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I’m not ashamed to admit it; I like watching trashy TV. My housemate finds this hilarious – I’m an English Literature graduate and it amuses her how I intersperse reading classical literature with watching The Hills.
I recently watched an episode of America’s Next Top Model (which, here in the UK gets shown sporadically and well after the show airs in the USA) – and found it interesting viewing. The episode featured a fashion shoot where contestants posed as crime scene victims who had been strangled, stabbed, shot or decapitated. The girls were dressed in fabulous couture, their bodies bent to simulate the awkward angles of women who had suffered violent deaths. You can see the photos from the show here.
Art is a great thing. So is art that shocks. But photo shoots like these can be seen to glamorise violence against women – and they’re becoming more common. The America’s Next Top Model shoot certainly isn’t the only one of this kind – remember these recent photos of Lindsay Lohan with a gun pointed at her face?
I suppose we have to ask how this type of imagery comes across to the viewing public – are these ‘artsy’ violent images seen as something sexy, something beautiful? Even if not, are we becoming desensitised to this sort of image? It’s concerning to think that this type of imagery may already be considered ‘mainstream’ and have ceased to shock. One thing’s for sure – the commenters on the Lindsay Lohan photos certainly seemed to like them …
Violence against any gender is a serious issue that needs to be taken as such – and I don’t think there’s anything beautiful about these depictions of violence – even if they are dressed up in a peephole bra, or this season’s Chanel. What do you guys think? Are these photos dressing up the abuse of women, something that happens every day to women from all walks of life, as something beautiful, or are they just art?
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Hard to tell. I seem to remember hearing about that (was that season a few years ago?) from friends who watch, and got the idea that it was supposed to be presented as an ‘awareness’ thing. Was there anything on that, or am I misremembering? Now, I’ve expressed my distaste for ‘awareness’ events in a few places before, but what do others think? Is it possible for a show like this to try and make a platform to spread awareness of the problem, or is it necessarily glorifying in any case?
Personally, I pretty much ignore anything going on in the messed up world of fashion, so I don’t care what people do for photo shoots or whatever. I’m undecided on whether depiction is glorification.
Lindsay Lohan’s photo shoot really creeps me out. It’s far more aggressive than the ANTM one, which I actually rather like.
I totally agree. The ANTM shoot didn’t bother me too much, mostly because I know they’re just trying to find new and different things to do (and sometimes that means they have to go out on a limb). Plus, they set it up as kind of a joke, e.g. “so and so got pushed off a balcony by a fellow model.” The Lindsay Lohan shoot creeped me out much more, though I don’t know why.
These were the first thing to come to mind. They’re by Andres Serrano, from the 90’s I think. They’re really graphic, just as a warning.
http://www.art-forum.org/z_Serrano/gallery.htm
ANTM has sent a horrible, confusing set of messages about this issue. Half the seasons seem to have something like this photo shoot, while the other half decry it and call it disgusting. They don’t really care about violence against women at all, just the publicity they get from involving it in their show. I find that even more reprehensible, personally.
that’s fucked up.
You have that right !
[...] Violence Against Women = The New Black? – Zelda Lily [...]
I’m the same way Amy. One saturday I was reading The Federalist Papers,but I put them down in order to watch reruns of Celebrity Rehab.
[...] A victim of violent death would never be seen this way in an actual coroner’s office. For one thing, the victim’s clothes—rife with evidence, hopefully—would have been long gone. Bags would have been placed over her hands for the purpose of forensic evidence collection. And the coroner? He or she would be revving up the Stryker saw to make a Y-incision. [...]
[...] Model shoot that featured bruised, battered and murdered women, we asked if violence against women was becoming trendy, particularly with the way in which dead or murdered female bodies are sexualized on TV. What was [...]