Rachel Olshausen Manifesto

My contribution to the group poster project was one I had worked on throughout the semester.  I have always enjoyed sketching and any sort of art projects, so I was happy to do my own interpretation of the literary works we had read over the past three months.  One of the readings stood out to me the most, however.  When I read The Ruined Maid, I not only felt that I understood it, but I actually enjoyed it.  It is an interesting concept- the idea of a girl giving up what we in contemporary society consider to be a sense of self-respect, and having her actually climb the social ladder in relative juxtaposition to that sacrifice.  Anyway, when I first read it, I couldn’t help but think of the movie Pretty Woman (which I had never actually seen).  When we had the Gender and Media assignment a month ago, I knew which work I would be doing.  I enjoyed comparing the two depictions of prostitutes in society, and as I watched the film, I did some mindless doodling. what resulted was a picture of a woman in a victorian-style gown, who could pass off as a prostitute.  In comparison, my next sketch was a minimalist sketch of Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman, with my own twist.  When we were assigned the poster project, I knew I wanted to submit those sketches as my own pieces of original art, as I had not attached them to any other assignment.

As a group, we came upon the subject of “The Art of Temptation”.  We felt that it is a relatable topic, as we all face temptation in our everyday lives, and also are surrounded by advertising and  public messages encouraging us to indulge in those temptations.  Our first poster consisted of original pieces of art. The background was an abstract sketch done by Ryan. In the middle, we featured a picture of an apple which I had taken.  We chose this to be the backdrop for the poster, as we felt the apple is a universal sign for sexuality and temptation universally.  Throughout the poster, my sketches were scattered. By modge-podging our own works, so to speak, we unintentionally symbolized society’s varying views of what tempts us.

Along with the poster of original art was a “scientific” or “historical” poster.  Three of us wrote about literature we had read throughout the semester, and tied them into our theme of temptation.  In my case, I wrote about The Ruined Maid once again, and discussed the prostitute’s temptation to climb the social ladder, and to have the nice things she could only afford with such a lifestyle.  Again, the back of the poster was the picture of the hand holding the apple. We did this to tie in the two posters, and to make it clear that the underlying theme of our projects was human beings’ natural tendency to want to give in to what tempts us.

GROUP BLOGGING REFLECTION

Rachel Olshausen

Yuri Can

Alexis Burt

Dannielle Brown

Katie Hupp

 

 In “Moulin Rouge”, we discussed the connections between Symons’ “Moulin Rouge” and the Baz Luhrman film version starring Nicole Kidman. This piece was chosen as a best work because of its tie between Victorian work and contemporary interpretations that we saw as a theme throughout the course. The tones in the two pieces are dramatically different in their representations of the dance halls. Symons shows the women as empty vessels, fallen women as we discussed in class. In the film, the women are used in the same way, but in the film they celebrate this sexual freedom while in Symons, it is a sexuality which is shown in opposition to the time period, something that drains the women rather than empowers them. We thought that the message in this post was a lot like the class conversation we had about the difference in fallen women then and now. The fallen women then were shamed while the fallen women now are celebrated for their honesty in publically sharing their flaws. We saw the difference being women then were exposed for what they were and now women offer these vulnerabilities up as a point of connection for their audience. The blog post summarized the attitudes the class had while studying the fallen women in the course.

 

One of the blog posts we though was one of our best was untitled, but was all about Picasso’s painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.  The painting is of several women in various forms, all of them naked, descending a staircase.  Some are painted very clearly in profile, and some have features so mangled it is hard to even tell they are women. The assignment was to –as a group- do some sort of interpretation of the painting. We decided in order to mimic the disconjointed feel to the painting, we would each draw one of the women, then paste all of our sketches together to create a mosaic-type work of art. Our interpretation reflected the disconnected feel of the painting, and also showed us that we should all stick to writing, rather than drawing…

 

In our blog post ‘The Kiss’ we discuss the subliminal message behind Auguste Rodin’s sculpture, and how eighteenth century critics accepted it. We chose this blog post simply because of how it interested us during class. To see such a romantic and passionate embrace, yet the scandal behind it is so forbidden that it leaves the viewer feeling exasperated. Although this is a short post we felt that our ability to explain the hidden meaning behind the sculpture gives our readers a better understanding of ruin in the eighteenth century.

 

One of the blog posts that we decided to choose was called What Can be Interpreted in Susie Asado. This post was interesting because the reading of Gertrude Stein was because it was a process to figure out the interpretation of the reading. It was hard to decipher the meaning behind the reading. After much intensive research, the author of this blog post started to understand the true meaning. She got the meaning simply from one word, “incubus”. It is amazing how researching one word can be to find out the meaning of a whole piece. Poetry can be interpreted however the reader wants it to be and apply it to their life in ways that they see useful.

 

During the second half of the semester, the style of blogging changed. Even though people say that changing routines is healthy it was not for our blog. With the changes, our group lost motivation. For the first half of the semester we had a system that worked for every group member. During the second half, there was no structure. We often found ourselves asking if it was necessary to blog and if anyone had blogged. Our group did benefit from the fact that our group members remained the same. It was easier to communicate with our members as we stayed communicated through our facebook page. We also knew the weakness and strengths of each member. We all had our roles in the group and it benefited everyone.

 

 

 

 

Alexis Burt Manifesto

Alexis Burt

12/7/12

Hum 303

Final Manifesto

            The work that our group did as a final project postulates that ruin is not only unconfined to the Victorian era, but also generates more beauty because of the complexity of the image in its unique decay. In our final project, we collaborated our understanding of our first project in this class, a transformative understanding of the picturesque. We also chose this because we believed the picturesque to embody the elements of ruin more wholly than any other concept singularly did in the course. To create our creative poster, Yuri, Dannielle, Katie, and I intended to incorporate all of the images we have done separately. In my project, I used multimedia to help make a statement about the differences of human relations to nature, putting a picture I took that was a reflection of the Victorian understanding of picturesque in opposition to a picture I took that incorporated more contemporary aspects. In doing this, I had hoped to let the differences in images commentate on the changes in human relations to nature, more specifically in the picturesque. My understanding of the picturesque comes along with a fascination of the Transcendentalist movement so I focused on natural elements, including human aspects in the contemporary rendition.

            My group members did something similar but in their projects, they used a series of images to embody their interpretation of the picturesque. I worked primarily on the creative poster. My biggest challenge in this project was to allow their perceptions equal my own in importance. In doing this, I came to a more full understanding of the picturesque and its relationship to ruin. In the final project, I used a transition of images to represent the historical interpretation of the picturesque. Most of our individual images in our first project were close shots, focusing on pieces of whole that made the image picturesque. Pieces we studied from the Victorian era, such as Turner’s “ Snow Storm- Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth” and “A Disaster at Sea” and Gilpin’s “Scene with Picturesque Adornment” (for links, see http://www.leeannhunter.com/humanities/syllabus/schedule/), were more commonly large-scale wide paintings, incorporating panoramic landscape scenes instead of the close shots we took..

            The transition of images was used to weave those two interpretations. The tree stump was used to represent our individual pictures then a wider shot to place the tree in a forest then a branchy scene of the tree in context with multiple trees. Using that method, it also relayed the message of individual importance. The picturesque is about jagged, broken, ruined flaws that set apart one subject from another. Focusing on one tree then moving to the rest creates an understanding that all trees have a similar set of flaws to them. Each individual item in every picture can be interpreted as picturesque with the correct focus. Literarily, this concept reminded me a lot of Diderot’s “Regrets for My Old Dressing Gown”. In it, the main character laments for the transition from an old dressing gown to the lavish extravagant new gown. He loves his old dressing gown for its holes and stains but understands to move up, he needs to hide signs of ruin. I saw this as a very picturesque ideal. There is an attachment to an item because of the character it has in it rather than its designed beauty.

            To incorporate the transition of historical images to our contemporary notion of the picturesque, we found a rusted out old car in the same forest as the tree and used that as a focal point for the effect that man has had on the natural world. This image was imposed over the transition as a growth out of the historical interpretation. Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” was reminiscent of this ideal. Lizzie and Laura are tempted by the goblins’ fruit, fruit that corrupts and violates them. I saw this literary example as a way that man has interfered with nature, transforming to fit their own needs. In doing this, however, ruin because a byproduct, like the car left in the forest. Man made elements become part of the scene, tarnishing the natural serenity and creating a different meaning for picturesque.

            This final project allowed me to see the beauty in ruin. Ruin is a constant because it accompanies the temptations and flaws of human nature. The picturesque is only relevant and worthy of attention because of the interest its complexity generates. Likewise, ruin is necessary in the human experience to add depth to that experience. The world would be simple and one-dimensional if it had remained in an Edenic state. Adam and Eve needed to falter to ruin that and give room for the rest of humanity and life to occur. Auguste Rodin’s “The Kiss” is pretty on its own. It becomes beautiful and relevant in historical context because of the forbidden lovers and their association to hell. Our focus on the picturesque is our paying homage to the necessity of ruin and the unintentional beauty it brings the humanity.

Revised Gender Media Paper

Victorian and Modern Times Aren’t so Different

            In the play, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, the mother and daughter relationship resembles closely to a story today that is popular with women. The story of Grey’s Anatomy; another tragic mother and daughter relationship that deal with gender and sexuality issues, much like Mrs. Warren and her daughter Vivie Warren. There are many similarities between these two relationships, but also some difference that contend with time and age.

Mrs. Warren and Vivie Warren did not have any contact with each other when Vivie was younger; she wasn’t sure who her father was, or what exactly her mother was doing while she was away during Vivie’s childhood. This has made Vivie a very independent woman who did not want to have anything to romance, even though she had a few suitors after her. Vivie is a smart educated woman who wanted to make good money. Mrs. Warren wanted Vivie to have a romance and settle down. Vivie finds out that her mother ran a brothel throughout Europe and realized that’s why her mother wasn’t around until after she graduated college with a degree in Mathematics.

In the television series Grey’s Anatomy, Ellis and Meredith Grey are also mother and daughter and have an estranged relationship. Ellis is a high profile doctor who was also busy working all the time. Meredith followed in her mother’s footsteps and went to college and medical school to also become a doctor. She wanted to make her mother proud. Ellis did not want Meredith to get tied up in romance; she wanted her to focus on her career of being a surgeon.  Meredith does want a committed relationship and eventually finds one, but her mother does not approve before she dies from Altzimers.

Mrs. Warren and Ellis Grey are a lot alike because they are highly respected in their own professions and looked at as powerful women from their peers. Although Mrs. Warren’s profession may be frowned upon by the general population, in the brothel industry she was highly looked upon. They had scandalous relationships before their daughters were old enough to realize what was going on. Vivie finds out that her out of wedlock father is the father of the man, Frank who she is involved with so they decide to not move their relationship forward. Meredith finds out that her mother, who was married to Meredith’s father, had an affair with a fellow doctor and which eventually ruins her marriage.

Being powerful women stepped up their gender identity. When most people think of powerful people in a profession, they usually picture a man when doing this. Since they are women, it changes the role of gender in the professional world. Others might seem skeptical because of the Victorian Era, patriarchy was normal. It is what everyone is used to and that’s how society works. Being a powerful woman, it is hard to gain respect from peers because of this notion of patriarchy.

After these women earn respect and power, their sexuality comes into light. Fellow male peers start to take notice of their powerful greatness. Mrs. Warren and Ellis Grey use this light to their advantage. They use it to help them in the work place and in life with their daughters. Affairs, work recognition, and scandalous relationships are the main objects of their sexuality.

Meredith Grey and Vivie Warren use their gender to be independent. They use their sexuality as a means of finding their true loves unlike their mothers. They do not over use their power of being a sexual female. In fact they almost get degraded for it. In Grey’s anatomy, Meredith gets ridiculed for sleeping with her boss. Her colleagues assume that she is sleeping her way to the top for work purposes. But that is not the case, she started sleeping with her boss, now her husband, before she started her internship at Seattle Grace Hospital. Vivie almost likes being independent more than being dependent on someone. She dates, but does not think that getting married is a life goal, rather making money and being comfortable in life.

Both Mrs. Warren and Ellis Grey claim that they worked hard as women in a men’s world to give their daughters what they want as they grew up, even though they hardly spent any time with their daughters. Mrs. Warren and Ellis, liked to remind Vivie and Meredith that they did work hard just for them and almost expect a lot of gratitude from them.

Mrs. Warren ran a brothel and Vivie comes to find out that her mother still does run a brothel and decides to disown her. Sexuality to Vivie was not a big thing in her life; gender was. She wanted to be a respected woman and not have to rely on a man to give her the finer things in life. Mrs. Warren would call on suitors for Vivie anyways, she did not think that Vivie could take care of herself like she claims; her education wouldn’t get her very far in life. Mrs. Warren and Vivie never had a talkative relationship and when the play turns to their long coming conversation about why things happened throughout Vivie’s life. They discussed Mrs. Warren’s profession and that she still continues to run her brothel. They come to an agreement in the end that where hopefully their mother-daughter relationship can finally begin.

Ellis Grey was just the opposite. She wanted Meredith to go to medical school and become a doctor, make a lot of money, and become a respected woman surgeon. Meredith showed most of the same goals for herself as her mother did, but she wanted to fill the void of having a broken family, of having a committed relationship. Ellis was furious when she found out that Meredith was involved with another doctor. She wanted Meredith to have a career first and then a family.

It is almost like Mrs. Warren and Ellis Grey had a bad childhood and young adult life and wanted to relive their lives through their daughters. Vivie and Meredith are different people than their mothers. They are very independent women and are exploring their sexuality in different ways. Vivie tries to be romantically involved with someone who turns out to be sort of related to her because her mom messed up. It made her sexuality disappear. She could not trust anyone in the romantic sense. Meredith is romantically involved with a fellow doctor and it has it’s rocky times because of her insecurities from her mother. She uses sex to not think about her broken family. Sex is a mini vacation for her brain.

The roles of gender and sexuality have been reversed between the two mother and daughter relationships. Back in the Victorian era, sexuality was a part of life and Mrs. Warren wanted it to be a part of Vivie’s life so that she could be taken care of. Now in contemporary times, Dr. Ellis Grey does not want sexuality to be a apart of Meredith’s life. She wants her daughter to concentrate on her gender role in her work place and make a career first over everything.

The Victorian Era was placed in more in the mother’s lives and the contemporary life style showed up more in the daughter’s lives. Gender and sexuality in the Victorian Era was hard to be seen unless the woman was a prostitute or the husband of the house was deceased and the mother was in charge of everything until a new husband comes along.

Gender and sexuality in the contemporary era is just the opposite of the Victorian Era. Women now embrace their identities and sexuality and use it to embrace life’s challenges for better. Women utilize their gender and sexuality in good ways, unlike in the Victorian Era. It is not as ruined like; it is looked at as a good quality to have.

In conclusion, Mrs. Warren and Ellis Grey defined their sexuality with their womanizing ways. They used what they had to get what they want in life. They claim that everything they did was for their daughters, but it is hard to say what the exact reason or reasons were. Vivie Warren and Meredith Grey learned how not to be as scandalous from their mothers. They became their own women in their own ways.

Yuri’s Manifesto

Throughout the semester we discussed many concepts and their relation with ruin. As first it was difficult to relate many of the concepts with ruined, but with time the connection was easier to establish. Even though ruin is a common word, which is used daily I looked up the definition in order to clearly understand it. When researching the definition, I found that the best definition that related to this course was “physical, moral, economic, or social collapse”. Physical, moral, economic, and social collapse were all elements that we discussed throughout the semester.

When the definition mentioned physical, I immediately thought about the picturesque and the sublime. Understanding the definition of ruin helped understand the concept of picturesque and sublime. For me personally, I had trouble understanding the picturesque and the sublime. Even though I would reread Gilpin and Burke’s articles I kept thinking that the sublime and the picturesque were alike. Dannielle and Alexis took a class that discussed the sublime thoroughly. They helped me understand the difference between both concepts which in return allowed me to express my idea on both concepts on our posters.

The Picturesque Photo Essay was our inspiration for our creative and historical posters.  We researched more in depth the concepts of picturesque and the sublime, and took new pictures. Our first thought was to use some of our personal pictures that were used for the essay, but none of them really gave us the picturesque and sublime feeling that we were aiming to get.

In our final posters we took Gilpin’s believe of the picturesque, Burke’s believe of the sublime, and created our own believe with Gilpin and Burke in mind. With the picturesque, we as a group came to the conclusion that picturesque could be best captured when there are jagged edges and ruggedness qualities in a portrait. With sublime we described it as a feeling of terror. Our historical poster describes in depth our beliefs of the picturesque and the sublime, which correlates with our creative poster that actually demonstrates our beliefs.

In our creative poster we took a picture of a tree stump that has obvious signs of ruggedness. The termites have eaten most of the top layer, and have left the tree stump there to decay. The physical appearance of the tree stump is ruined, meaning that there is no more hope for the tree to grow anymore, causing it to be subliminal.

In our poster we demonstrate subjects that at one point were beautiful and new. Over time however, they became ruined. As a group we wanted to take pictures of nature, since it is one of the oldest things there is on the planet. It is something that does get ruined overtime with the help of mankind. That is why we decided to incorporate a contemporary object. Our contemporary object was a car. The pictures turned out to look very dark and gloomy and this was mostly in part thanks to the weather. Overall, the whole process in getting these posters completed was very fun. We all worked well as a group and all incorporated our own ideas.

Even though the sublime and picturesque were very important concepts in this course, we only had two articles that thoroughly discuss the sublime and picturesque. In class we did discuss the paintings of Joseph Mallord William Turner. Looking at a Disaster at Sea, I can definitely tell that it has all the qualities of a subliminal portrait. The image brings terror to the viewer as one can see that people in the boat have gone overboard. The viewer experiences the emotion of terror because one can only imagine what the people on board were feeling. The sea also shows diminutive. All those people are very small compared to the huge sea there is.

 

Disaster At Sea

Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbour’s Mouth by Joseph Mallord William Turner is also another example of sublime. This painting is very dark and once again gives a sense of terror. The painting looks like it’s a point of view shot. The shot is focused on the street light but the waves around it makes it seems like the viewer is stuck somewhere in the ocean and the streetlight is the last thing they will see before the water takes them away. This painting is a great example of sublime.

Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbours Mouth

Other images that we discussed in class were Gilpin’s images about the picturesque. He has two images in which one features a picturesque adornment and the other does not.

Scene without Picturesque Adornment 

Scene with a Picturesque Adornment 

It is obvious to see that the image with the trees and the mountains is busier, and it draws in the viewer more than the image of the smooth hills. Both the picturesque and the sublime are important concepts to know. Learning about history and comparing to modern times is always interesting because it just proves us that history repeats itself.

 

Final Group Poster

Here is an electronic version of our posters.

Have a wonderful break!

picturesque template

Hum Poster

Poster Draft

 

-Rachel Olshausen

Poster Rough Draft

waterripple_24x48

“Goblin” & “Mermaid: Comparison of Victorian and Contemporary Views of Sexuality and Gender

Alexis Burt

11/9/12

Humanities 303

Gender and Media Study

“Goblin” & “Mermaid: Comparison of Victorian and Contemporary Views of Sexuality and Gender

Christina Rossetti’s “The Goblin Market” is a piece of Victorian poetry about two close sisters tempted and spoiled by the fruits of a band of goblin vendors. The poem, originally written for children, has strong sexual symbolism. The symbolism allows for the poem adult themes to subtly subsist in the piece. The two sisters, Laura and Lizzie, begin the poem innocent and naïve. Laura is then corrupted by the lure of the goblin’s fruit, listed off as an entire stanza in the poem. She is intrigued by the goblin men, the likes of which she had never seen before. Her curiosity and the charms of the band of men tempt her to taste of the fruit. This does not come without a price however. Without any copper or silver in her purse, Laura pays for the fruit with a lock of hair from her golden head and a tear “more rare than a pearl”. She then partakes of the fruit. Rossetti describes it using sexually charged diction, describing that Laura:

“Then suck’d their fruit globes fair or red:

Sweeter than honey from the rock,

Stronger than man-rejoicing wine,

Clearer than water flow’d that juice;

She never tasted such before,

How should it cloy with length of use?

She suck’d and suck’d and suck’d the more

Fruits which that unknown orchard bore;

She suck’d until her lips were sore.”

 

This passage is such a strong innuendo that makes the poem hard to conceive as children’s literature. The introduction to the goblins’ role in the sisters’ lives is also fraught with phallic symbols. Lizzie warns Laura about the goblins, cautioning that they don’t know what the goblins’ “hungry thirsty roots” feed on. Both sisters recognize the danger that the men present but Laura is unable to resist.

After succumbing to the temptation of the goblins’ fruit, Lizzie meets Laura at the gate, symbolically separating the two sisters as innocent and sinful. The poem continues to put the sisters in opposition of each other, Lizzie delights in the day while Laura longs for the temptations of the night. The sisters are equally prosperous in their daily lives until Laura realizes that Lizzie can hear the calls of the goblin men and she no longer can. She longs another taste of the goblin fruit and is denied. This passage defines the corruptive power of sex as dangerous only when it becomes a craving that cannot be satisfied. After Laura realizes Lizzie can hear the calls and she no longer can, her hair turns grey and she can no longer carry on her everyday duties, beginning to wither away. Laura’s submission to sex becomes a poison in her life, figuratively killing her.

To save her sister, Lizzie sacrifices her innocence and seeks out the goblin men. Only instead of paying with her body, Lizzie offers the men a silver coin. In response, the men become violent and malicious. The goblins “tore her gown and soil’d her stocking,/ Twitch’d her hair out by the roots/…Held her hands and squeez’d their fruits/ Against her mouth to make her eat.” She continues with the brutality, including more sexual references, “laugh’d in heart to feel the drip/ Of juice that syrupp’d all her face,/ And lodg’d in dimples of her chin,/ And streak’d her neck which quaked like curd.” Lizzie’s valiant attempt to get fruit for her sister resulted in her own sexual exploitation. The goblins’ attack, however, did not taint Lizzie as it did Laura. Because she took a stance against the men, their juices tasted of wormwood and disillusioned Laura from the power that the goblin fruit held over her.

Even without interpreting the text as a sexual piece, the message the text delivers is still one of unified sisterhood. Lizzie rescues Laura from the spell the goblin men held over her and they both go on as unsoiled women to be wives and mothers. The last stanza regales the power that elevating the bonds between women over the poisons men bring: “For there is no friend like a sister/ …To fetch one if one goes astray,/ To lift one if one totters down,/ To strengthen whilst one stands.” The piece makes a strong statement about the role that women should play in each other’s lives. It renounces men as carnal, malicious, impulse-driven creatures who will treat women as disposable sexual objects if women allow them to.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid, like Rossetti’s “Goblin Market”, is presented as a work of fiction for children, though it is riddled thematically with anti-feminist and adult themes. Though less morally driven than Rossetti’s piece, The Little Mermaid holds many of the same themes. The film is a coming-of-age story of a mermaid who falls in love with a human prince and goes on a quest for true love’s kiss with the prince. To do this, she makes a deal with the sea witch to give up her voice, touted as the most beautiful in the entire kingdom, for legs. She then has three days to win his affections and remain human or return to the sea and belong to the sea witch. The main character, Ariel, is sixteen years old, the film is fantastical and nautical, and the music keeps the violent and dramatic scenes from becoming overly dark, all this an appeal to an audience of children. Beneath the plot, however, the film is piece of sterilized sexuality, an implied intermediary for the mature inclination toward sexuality.

            Ariel’s story follows her journey from daughter to wife, implicitly, her exploration of her sexuality. Under the sea, Ariel has a secret collection of human objects that have fallen from the surface. She idolizes these items and keeps them in a private cavern. The opposition of her life under the sea to her fantastic fascination with the human world foreshadows the transition of Ariel from girl to woman as the sea world represents her childhood and the human world representing adult sexuality. She then leaves the safety of her father’s kingdom to go to the human world. Ariel chooses to leave her father’s protection and her juvenile voice, both with again symbolize her childhood, behind, choosing instead to entire a world as a young single woman in the unbridled human world.

Her life as a human is a transition of physicality more than an emotional transition, like a traditional children’s coming-of-age story. Firstly, she emerges on the surface physically naked, much like Aphrodite emerging from the sea as the goddess of love, again an allusion to the sexual nature of this film. She then has to learn to walk, dance, ride horses, and use her body as a form of communication between her and the prince, all new physical experiences for her, representative of the physicality in sexual exploration. Eric takes Ariel on a tour of his kingdom, furthering her exploration of a world that was unknown to her. As far as the central sexual narrative is concerned, the importance of Prince Eric, a man, introducing Ariel, a woman, to his kingdom can be interpreted as an introduction into the mature adult world.

The film also makes human strong references to human reproductive organs. Interpreting the film through a Freudian lens, Ariel’s red hair, the most striking and overwhelming feature of her appearance, represents menarche, a girl’s first step into womanhood. Viewing this as her most significant characteristic, Ariel is marked by her inexperience in adulthood. The phallic and womb-like symbols in the film also parallel Ariel’s passage from girl to woman. The film opens with a view of her father, Triton’s, castle. The phallic towers in this castle imply the power and control her father still has over her. Then, Ariel takes solace and refuge in her cavern, one of the few womb-like structures in the film. This shows her choosing her own needs over her father’s wishes, foreshadowing the exploration she is about to embark into. Ariel returns to her father’s castle only to be tempted by eels, another phallic symbol. The eels lead her to Ursula’s cave, a figurative structure for the female form. Betrayed by the sea witch, Ariel turns to a different set of towers, Eric’s castle. Her decision to live within Eric’s castle is emblematic of Ariel’s immovable stance as an adult woman. These references are lost on a contemporary audience because the film is marketed as a children’s film.

Though the thematic content of these two pieces are similar, the Victorian era poem is a much more empowering piece for women than the contemporary film. Rossetti’s piece glorifies the role of women in each other’s lives. Women have sacrificial restorative powers. Sexuality and a dependence on men ruined Laura, almost killing her. Though they can be misused as sexual objects, their lives revolve around more than the needs of men. Interestingly, the contemporary interpretation of gender and sexuality denounces that belief.

Similar to the way the sexual themes are looked over in The Little Mermaid, the reinforcement of traditional male-oriented are also overlooked. Little girls see Ariel as a hero: she takes initiative in her own life, stands up to her father to follow her heart, and ends up as a princess. Ariel is seen as a model for individualism and emphasizes a younger generation’s needs, desires, and importance. From an adult perspective looking specifically at the statement the film makes about gender roles, the film is degrading, a denigration of the role women play in their own lives. Ariel gives up her voice and family to submit herself to a man. The film doesn’t show her as a powerful political figure at the end as a princess would be; she’s ultimately just a wife. Ariel willingly gave up her voice and after she is accepted into Eric’s life as the person he wants to marry, she has very little dialogue in the rest of the film. The movie ends in a kiss, teaching young girls that the love of a man is the only thing in the world they should hope to achieve. Women, mainly Ariel and Ursula, are portrayed as impulsive, emotion-driven, untrustworthy, and destructive while men are protectors, providers, guardians, and the greatest thing that a woman can ever hope to solidify in her life. The Disney message is that women are driven by a desire for men.

The contemporary view of women is much more marginalized. Women are either rebellious and wildly independent, like Ariel still as a mermaid, or dependent on the needs of the man in their life, like Ariel on land. Women are quickly objectified: Ariel transitioned from outspoken young girl to silent wife. There is no return from that objectification mostly because Ariel wants nothing more than to be Eric’s. Lizzie and Laura have each other, which makes the largest difference between the Victorian and modern pieces. The emphasis is on individual wellbeing rather than a wedding. Where sexuality poisons Laura in “The Goblin Market”, submission to sexuality benefits Ariel, giving her everything that she wants. The contemporary references to gender and sexuality is a movement away from progressivism in gender equality and interestingly a movement back toward traditional gender roles and an insistence to value the patriarchal agenda.

 

 

Works Cited

The Little Mermaid. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc, 1989. DVD.

Rossetti, Christina. “Goblin Market.” By Christina Rossetti : The Poetry Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2012. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174262&gt;.

 

The Modern Ruined Women

            Women have evolved immensely throughout history. Today in time, women are given the opportunity to choose their own careers which in return allows them to sustain themselves. Women are also allowed to make choices concerning their body. During the Victorian era, there were two types of women, the ideal woman and the ruined woman. Women would prefer to be the ideal women so that they would not be shunned by society. Any woman having premarital sex would be considered ruined. Today premarital sex is not an issue. However, if a ruined woman from the Victorian era had to be compared to a ruined woman from today, the closest resemblance would be a pregnant teenager. People frown upon the issue of teenagers getting pregnant at such a young age. Usually a pregnant teenager brings shames to her family’s name the same way a ruined women from the Victorian era would. In the poem “The Ruined Maid” ‘Melia the protagonist is a ruined woman. She demonstrates her status by the type of clothes that she wears, the way she acts, and the fact she clearly states that she is ruined. 16 and pregnant make teen girls look like they are ruined woman as well. Many of the relationships shown on those shows do not last past the reunion special that is shown at the end of the season. Once the baby’s daddy leaves the teen mom, she is left with a child and a ruined reputation. The teen girl now has proof that she is tainted. While both issues are consequences of sex, they both are very different issues. Women in the Victorian era were having sex in order to stand up for themselves. Women were tired of playing the role of the perfect women. Prostitution allowed women to work and depend on themselves.

            Women do not have to prostitute themselves anymore in order to sustain themselves. They are allowed to work and choose a career. However, now with the media, reality TV has become a popular career to pursuit. Many young Americans would dream of becoming reality TV stars as it would be easy money and they would not have to work too hard for it. Many of the popular reality TV shows feature women that are willing to do inappropriate things. Women are often not depicted as being classy and wholesome but rather being “slutty”.  The more skin they show the better rating the TV show will have in return. Due to number of reality shows such as Jersey Shore, the Real World, the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, and Big Brother women are often shown as being accessories to men. The girls on these shows do whatever is in their power to get guys to buy them drinks, and eventually have sex with them. Not only are these shows giving viewers the wrong idea of what is acceptable but they also throw away many years of hard work that women have put in, in order to make the world know that they are more than just objects. They are just like everybody else and deserve to be treated equally.

            The poem, “The Ruined Maid” by Thomas Hardy, discusses how ‘Melia has been ruined and how she now owns many fines things. ‘Melia runs into an old co-worker in town and they both discuss how she looks so different since she left the farm. She explains to her friend that it is because she has been ruined. The friend continues to give ‘Melia compliments and ‘Melia does not say thank you, but continues to say she has been ruined. Due to this respond, the vibe given is that she is trying to warn her friend that being ruined is not a good thing. Her friend does not seem to understand. She is just so fascinated by the way she looks and wants to join her. ‘Melia is trying to protect her friend as she knows that living the life of a ruined woman is not easy. Her friend most likely lives at home with her parents and works at the farm. ‘Melia most likely does not have a family as he was shunned due to the lifestyle she chose.

 The differences between a Ruined Woman and a Country Girl. 

This poem reminded me of the reality TV show 16 and pregnant. In 16 and pregnant, high school girls are filmed throughout their pregnancy and a few months after they give birth in order to show viewers how difficult it is to raise a child at such a young age. MTVs main purpose of the show was to stop teen girls from becoming pregnant.  The girls that are being filmed are paid plenty of money to be well off. When viewers find out how much these teen moms are making money they are encouraged to get pregnant and apply to be on the show as well in order to make money.

 Teen Mom, Amber Portwood. 

Both ‘Melia and 16 and pregnant try to warn people to not follow their footsteps. ‘Melia seems to tell her friend that even though her life looks glamorous, she is still indeed ruined. Her life may look better but she could be suffering from the shame of being ruined. Even though ‘Melia gives constant warning to her friend, the friend cannot help but only wish to be her. 16 and pregnant is also another cautionary tale, as it shows young teenagers struggling to raise a baby, continue to go to school, and work. Young girls do not want to be in the same situation as the teen moms but once it is known how much money is being earned, it becomes very tempting to fall into their footsteps. Amber Portwood is one of the teen moms that earned the most money on the show. Amber does cause most of the drama for the show as she has been to jail and rehab during her time on the show. NBC news stated that she makes $280,000 a year. If MTV really wanted to warn young teens to stay away, they would not be rewarding someone for their terrible behavior. Even though ‘Melia and 16 and pregnant are both cautionary tales, they do not do such a great job at warning people. If ‘Melia really did not want her friend to follow her footsteps she would tell her how she has suffered being a ruined woman. She could possibly dress worse and talk differently. 16 and pregnant would not pay the teenagers so much money. If they were to be paid they could possibly give the babies a college fund that way the mother is not being rewarded for their mistake and viewers would not be want to follow their footsteps. Money is a powerful influence that can influence anyone to choose between wrong and right. 

 

Work Cited

16 and Pregnant. MTV. June 11 2009.

Hardy, Thomas. “”The Ruined Maid” (1866; Published in 1902).” “The Ruined Maid” (1866;        Published in 1902). The Victorian Web, 24 Jan. 2006. Web. 04 Nov. 2012.             <http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/poems/ruinedmaid.html&gt;.

Leech, John. The Great Social Evil. N.d. The Victorian Web. 13 May 2004. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.victorianweb.org/periodicals/punch/49.html&gt;.

Serpe, Gina. “‘Teen Mom’ Amber Earns $280K a Year from MTV.” TODAY.com. NBC, 04 Jan.   2011. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40853908/ns/today-    entertainment/t/teen-mom-amber-earns-k-year-mtv/>.