Spraying Messages in Egypt *Grade This :)

Scrolling through news sites over the past week, I came across this article from the Daily Beast. According to the article, a group of female artists in Cairo are spreading messages of equality through street art. For the country, this is quite a revolutionary concept. Bright and colorful spray paint works of art convey messages such as empowering women by increasing their visibility throughout the city. This idea stems from the Women on Walls (WOW) project, which uses graffiti and street art to talk about women. The campaign aims to illustrate the daily struggles of Egyptian women, ultimately encouraging better treatment and women's rights.

While reading about this project, I found it interesting that graffiti was used to portray such important messages. Graffiti, an illegal art, is not something that I would typically think of to become a form of resistance in a country plagued by dictatorship and an unfinished revolution, especially for women's rights. I enjoyed reading about WOW, however, because I admire its attempt to become an alternative media source. When I picture graffiti, I usually imagine art portraying gangs and other illegal activities. I appreciate WOW's ability to bust multiple stereotypes, including the stereotypes of both graffiti and the inferiority of women.

This unique approach is important to recognize because it demonstrates the power of aesthetics in terms of changing gender roles and women's rights. The radicalness of WOW is inspiring to many around the world, including myself. The messages of WOW have brought artists together to increase awareness and positively portray women in a public sphere. In an area like Egypt, where women are constantly treated as secondary roles in society, publicly depicting what is wrong in society can help address the issues and ultimately promote change.

I hope that as readers, you can admire this work and it sparks thoughts and conversations for yourselves about the role of gender in our society. Please reply to this blog post with any comments, I would love to hear your thoughts! 

Gender and Identity through Hamlet

In English class, we are currently reading the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The tragic play dramatizes the revenge of Prince Hamlet on his uncle Claudius for murdering Hamlet's father, the King. Hamlet's father is also the brother of Caludius, who ends up taking both the throne and as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow and Prince Hamlet's mother. Through the study of this play, I have learned to examine different critical approaches to various aspects of the play. There are unique, dynamic and mysterious female characters that play a critical role in Hamlet. It is for this reason that I found the feminist approach to Hamlet quite interesting. 

One specific question that feminist critics ask that intrigues me is: How is the work "gendered"? More specifically, how does it seem to define femininity and masculinity? By analyzing the play in this light, I found myself relating the idea of gender and identity to aesthetics and appearance. 

In today's society, much of gender and identity revolves around appearance. Men and women are expected to dress in a specific way to portray their gender appropriately. In turn, individuals are deemed "odd" and often outcasted for not following specific underlying gender roles of society, especially in terms of appearance. In theory, men and women have the freedom to portray themselves in any way they like. However, in reality, following social norms often hinders them from doing so. 

In Hamlet, the character Ophelia demonstrates the complexity of gender and identity. Ophelia is portrayed as an inferior character, controlled by the men around her. Ophelia is manipulated by Hamlet, who pursues her as a lover. Therefore, Ophelia represents the gender roles of society through her appearance as a weak character. Ophelia is portrayed as a feminine character through her appearance and props, such as her flowers. 

Ophelia is portrayed as a feminine character, as shown in this picture.

Ultimately, the idea of gender portrayed through femininity and masculinity is apparent throughout multiple generations, from the time of Shakespeare to current day. It is important to recognize this in order to realize how social norms play a role in our identity, especially through aesthetics and appearance. As readers, I would like you to ask yourselves: how do you define gender? How do aesthetics and appearance help to determine and identify gender? Does appearance limit gender? 

The New and REAL Queen Bee: Lorde and Reasons Why I Love Her

Over the past few weeks, I've been frequently listening to Lorde. A Grammy award winning 17 year old from New Zealand, she has more accomplishments than I probably will achieve in my lifetime. Yet the current spotlight on Lorde seems to be focusing on all aspects EXCEPT her talents. Media outlets deem her as "weird" and "awkward." Twitter posts and other social media sites bash her appearance and harshly respond to her Asian boyfriend. Sure, Lorde dresses like a witch. Sure, she doesn't embody a typical teenage cheerleader. But is that really important? It seems as though most critics are ignoring the parts of Lorde that I enjoy the most. The fact that she's unique. The fact that she's unbelievably talented. The fact that she's comfortable in her own "awkward" body. Lorde is a role model.

(Lorde performing at The Grammy's)

Lorde embraces her youth and gender. She shows her fans and critics that she's very different from her peers, in the best way possible. In addition, Lorde sticks up for what she believes in. A few months ago, Lorde risked controversy by critiquing pop star Selena Gomez's song, "Come and Get It." She is quoted saying, "I’m a feminist and the theme of her song is, 'When you’re ready, come and get it from me.' I’m sick of women being portrayed this way." Lorde stood by her comments, affirming that she has no problem with expressing her morals and opinions. 

Too often, girls and women lack the confidence to express themselves. Strong women are viewed as "controlling" while men are viewed as "powerful." This double standard is an issue that needs to be addressed in society, and Lorde is taking steps to combat this stereotype. Her power as a young female in the media industry should be viewed as admirable. Lorde is real. She's raw and pure. Her refreshing viewpoints are necessary in today's media industry, seeing as the roots of the industry lie within aesthetics and appearance instead of talent and personality. The world needs a figure like Lorde to be able to connect with. So, I applaud and thank Lorde for her actions towards empowering women.

The Ugly Truth About Society

Recently, I turned on the television and a woman appeared on the screen wearing nothing but a bikini and high heels. With makeup piled on her face and a can in her hand, she was “advertising” for an energy drink. Switching the channel, a muscular man appeared without a shirt and was holding a pack of deodorant. Unfortunately, this scenario is common. 

(Example of advertisement objectifying women) 

To me, the most frequent and significant examples of sexism occur within our media today. Subtle messages in advertisements like these have the power to influence how we view both ourselves and other individuals. Such messages are often misrepresentations of society and negatively impact our perceptions of beauty and appearance for both males and females. 

Today, the media frequently sexualizes women in order to sell products. In doing so, the average female believes that she must fit a specific stereotype in order to be accepted in society. According to “Miss Representation,” a non-profit campaign and media organization created to develop awareness about the misrepresentation of women in the media, “The number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed on youth 18 or younger more than tripled from 1997 to 2007.” 

Clearly, the media holds a significant amount of power in establishing gender roles within society. Trust me, I understand how easily it is to succumb to advertisements and other aspects of the media. I remember recently flipping through a magazine and commenting how “perfect” Emma Stone looked in her advertisement for Revlon Products. Despite the amount of airbrush and Photoshop techniques that went into the advertisement, I allowed myself to fall into the trap and compare myself to an unrealistic image. 

In order to resolve the misrepresentations and establish equality for men and women through the media, we must improve our media literacy. We cannot buy into what the media believes we should look, act or feel like. We must honor positive advertisements and other forms of media in order to limit the role that negative advertisements and media play in our lives.