ipl-logo

Lydia Schouten Sex Object Analysis

843 Words4 Pages

The work Sex Object has a simple scenario. Head covered by a latex hood, Lydia Schouten is held by a leather corset, leaving her breast and buttocks naked, that is held by a metal frame with attached rubber bands. Underneath a collection of balloons hung in front of Lydia Schouten, is a banner with bold letters reading “how does it feel to be a sex object?” (“Sex Object”). With the whip in her hand, she aggressively starts smashing the balloons, but having trouble keeping her balance as the rubber bands pull her back and her sight prevented by the latex hood (“Sex Object”).

Sex Object – like the other performance art pieces discussed within the essay – has many elements of aggression, starting with the title of the act: Sex Object. Simple, but bold, it can be seen as a direct message to the audience, representing how women were categorized as “something” or as an object to satisfy men, which can still be seen today. The corset Lydia Schouten is wearing is so tight fitting that it cuts off her oxygen and is attached to a metal frame by rubber bands, which can a metaphor in two ways. Because the purpose of a corset is to form fit the female body, it demonstrates how women are forced to fit in a certain body type/standard. The rubber bands …show more content…

In Rhythm 0, Abramović gave the audience the power to use one of seventy-two objects on her body. Some members proceed to harm her, using objects like a knife, scissors, or the gun and other tried to protect and comfort the artist. It manifests “gender, sexuality, and the tension between male and female physicality and mind” (“Marina Abramovic and the Art of Female Sacrifice”). Unique to other performances, Rhythm 0 enabled the audience to bring alive the aggression, proving that the response to violence and violations lie in the hands of man since the majority of members trying to harm Abramović were

Show More
Related
1665 Words | 7 Pages

In a twist on the Blaxploitation image of a powerful woman, she is both a threat to masculinity and a predatory object of sexual aggression and

Read More
972 Words | 4 Pages

As she elaborates on her idea of how women should be displayed she refers to a book called The Body Project, an intimate history of girls by Joan Jacobs Brumberg to gain credibility and build up her argument, that way the audience will realize that there is a problem that is occurring. Lipkin agrees with Joan’s idea of how girls body parts have become a “project” to fix and mold. By having Brumberg’s opinion in the essay and Lipkin elaborating on those ideas it shows that Lipkin has a concerned attitude and allows her tone to be consistent throughout her entire essay. Lipkin also uses rhetorical strategies that are blended together to support her evidence the strategies used are ethos, pathos, and

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

In the article “Toddlers in Tiaras” by Skip Hollandsworth the author uses many ways to get the reader to know the rhetorical situation and also how his argument is structured. The analyzation of exigency in the article is what happens in the world of pageants and how it negatively affects young girls. Telling girls that you have to look and be a certain way instead of yourself. The purpose of this article is to inform you that young girls are being exploited as women. The girls are being overexposed and hypersexualized because of the pageantry.

Read More
1723 Words | 7 Pages

Lori’s dad is out of the picture, with her mom’s boyfriends being inappropriately attracted to Lori. These inappropriate relations with elder men explain the flaunting of her body. When jumping into a random man’s car, Lori thinks to herself, “I am aware of my short shorts and move my legs. I spread my legs a little more and sigh, my shoulders at attention, knowing what this does to my top” (15). Her relationships, always consisting of lust, makes her want love, or in this case, tenderness.

Read More
416 Words | 2 Pages

Loose Women, is a collection of poetry written by Sandra Cisneros. A wonderful collection of words that speak to the beauty, disgusting, painful, extraordinary things about love, sexuality, women, bodies. Throughout the novel Cisneros revels in sort of “bad girl” image: however the overall persona is that of a passionate, sexual woman who’s had her share of both joy and disappointment. We all know Sandra Cisneros roots come from Mexico and is from Mexican American immigrant family and the culture for her is very different. I can relate to Cisneros’ culture different, since I am from Indian and in India women are considered to be the goddess from ancient time, however they are not being treated like goddess.

Read More
1098 Words | 5 Pages

In her article, Embodying Difference, Jane Desmond argues that dance offers important insights into the ways moving bodies articulate cultural meanings and social identities. In other words, she explains the importance of studying the body’s movement as a way of understanding culture and society. She has two main arguments. First, she argues for the importance of the continually changing relational constitutions of cultural forms. Desmond further explains that the key to shedding light on the unequal distribution of power and goods that shape social relations are the concepts of cultural resistance, appropriation, and cultural imperialism (49).

Read More
1505 Words | 7 Pages

From age eight to age twelve, Lola is pictured as a quiet young girl who obediently follows her mother’s orders, however when Lola turns twelve she begins to reject traditional gender roles, refusing to remain passive and timid, specifically around men, as she finds herself being able to “look boys straight in the face when they stared” at her. At the same time, Lola begins to reject traditional beauty standards as “[She] cut[s] her hair short –flipping out her mother yet again– partially I think because when she’d been little her family had let it grow down past her ass, a source of pride, something I’m sure her attacker noticed and admired” (25). Lola does not want to be seen as an accessible and sexual object. She realizes that the traditional beauty standards of long, silky hair which her mother raised her to fit into from childhood are actually what sexual predators target: a young, sexually appealing girl who is too young to be able to fight back. Lola rejects these beauty standards in spite of her mother and cuts her hair short, defying the values of her mother as well as proactively eliminating herself from the target pool for sexual predators.

Read More
461 Words | 2 Pages

Philips establishes the sewing woman's appearance underneath her mask of makeup as unappealing in order to contrast what an individual craves for in life to what

Read More
544 Words | 3 Pages

The dress' impossibly tiny frame can also be a metaphor for eating disorders that result from the pressure to be thin and beautiful. I also find how fragile and delicate the dress and hanger are to be a metaphor for women feeling weak in society. Instead of being strong and powerful,this piece illustrates how society makes women feel as though they are weak and inferior to men. I find the absence of a body in this piece to also be a symbol for how society makes women feel as though they are only meant to be beautiful. The emptiness of the dress illustrates how women are thought to be ornaments, beautiful things.

Read More
1622 Words | 7 Pages

The earlier gothic works as well as Dracula covered something that is outside the social norm. Female sexuality, something that was unacceptable and under the surface of society, it is exposed in these writings. The earlier readings such as Carmilla, as well as the poem of Christabel question the boundaries. The texts from these literature pieces contain passages of female sexuality and the passages contain phrases that hint towards the social taboos. In the era when women were thought of mere objects these pieces decide to give them a personality or at least a voice that can express desire, a voice that states women have a purpose apart from pleasing men.

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

I believe that the damaged dolls exemplifies the way women feel imperfect due to all the criticism they encounter. Understanding the real meaning of the stereotypes surrounding an "acceptable" way of dressing, the smoke and water on the burned dolls, and Barbie’s ‘‘MOD’ern cousin,’’ (Cisneros) contributes to a better analytical interpretation. Beyond poverty, these dolls represent the effects of the stereotypes that society has implemented to women. At first, the Barbie dolls in better conditions with fancy clothes enacts the way society thinks that women are materialistic and egocentric. This relates to the moment the girls call Ken a ‘‘stupid-looking doll,’’ (Cisneros) they prioritize clothes and they would rather have new clothes for

Read More
1480 Words | 6 Pages

Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” takes a sarcastic approach to backlash at society and send the reader a message about what beauty really is. In “Barbie Doll”, A Barbie doll is used to show and symbolize what society views as what a female should aspire to become “perfect”. “Barbie's unrealistic body type…busty with a tiny waist, thin thighs and long legs…is reflective of our culture's feminine ideal. Yet less than two percent of American women can ever hope to achieve such dreamy measurements.”

Read More
1676 Words | 7 Pages

One of the well-known gender bending event is the Fluxwedding of George Maciunas and his wife Billie Hutching, in February 1978, a few months before Maciunas’ death. The couple traded their clothing, challenging the social constructions and conventions of gender roles, also connected with clothing of choice. Marina Abramović also creates a content dealing with our social constructions based on the body. One of her best­-known performances, Rhythm 0 (1974), from the Rhythm Series, was on this subject. She presented herself with the instructions: “There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired.

Read More
1396 Words | 6 Pages

In Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, appearances prove to be deceptive veneers that disguise the reality of situations and characters. Ibsen’s play is set in 19th century Norway, when women’s rights were restricted and social appearance such as financial success and middle class respectability were more important than equality and true identity. Ibsen also uses realism and naturalism, portraying the Helmer’s Marriage through authentic relationships, which are relatable to the audience. In A Doll’s House, Nora represents 19th century women entrapped by society to fulfill wifely and motherly obligations, unable to articulate or express their own feelings and desires.

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

Standing Female Nude, written by Carol Ann Duffy, is a poem which describes the condition of a prostitute who is struggling to make a living. Duffy, as with a majority of her other works, attempts to give a voice to voiceless women in the middle and lower economic classes in an effort to promote her feminist agenda. This poem is in fact very layered and explores multiple aspects which may not be spotted on a superficial level, and enables her to transmit her ideas to the readers. Duffy puts across her main ideas of society’s treatment of the prostitute versus the treatment of males, and the prostitutes introspective views. Duffy creates a society, not too distorted from our own in fact, which objectifies the woman and values her purely for her physical assets.

Read More

More about Lydia Schouten Sex Object Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document