July 29th: Performativity

Some Definitions for Butler's Reading

• Phenomenon: A thing which appears, or which is perceived or observed; a particular (kind of) fact, occurrence, or change as perceived through the senses or known intellectually; esp. a fact or occurrence, the cause or explanation of which is in question.

• Phenomenology : a. Philos. The metaphysical study or theory of phenomena in general (as distinct from that of being).
  b. gen. The division of any science which is concerned with the description and classification of its phenomena, rather than causal or theoretical explanation.

• Illocution: An act such as ordering, warning, undertaking, performed in saying something.

• Epiphenomena: a. Something that appears in addition; a secondary symptom. Also transf.
  b. spec. in Psychol. Applied to consciousness regarded as a by-product of the material activities of the brain and nerve-system.

• Episteme: Scientific knowledge, a system of understanding; spec. Foucault's term for the body of ideas which shape the perception of knowledge at a particular period.

Barthe's "Novels and Children"

Take a look at these images of Nancy Pelosi and the fact that she had been surrounded by children when she took over the position of Speaker of the house. What might Barthes say about the choice of children surrounding?
From where does female power come?

Barthes on Rhetoric

I know you didn't read all of Barthes' Mythologies (but one of your classmates did...), but I have a quotation from another part of the book. What can Barthes teach us about rhetoric? He identifies what he means by "rhetoric":

"a set of fixed, regulated, insistent figures, according to which the varied forms of the mythical signifier arrange themselves....It is through their rhetoric that bourgeois myths outline the general prospect of this pseudo-physis which defines the dream of the contemporary bourgeois world." (p. 150)

• physis: nature
  From Greek: the material we can sense in the cosmos
• anti-physis: what we can't sense (but we think we do)
• pseudo-physis: ideologically real
  • Morpheus from The Matrix: "[The matrix] is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth."

"I Kissed a Girl"

Jill Sobule (1995)--her funny, goofy video and cheerful song about two women kissing is a playful narrative about the secretive, exploratory aspect of young women falling in love or simply experimenting. Lots of 1990s cliches: women with Doc Marten-ish boots, a distortion-pedaled guitar moment, and Fabio.

Here's a link to the video

Katy Perry (2008)--her tantalizing, video and powerfully upbeat song about having kissed a "girl" (after drinking) conforms to the male gaze. The camera focuses on Perry in revealing outfits and seductive/vulnerable poses similar to the poses Kilbourne mentions in her critique of women's bodies used in advertising. The camera also glosses over other women's bodies or, more accurately, their body parts, which are displayed through quick cuts, heightening the sensual overtone of the music video. There's even a pillow fight with women in lingerie and feathers floating around.

Here's a link to the video (starts after an ad).

Remember, just because there are images of women in amorous situations together in the media does not mean the images are directed at lesbians or representative of lesbian bahavior. Those images are often for the male gaze, the viewer who possesses both women (psychoanalytically speaking). Even though we can find prevailing cultural patterns, we'd be shortsighted to assume any depiction is representative of an entire group--especially stereotyped portrayals.

Videos No One Should Watch...

The Onion has an interesting parody (explicit language) of that "TV influences us to aspire to become something unrealistic." While I think the clip trivializes and oversimplifies Wolf's argument regarding the beauty myth (much like South Park's ManBearPig episode oversimplifies Global Warming), it offers a different way the think about media influence in general and the ways in which news tries to offer the "whole" picture by having multiple experts give their 3-4 second sound bites...really in depth stuff, right?

Another video related to how women are used to sell products can be seen in this "Wii vs. Playstation 3" video.

Tomorrow--Culture of Violence

I'll have at least one prompt for you tomorrow, but that's going to be it for readings this semester. I want you to have more time to work on your presentations. I'm going to arrange for us to be in the Fretwell 219 computer lab on Wednesday, 7/31 and Monday, 8/05 (ask Shane if anyone is in there after his 4:15 class...). I'm not expecting you to be videographers or installation artists, but I'd like you to try to incorporate multimodality/ies into this Multimodal Essay/Project.

Works Cited

Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972.

Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (Dec. 1988): pp. 519-531.