. OF COURSE AS I GREW OLDER IT CHANGED INTO FENTY LIPGLOSS, BUT THE SENTIMENT FEELS THE SAME. I STILL FEEL

PRETTY PUTTING IT ON, I STILL SMILE WHEN I KISS MY FRIENDS ON THE CHEEK, LEAVING A MARK, AND I ALWAYS HAVE IT INCASE A GIRL NEEDS IT TO FEEL JUST AS PRETTY WHEN SHE LOOKS IN THE MIRROR TOO.

byCaitPerry

From beautiful shots, subtle acting style and catchy soundtracks, Sofia Coppola’s aesthetic has led her to be an auteur- particularly when it comes to exploring ideas of girlhood and femininity. Coppola consistently creates these stylised montages with gorgeous imagery, deemed by some as vapid or unnecessary, they instead carry deeper meanings and intention behind it- as for Sofia Coppola “style is substance”.

If you have not watched the 1999 masterpiece which is The Virgin Suicides, stop reading this now and watch it! You will fall in love with Sofia’s quintessentially 90s feel, it’s alluring soundtrack by French duo Air, and most importantly, you will fall in love with the Lisbon girls.

SofiaCoppola’sGirlhood:

ThroughtheLensoftheLisbonSisters

These 5 sisters (Lux, Cecelia, Bonnie, Mary, and Therese), are in the throes of their teenage years. Experimenting with music taste, reading and writing and creating niche obsession. These all play a role in the audience taking an interest and sympathising with these girls- as this is a pivotal time of character development for most people. In many of her feature films, Coppola’s characters are seen to be in transitional moments in their lives, sort of existing in these liminal spaces.

As The Virgin Suicides explores, through Coppola’s film-making, we see the limitations and subjectivity of the traditional cameraeven more, we see the limitations and subjectivity of those perceiving girlhood.

As the film progresses, the boys take items that belonged to the girls including ‘photographs, stolen diaries, old makeup, shoes, a stolen bra...’. These girls are reduced to these ‘sacred items’, as to these boys, the Lisbon sisters are merely extensions of their ‘feminine excess’. This is a very powerful moment, with Sofia Coppola and Author Jeffrey Eugenides prompting the concept that it is easier to love an idea, or a photograph, than to love a real person.

Perhaps the most disappointing moment in the whole story: the Homecoming football pitch scene. Without giving too much away, all you need to know is that no man should look up to the character Tripp Fontaine. Obsessed with the unattainability of Lux Lisbon, Tripp Fontaine relentlessly pursues her, in what seems at first, in an endearing manner. However, as she becomes more accessible to him, more attainable to him, the girls mystique is removed- leading him to become uninterested. This is a very telling trait that draws parallels with reality, as once a girl becomes humanised they can perceived as undesirable.

The male gaze. Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it, sadly. Critic Laura Mulvey deconstructs the roles of female characters in film with her influential 1975 essay, “Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema”. Here, she defines this idea of ‘the male gaze’, by arguing that women in film are “objectified and made passive through the audience’s identification with the on-screen male actors and by the masculine camera itself”. What is so important about Sofia Coppola’s craft, is that she often creates this ‘feminine’ camera that actively engages and subverts the male gaze.

This film/book is an exhibition of girlhood, this is what the boys in the film perceive girlhood to be. We rarely step into the girls world, hear their thoughts or understand their motivations due to this male narrative position. However, The Virgin Suicides cleverly reveals the limitations of the male observers telling their stories, exploring this idea that girlhood is such an intimate and personal concept that can’t be understood by simply being gazed upon- like most experiences, one has to be a part of it to truly understand.

Sofia Coppola gives us this cautionary tale of what happens when girls are merely seen and not understood, and are restricted from their self expression. The Virgin Suicides invites us to explore the importance of looking humanely and closely at one another, going further than ones initial gaze- encouraging those to not just spectate, but to truly understand girlhood.

byRosie

bystaff

IT GIRL. THE MEDIA ALWAYS USES THAT, DON’T THEY? AS THEIR DEFINING COMPLIMENT.

SHE’S THE IT GIRL.

IT GIRL IS SEXY. IT GIRL IS GENTLE. IT GIRL IS SOFT. IT GIRL NEVER WEARS MAKEUP. IT GIRL IS ALWAYS ON TREND. SHE ONLY EXISTS FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF EVERYONE ELSE. SHE LIKES WHAT YOU LIKE. SO, EVIDENTLY, YOU’RE AN INDECISIVE FUCK. IF YOU WANT A CLEAN GIRL, SHE PRESENTS HERSELF WITH ELEGANCE AND GRACE. IF THE MEDIA WANTS AN IT GIRL WHO ARE WE NOT TO TRY? SO WE’LL BE DESIRABLE, BUT NOT TOO COCKY. WE’LL BE SOFT AND QUIET, WE’LL BE CALM AND MATURE, SEXY AND FUNNY, SERIOUS AND CONFIDENT, TENTATIVE AND UNIQUE. TALENTED. BRILLIANT. BUT NEVER BE TOO MUCH, TOO LOUD.

YOUFORGEDANUNATTAINABLEDREAM.

*INSPIRED BY THE GONE GIRL MONOLOGUE

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Flora Fauna: Girlhood Part I

FLORAFAUNA

TABLEOFCONTENTS

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15-16

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GlossyLips&Rubber Bands

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