Since the introduction of photography, the male propaganda machine has taken off like never before. Often in our generation women lament about the small sizes and flawless physiques of models. Even though we’ve made large amounts of progress towards equality, our present day photography and advertisements continues to portray woman in the same formal roles that we observed in those we saw from the 1880’s to the 1910’s.
After looking at the photographs and advertisements, we noted that the woman fit the fashion as opposed to the fashion fitting
the woman of the time. Below we’ve posted a photo of “Hasty Lunch” for reference. In the photo, four women sitting on the ground are dressed in questionably fashionable bathing suits. The other women, those who are walking behind the men, have upturned noses. We think that this photo illustrates that the socially acceptable role of women did not involve swimming. The four women are singled out which seems to indicate that they’re carefree and independent attitude (they do not have families) subjects them to isolation. We’ve also noticed that the typical dress (lots of heavy fabric that covered from neck to ground) consisted of skirts, hats, and c
orsets designed to preserve the perfect body.
We also took a look at the advertisements of the time that catered “jobs” of women including, but not limited to, dusting, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of children. There were often proclamations of “I couldn’t live without this” when referring to household appliances. The most common advertisement was for Pond’s Facial and Body cream. Based on the ads, we inferred that beauty was seen as soft, weak, delicate ect. Their hands shouldn’t be “rough” or resembles that of a man’s because of the difference in society’s role. Moreover, women didn’t want to show color on their face because it would indicate that they were outside and their role was to stay inside the house.
One advertisement in particular that really stood out was the “Electric Era” pamphlet. The pamphlet advocated for the use of a belt that sent electric currents through the body. It was believed to cure “diseases of all kinds”...for men. However, the separate belt for women claims to cure,“complaints of all kinds.” The diseases for men included nervous debility, weakness, and loss of vigor. Each belt has more information concerning the types of diseases but again, the woman’s belt has one paragraph that clumps all “diseases” together. This little blurb of information illustrates that a woman’s “complaint” is not nearly as serious or medically relevant as actual issues.
We feel that the woman’s electric belt is comparable to the Rest Cure that we read about in “The Yellow Wallpaper” i
n that they both disregard the medical concerns of women. Both “cures” exaggerate women’s mental issues while belittling their physical conditions. John brushes off the narrator’s true complaints and responds to them with, “Really dear you are better!” and “Whether you can see it or not. I’m a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and colour, your appetite is better, I feel really much easier about you” (40). John tells the narrator that her complaints are essentially irrelevant because she is better, he would know more about her body than she would. In the same sense, the belt is the solution to all complaints. Have a problem? Shock yourself.
These ideas remind me of Ms. Harris' presentation in which she mentioned the fact that women were often wrongly diagnosed because only men were used in medical studies. This legacy seems to prevail throughout medical history, especially in terms of mental health, and this belt appears to be the next step from the medical community towards treating men and women for the same diseases despite differences between the sexes. Also, I find it fascinating that while the men's disease mentioned were things such as "loss of vigor" the women's ailments were seen as less valid.
ReplyDeleteI think thats funny "have a problem? shock youreself". But I believe that in the short story Yellow Wallpaper there was a lot of thinking for the narrator as far as her illness. The lack of understanding a woman in general in the early 19th century was portrayed alot in this story. John took little to no effort in to understanding his wife issues. In your blog you reffered to the "independent attitude" was looked down upon among women. Which is also clearly showed in the story. As the narrator tried to help herself, her husbadnd stripped away her independence and told her what she could and could not do.
ReplyDeleteSkylar, I was a little surprised by your comment when you said, "women were often wrongly diagnosed because only men were used in medical studies. This legacy seems to prevail throughout medical history, especially in terms of mental health."
ReplyDeleteCan you site specific studies or cases in which this is true? I'd be really interested to read/hear more about it!
Here is a modern example to how women are being diagnosed for diseases when men are not despite the same symptoms.
Delete"Of people with an eating disorder, approximately 10% are men.
To date, the evidence suggests that the gender bias of clinicians means that diagnosing either bulimia or anorexia in men is less likely despite identical behavior. Men are more likely to be diagnosed as suffering depression with associated appetite changes than receive a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder
Here is a link to another article that has the misdiagnosis of women and depression.
Deletehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9004374
I think this post is interesting in its relevancy to modern advertising. With many of these advertisements and in "The Yellow Wallpaper", it is easy to brush off the ideas about gender as relics of an era past. Yet as the post mentioned women are still faced with discrepancies between the reality of being a women and the images presented in the media. That there is still discrimination of women in advertising leads me to believe that other social norms of the late 19th and early 20th century have also carried over into modern society. It seems women are still cornered off into domesticity and belittled by some men, including domineering husbands.
ReplyDeleteI was most struck by the subjectivity of the description of the first photo with women in bathing suits. I looked at this picture before reading the group's description and thought, look at these fabulous women having a fabulous time! I thought the photo was celebrating their attitude and their dress. The four women are in the center of the photograph. They are engaged with one another. They smile, laugh and seem completely oblivious to the concept that they are experiencing "social isolation". The fully dressed women, on the other hand, reside in the corner of the photo. Both appear to be looking down and interacting with neither each other nor the man who accompanies them. If the question is which lifestyle choice the photo promotes, it seems pretty clear that foreground of the picture represents the ideal.
ReplyDeleteWe did a bit of extra research and the factor of the matter is that the women in the corner are there to show the judgement from the general population. The foreground is far from the ideal, as women were forbidden to wear bathing suits on co-ed beaches. On the Berkley University website, it states:
Delete"The first swimsuits consisted of bloomers and black stockings. By 1855, drawers were added to prevent the problem of exposure. Women still refrained from swimming too much; the prevailing attitude of the day was that only men should swim. "
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~roseying/ids110/WHIS.HTM
I'm sure if you did some further research, you would determine that women were not encouraged whatsoever to swim.
I was most struck by the subjectivity of the description of the first photo with women in bathing suits. I looked at this picture before reading the group's description and thought, look at these fabulous women having a fabulous time! I thought the photo was celebrating their attitude and their dress. The four women are in the center of the photograph. They are engaged with one another. They smile, laugh and seem completely oblivious to the concept that they are experiencing "social isolation". The fully dressed women, on the other hand, reside in the corner of the photo. Both appear to be looking down and interacting with neither each other nor the man who accompanies them. If the question is which lifestyle choice the photo promotes, it seems pretty clear that foreground of the picture represents the ideal.
ReplyDeleteI think its very interesting how the electric shock belt would cure all diseases for men, but for women it would cure all "complaints." So anytime a man was feeling ill, it would be treated very seriously by others, but when a woman felt sick, people just thought she was complaining and didn't take it as seriously. I think that shows a clear representation of the mindset of people back then, and how they considered men to be more important than women.
ReplyDelete