Megannaylorwardle mn111088 ouil501 copessay

Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

Western politics has a lack of diversity. The Leaders we choose tend to be white, wealthy and male. How does the public view of people of different genders affect this and how does popular culture affect these perceptions?

We use entertainment and popular culture to manipulate people. In ‘The Male Gaze’ a paper written by Laura Mulvey, she suggests that the theory of entertainment, like cinema, is designed to aim towards one specific audience, heterosexual men. ‘Cinema offers a number of possible pleasures. One is scopophilia (pleasure of looking)’ 1(Mulvey, 1975). This paper was written in the 1970’s and at this time Feminism was a significant topic. Issues like the objectification of women was being brought to light, also a consciousness of the patriarchal society we live in was being questioned. Mulvey specialised in film theory and in her paper she suggested that audiences relate more to male characters, therefore the male has power. The male viewer would see themselves reflected in the hero, and as a result advancing their ego, a mirror stage in which the dominant male character would be idolised, spectatorship. These women in the films were however objectified, sexualised. They were made into property. As a result of the films trying to feed the male gaze, strong female heroines were overlooked. But it wasn’t just women who were the victims of this time, men were objectified too. They had to appear strong and in control of the family, as fellow film theorist Richard Dyer states in his paper ‘Stars and Audiences’. ‘Sylvester Stallone to his role as a union representative at work, and how he sees himself ‘fighting’ for his family…’2(DYER,187,(1979).But he does agree and makes reference to Mulley’s spectator theory, ‘Moviegoer is positioned according to the pleasures of male heterosexual desire’ (’DYER,188,(1979). John Storey a writer in the late 1900’s, who refers to Mulvey’s theory makes a very similar connection between cinema and the male gaze. ‘…Spectator fixes his gaze on his hero (the bearer of the look) to satisfy his ego formations, and through the hero to the heroine (‘the erotic look’)…’ 3(STOREY, 83, SAVOJ ZIZEK AND LACANIAN FANTASY). Masculinity seems to be a key player in how men are defined and aspire to be. Politics is an industry dominated by men.

After the general election 2015. 4(BBC News, 2016) In the gender distribution of parliamentary seats, we can see that the numbers of women are increasing but still fall short of what one would expect. After the 2015 general election, a parliamentary review found that the 1

MULVEY, L. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975).

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’DYER,188,(1979)

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STOREY, 83, SAVOJ ZIZEK AND LACANIAN FANTASY

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BBC News. (2017). Election 2015: Number of women in Parliament rises by a third - BBC News. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32601280 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2016].

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Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

number of female MPs had increased to 30%. However, the female population is half so this figure should be 50%? Why are men voted or selected to be in power over women? Could this be a fault in society?

A report indicating that society is at fault is by Linda Napikoski, a feminist theorist, defines Patriarchal as ‘a general structure in which men have power over women.’ 5(Napikoski, 2017) . Therefore, a Patriarchal society consists of a male dominated force that forms the structure that runs throughout society and in individual relationships. Napikoski states that patriarchy is a central feminist theory. The article refers to Greek patriarchs, where a society’s power was controlled and passed down through the elder male lines, who also held the authority in society. The elder males within families held the authority in the society. The term when all the assets such as titles and property are passed down the male line is referred to as Patrilineal. The second waves of feminism in the 1960’s examined this factor in society and they observed how within households women were increasingly becoming the heads. They also found that rather than stating that individual men oppressed women it was in fact a larger more underlying issue of patriarchal and phallocentric society.

Napikoski also refers to Gerda Leaner a western feminist who’s 1986 theoretical book ‘ The Creation of Patriarchy,’ Lerner, G. (2017). claims to trace the rise of patriarchal society back to the second millennium.

Leaner states that there are many complex elements involved including ecological, cultural and historical factors which influenced lifestyle changes and the adaptation of new circumstances. During the Neolithic Era men where in herder tribes, they learned how to domesticate animals and thus the ‘herder men’ where the first humans to identify the idea of private ownership. Once this was established they started to create their own blood lines. Therefore, beginning the first patriarchal families. She then argues these points stating that before these developments ‘male dominance was not a feature of human society in general.’ (Napikoski, 2017) Greyson Perry’s book, The Descent of Man, states his opinion on masculinity and whether masculinity is working for us. Perry comes from a very unique perspective as he is male and takes part in what society states are male activities but he is also a transvestite, so takes part in more stereotypical female activities like make – up and wearing dresses, hence he comes into this debate on gender from an almost balanced insight. In the book, a chapter entitled Asking fish about water; Perry considers a male figure in society called the ‘Default Man’.

‘The White Blob was a strong contender, but in the end I opted to call him Default Man….’

6 (Perry,(2016)TheDesentOfMan,p14). In it he describes this figure of the default man being middle class boys who could take possible positions of power, for example, politicians. The default man is meant to embody neutrality, in their smart plain suits and lack of emotion. But because of this approach we have a sense of mistrust with these men, as there is no personality being shown ‘If George Osborne had dressed up as a cross between Flashman and the Grim reaper instead of a business suit when he delivered his budgets, perhaps we would have had a more appropriate vision of who was controlling the nation’s finances.’

(Perry,(2016)TheDesentOfMan,p14). We don’t really know anything about the people, who run key parts of our economy and other major parts of government,’ …. I like the word ‘default’, for not only does it mean a result of not making an active choice’, but two of its synonyms are ‘failure to pay’ and ‘evasion’, which seems incredibly appropriate…’ (Perry,(2016)TheDesentOfMan,p14). Why do we, in western society, put these men in charge, when we have talented people of different gender, class and ethnicity ready and waiting? However Perry does acknowledge that there is a change happening within parliaments with employing women but it is a very slow transition ‘At present rate of change, it will take over a hundred years before the UK parliament is 50 per cent female…’ (Perry,(2016)TheDesentOfMan,p14). But there is still a lack of seats for people from different classes and ethnicity. This needs to change. By employing people from these different sectors of society we have the potential to push out the 'Default man' and employ new insights into politics and make it a more inclusive society. The UK parliament is an example of Phallogocentrism- ‘Relating to or reflecting a perspective that is predominantly or exclusively male. Dominated or controlled by men: a phallocentric society.’ 7(TheFreeDictionary.com, n.d.)

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Napikoski, L. (2017). Patriarchal Society – Feminist Theories of Patriarchy.

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Perry.G (2016)The Decent of Man, Penguin.

7

TheFreeDictionary.com. (n.d.). Phallogocentrism. [online] Available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Phallogocentrism [Accessed 15 Dec. 2016].

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Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

Sculpture- ‘Object in foreground’

Wood cut- ‘Animal spirit.’

The phallic sculpture named ‘Object in Foreground’ is covered in in images relating to the male dominated banking world and politicians. ‘I was thinking of an object that could hold its own among all the marble but drew attention to the unquestioned maleness of its world’ 8(Cityam.com, 2017) There is an aspect of school boy humour in this piece, and this works ironically with the male dominant culture.

However there could be said to be juxtaposition to the piece as it is made out of clay which is a fragile material which could represent the fragility of an alpha male.

The Wood cut, entitled ‘Animal Sprit’ is a illustration of a half bear man, half bull which also has a massive phallus. This is a power image, the half bull aspect represents a powerful male animal, also represents Hegemonic masculinity. The insides of the animal are label with words like common sense , important, rational and wise. The baby underneath and the patterns used are taken from 16th century Japanese candlestick graphs.

The graphs were used to help people understand the rice market and today for city traders. Certain colours on the graph are given names for example, abandoned baby and three black crows. The bear too is a powerful animal and the big phallus in both images suggests a large amount of masculinity. ‘There’s no disputing what it is… it’s a big cock’ (Cityam.com, 2017) This piece is also meant to be displayed within the same environment as the sculpture. ‘…the fact remains that it is men who die far more by suicide than women’9 (Samaritans,2012,p1) .The Samaritans investigate the causes into a rise in the amount of middle aged men committing suicide. One of the causes the report covers is Masculinities. It states that the way men are brought up, told how to behave and roles that are expected from them in society. Men end up comparing themselves against ‘a masculine ‘gold standard’ which prizes power, control and invincibility.’ (Samaritans,2012,p1) When men have the belief that they are not meeting this societal standard then their self-esteem drops and they feel defeated. Having the job of being 8

Cityam.com. (2017). Perry. [online] Available at: http://www.cityam.com [Accessed 16 Dec. 2016].

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The Samaritans (2012). Men and Suicide - why is it a social issue. [online] Available at: http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/Samaritans_Men_and_Suicide_Report_web.pdf [Accessed 14 Dec. 2016].

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Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

the house provider and head of the family is essential to ‘being a man’ (Samaritans,2012,p1) , especially with working class men. The report explains that’ Masculinity and femininity are sociological concepts which can be defined through a collection of roles, behaviours, activities, expressions and practises…constructed ideas about ‘being a man…’ (Samaritans,2012,p1) Hegemonic masculinity is a theory set out by Raewyn Connell .’ …it is an ideal to which most men aspire and / or against which they measure themselves.’

(Samaritans,2012,p10) It is characterised through several attributes, for example, power hungry, aggressiveness, independency, success, activity and control. He For She which is a feminist campaign also campaigns for men rights too, they want to give men more support to open up about their emotions and not to feel weak by doing so, instead of bottling up. However from this report it looks like society could easily be said to be at fault. It needs to update its values but this is a hard thing to do as it seems that the ideal of masculinity is too deeply embedded. By adding more women into powerful places like parliament could be an impactful way of changing society values.

There is still not total gender equality, however on the other hand TV could be seen to be developing its values on gender, for example with UK politics we have Margret Thatcher and spitting image.

In satirical comedy series Spitting image Margret Thatcher is portrayed her in stereotypical ways of witch like features and crooked nose, but one significant visual change is that she is dressed in a suit. Not meeting within Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’10 (Mulvey, 1975) theory, instead this could be seen as Thatcher, a powerful female leader conforming to the masculinity or ‘The default man’11 (Perry,TheDesentOfMan,p14,2016 ) . Given that politics is a male dominated profession as a woman coming into it you need to fight to be heard, so conforming to their way of acting and dressing could be the only way to be taken seriously. Famously, Margaret Thatcher was advised to lower her tone’ 12(The Guardian, 2017). In an article by the Guardian, researchers at a Canadian university found that people responded positively and preferred to a lower, male tone of voice.

She has to meet parliaments embedded ideals of how a politician should behave and act. Spitting image really highlights this fact up in it’s sketches but also does still show her as a powerful figure and above the men in her cabinet for example ‘Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet of vegetables ‘.13(Margaret thatcher cabinet, 1988).The waitress asks what Thatcher ( who she refers to as sir) wants and then ‘what about the vegetables?’ Thatcher thinks she is referring to her all male cabinet. This belittles and makes the male politicians appear stupid, therefore making Thatcher appear more intelligent than her peers. It aims to reflect popular public opinion back onto the public in order to get them more engaged with politics. Having TV shows like this with it’s aim mainly 10 11

Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), pp.6-18.

Perry.G (2016)The Decent of Man, Penguin.

12

The Guardian (2017). Must a woman lower the tone of her voice to be successful?. [online] p.1. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/nov/15/woman-lowertone-voice-successful [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].

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Margaret thatcher cabinet. (1988). [video] BBC.

Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

to make people more in tune with politics, leads people to see the floors like a lack of diversity within our own parliament which leads to certain sectors of people like women being poorly represented.

But sadly, today there is still a big and obvious divide within male dominated sectors and industries with how women are treated. And as such within patriarchal sectors such as politics women having to adopt a male persona with which to be taken seriously. In the UK now we have two prominent female leaders (England and Scotland). It is a step in the right direction from a feminist perspective, it shows that women are starting to be taken seriously with politics as well as having political responsibility. But for others it can be seen as an unwelcome change. In an article written by The Daily Mail entitled 14‘Never Mind Brexit – Who Won Legs-it!’

(Malkin, 2017) an image of Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland’s First Minister) and PM Teresa May sitting next to each other both wearing skirts, heels and bare legs. The way they dress here is not adopting the persona of ‘The Default Man’(Perry,TheDesentOfMan,p14,2016 ) instead dressing in what is seen in society as a feminine way.

Owen Jones ( a well know left wing supporter) in video on YouTube titled ‘The Daily Male Hates Britain.’

(Owen Jones, 2017) gives some explanation into his theories as to why the Daily Mail may have decided to do this. He states that the Daily Mail in the past has demonised certain groups for example the NHS, Refugees, LGBT rights and Muslims. '...Hates Britain. ' (Owen Jones, 2017) Jones claims that there is something happening in this country. He pin points one significant event BREXIT. The majority of people voted to leave the European Union and won. But I strongly agree with his next statement that it wasn't just the state of the EU that made people tick the leave box. It was about the NHS, Immigration and this is where MP's in control of the leave campaign decided to lie, for example the campain bus which claimed a large sum of money would go to the NHS. Which in an interview later given denied it. The Brexit vote was also an opportunity to re shape Britain. A 'Counter revolution.'(Owen Jones, 2017) a back lash against the majority and women and the rights that they have fought for.

Western politics remains predominantly made up of smartly clothed, corporate, white, powerful males. Or in other words ‘The Default Man’(Perry,TheDesentOfMan,p14,2016 ). As a result of this the likelihood of a black child being born today and becoming PM is still highly unlikely and the way in which society treats people from different ethnic backgrounds needs to change to prevent them from being’ seen as cultural outsiders’(Macintosh, 2017) and can speak out without putting their ‘ Race on trial’(Macintosh, 2017). In addition the connotations and subjects that we associate with people need amending throughout society.

The same needs to happen with gender. We are still in modernist views of a nuclear family that men rule and are in control. This is not having a negative effect on women but on men. They, as young boys, are brought up to be the ‘ Hegemonic male’(Samaritans, 2012,p10) which is wrong and has to be reformed to prevent men feeling powerless , out of control and meaningless. If this change is implemented, then male suicide rates have the potential to be lowered. By removing this masculine ideal from society then this could encourage more women to take a place of power and preventing them conforming to fit in with a phallocentric society.

Art and popular culture acts as almost a truth teller in this situation, for example, Laura Mulvey states that entertainment like cinema is very centred on pleasing a male audience and Perry’s work plays emphasis on how masculine some areas of society are and by stating the obvious truth through ‘ a big cock’ (Cityam.com, 2017).

He is making the message plain and simple. Also TV programs are almost juxtaposition to Mulvey’s statement, illustrating women like Margret Thatcher with her witch like features, not for male pleasure but for political motives. They show her through the eyes of the public but also through what she is doing and her actions. This is why they dress her in a suit as she is the prime example of a woman of power conforming to society’s masculine view of power. However, the program as a whole shows what I believe, that culture could be used as a tool to improve society’s views and highlight toughs areas in which diversity falters. So using ‘ postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children’s magazines’ (Macintosh, 2017) to bring through positive connotations towards people from different ethnic backgrounds and gender and to promote the idea of a more openly diverse society then this may result in an end to white , wealthy male rule and open up to a more equal western society.

In a practical investigation carried out by practising illustrator Megan Naylor – Wardle, she attempts to investigated the wider picture and how women are objectified, but with the overarching aim of celebrating women’s bodies and being a woman, eliminating the objectification. Throughout the investigation she also tries to establish what feminism is, by employing the feminist theories to her approach and process such as ‘The Male 14

Malkin, B. (2017). Daily Mail 'Legs-it' front page criticised as 'sexist, offensive and moronic'. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/28/daily-mail-legs-it-front-page-sexist [Accessed 30 Apr. 2016].

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Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

Gaze’ (Mulvey, 1975) and of how women’s bodies are viewed in society. Naylor –Wardle’s aim to try and eliminate the stigma attached to women being objects of heterosexual male desire by showing women’s bodies as functioning being and creating imagery that goes against the latter. She begins her investigation by considering the parts of a women’s body that are sexualised such as breasts. (see figure 1)

- Figure 1.

From this she starts to study more into the anatomy of the female body. This is a part of a women that is rarely represented, but it is what allows women to do extraordinary things such as to grow and give birth to new life. It is also a key part of what makes a woman.

Throughout this investigation Naylor-Wardle also tries to establish an opinion into what it means to be a feminist. Dismissing the image of ‘The Default Man’ (Perry,TheDesentOfMan,p14,2016 ) that women sometimes adopt to be taken seriously, and replace. As such, the process she uses to create her images, fabrics and embroidery can be interpreted as traditionally female, however it’s about taking ownership over them and re appropriating them to fit into a different context of celebrating the female form. With this employing some the practical theorises such as Shannon Downey (Downey, S. (2017). She also uses print and pattern to break down the images with the intention of making them slightly obscure and driving the viewer to decipher what is depicted. The reasoning behind doing this is so the patterns could potentially be used in a more commercial context, hence spreading the wider message. Print and repetition is an effective way of mass producing imagery, whist also being ascetically pleasing on the eye and is very versatile. Although Naylor – Wardle’s investigation is highly experimental, the shapes are sometimes too abstract to read what they are. The larger whole image pieces seem to translate more strongly as there is a less confining space, and there is a more information. (see figures 2 and 3.)

- Figure 2

- Figure 3 There could have been more thought to colour as well. Using again a traditional female colour, pink, mixed with others again makes for a successful aesthetic but there needs more context behind it. Considering more colour theorist and studying the connotations behind different colours could have added another level to the concept. At

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Megan Naylor-Wardle – C.O.P OUIL501

the end of her project, Naylor –Wardle states the opinion that feminism is a theory that is all inclusive. That just because society labels certain activities and actions, as feminine, it is by no means the definitive view and just because you may partake in these and you are still a feminist. It is about having the freedom to do want and be who you are without the attachment of gender stigmas.

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Macintosh, (2017). White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. [online] Available at: http://P. Macintosh [Accessed 21 Dec. 2016].

Anon, (2017). [Blog] Femen -Femen official blog. Available at: http://femen.org [Accessed 24 Mar. 2017].

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BBC News. (2017). Election 2015: Number of women in Parliament rises by a third - BBC News. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-32601280 [Accessed 20 Dec. 2016].

BBC NEWS. (2016). why a black child is 12 times less likely to become PM. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37949332, [Accessed 13 Nov. 2016].

BBC NEWS. (2016). Why a black child is 12 times less likely to become PM. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37949332, [Accessed 13 Nov. 2016] Black Is The New Black.. BBC: N.p., 2016. film.

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(Richard DYER,188,(1979) Dictionary.com. (2017). the definition of old boy network. [online] Available at: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/old--boy--network [Accessed 16 Dec. 2016].

Downey, S. (2017). Shannon Downey (@badasscrossstitch) • Instagram photos and videos. [online] Instagram.com. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/badasscrossstitch/?hl=en [Accessed 1 May 2017].

Gallery, S. (2017). Grayson Perry - Artist's Profile - The Saatchi Gallery. [online] Saatchigallery.com.

Available at: http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/grayson_perry.htm [Accessed 1 May 2017].

Lerner, G. (2017). The Creation of Patriarchy. [online] Available at: http://w3.salemstate.edu/~hbenne/pdfs/patriarchy_creation.pdf [Accessed 28 Mar. 2017].

Margaret thatcher cabinet. (1988). [video] BBC. Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, 16(3), pp.6-18.

Moran, C. (2016). How to be a woman. 1st ed.

Malkin, B. (2017). Daily Mail 'Legs-it' front page criticised as 'sexist, offensive and moronic'. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/28/daily-mail-legs-it-front-page-sexist [Accessed 30 Apr. 2017].

Napikoski, L. (2017). Patriarchal Society – Feminist Theories of Patriarchy.

Perry.G (2016)The Decent of Man, Penguin.

TheFreeDictionary.com. (n.d.). Phallogocentrism. [online] Available at: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Phallogocentrism [Accessed 15 Dec. 2016].

The Guardian (2017). Must a woman lower the tone of her voice to be successful?. [online] p.1. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/nov/15/woman-lowertone-voice-successful [Accessed 17 Dec. 2016].

The Telegraph. (2017). 16 of the best signs from Women's Marches. [online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/16-best-signs-womens-marches/shannon-downey-chicago-selftitled-feminist-fiber-artist-embroidered/ [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017].

The Samaritans (2012). Men and Suicide - why is it a social issue. [online] Available at: http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/Samaritans_Men_and_Suicide_Report_web.pdf [Accessed 14 Dec. 2016].

Russell. The Trews- Who's In Charge Of Emma Watsons T*Ts. youtube: N.p., 2017. video.

(John STOREY, 83, SAVOJ ZIZEK AND LACANIAN FANASY)

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