ARCHIVE - kathleen's blog http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/blog/53/atom/feed 2007-10-01T22:15:09-07:00 ARCHIVE - Beauty Parlor Presentaion notes and outline http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/beauty-parlor-presentaion-notes-and-outline 2007-11-29T18:09:32-08:00 2007-11-29T18:09:32-08:00 kathleen Beauty Parlor Presentation- Week 6Kathleen MontesamoGaby PicacoMorganThe Visual Lexicon of the Music Video circa 2006-2007 in Three Examples I. Introduction      A. History of Music Videos            1. 1910-1950- early cinema, animation, “Soundies” jazz promotion             2. 1960- started being used as promotional material for bands                  -i.e. Hard Day’s Night, Yellow Submarine            3. 1980’s- birth of MTV      B. Video as Visual Component of Song            1. What can be captured by video that can’t be captured by music     alone?                   a. Representations of bodies through lighting, framing,      costuming, production design                   b. Reference to other objects that affiliate with song lyrics:      cars, food, expensive hotels, etc.       C. Video in conjunction with Song            - Reinforces social discourse/ widely accepted ideologies II. Clips and Observations (see attached documentation)      A. Morgan, “Wait” – Ying Yang Twins      B. Gaby Picaco, “Milkshake” – Kelis      C. Kathleen Montesamo- “Sexy Back” – Justin TimberlakeIII. Analysis       A. Repressive Hypothesis            1. “The implantation of perversions is an instrument-effect: it is     through the isolation, intensification and consolidation of         peripheral sexualities that the relations of power to sex and      pleasure branched out and multiplied, measured the body and     penetrated modes of conduct. And accompanying this      encroachment of powers, scattered sexualizes rigidified,  became stuck to an age, a place, and type of practice (48).”            2. Each video is blatantly sexual but does not provide any relief or change in power dynamics.       B. Identity of artists is double-edged sword:             1. They must be inhumanly sexual            2. Confines them to always having to project their identities as            something ideal       C. Stallybrass            1. “for all our talk of the “materialism” of modern life, attention to     material is precisely what is absent (39).”            2. Sex is the primary focus in the videos. Keys slipping into an     ignition, exploding champagne, and buns out of the oven all     function as visual metaphors.      C. Semiotics/ Teresa de Lauretis

            - “The sex-gender system… is both a socio-cultural construct and a     semiotic apparatus, a SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION which    assigns meaning (identity, value, prestige, location in kinship,    status in the social hierarchy, etc.) to individuals within society (5).”

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Beauty Parlor Presentation- Week 6Kathleen MontesamoGaby PicacoMorganThe Visual Lexicon of the Music Video circa 2006-2007 in Three Examples I. Introduction      A. History of Music Videos            1. 1910-1950- early cinema, animation, “Soundies” jazz promotion             2. 1960- started being used as promotional material for bands                  -i.e. Hard Day’s Night, Yellow Submarine            3. 1980’s- birth of MTV      B. Video as Visual Component of Song            1. What can be captured by video that can’t be captured by music     alone?                   a. Representations of bodies through lighting, framing,      costuming, production design                   b. Reference to other objects that affiliate with song lyrics:      cars, food, expensive hotels, etc.       C. Video in conjunction with Song            - Reinforces social discourse/ widely accepted ideologies II. Clips and Observations (see attached documentation)      A. Morgan, “Wait” – Ying Yang Twins      B. Gaby Picaco, “Milkshake” – Kelis      C. Kathleen Montesamo- “Sexy Back” – Justin TimberlakeIII. Analysis       A. Repressive Hypothesis            1. “The implantation of perversions is an instrument-effect: it is     through the isolation, intensification and consolidation of         peripheral sexualities that the relations of power to sex and      pleasure branched out and multiplied, measured the body and     penetrated modes of conduct. And accompanying this      encroachment of powers, scattered sexualizes rigidified,  became stuck to an age, a place, and type of practice (48).”            2. Each video is blatantly sexual but does not provide any relief or change in power dynamics.       B. Identity of artists is double-edged sword:             1. They must be inhumanly sexual            2. Confines them to always having to project their identities as            something ideal       C. Stallybrass            1. “for all our talk of the “materialism” of modern life, attention to     material is precisely what is absent (39).”            2. Sex is the primary focus in the videos. Keys slipping into an     ignition, exploding champagne, and buns out of the oven all     function as visual metaphors.      C. Semiotics/ Teresa de Lauretis

            - “The sex-gender system… is both a socio-cultural construct and a     semiotic apparatus, a SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION which    assigns meaning (identity, value, prestige, location in kinship,    status in the social hierarchy, etc.) to individuals within society (5).”

Justin Timberlake Video Colors sleek minimalTechnology representedGirl mostly naked, wearing pearlsMan wearing nice suitSleek backgroundsClose up shotsBody shots cut up, missing part of face or bodyShadows Bodies writhing horizontallySex scene/ physical overpowermentBreaking of things /pearlsPushing/rollingMouth coveringSlowed down images 

 

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ARCHIVE - How I fell in love with My Prosthesis http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/how-i-fell-in-love-with-my-prosthesis-6 2007-11-29T17:58:02-08:00 2007-11-29T17:58:02-08:00 kathleen How I fell in love with my prosthesis

Camera-

I saw you, as you were given to me, beautiful, perfect and mine. I held you, as you held me, with emotion, strength, and familiarity.  When I looked through you, I saw the world as you only you could let me, as all I desired to see. I’m convinced we grew through each other.  I gave you life, which you gave back to me. In photos of everything we became, of everything I saw by you.  My love and my inspiration, desire; formed into your film.

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How I fell in love with my prosthesis

Camera-

I saw you, as you were given to me, beautiful, perfect and mine. I held you, as you held me, with emotion, strength, and familiarity.  When I looked through you, I saw the world as you only you could let me, as all I desired to see. I’m convinced we grew through each other.  I gave you life, which you gave back to me. In photos of everything we became, of everything I saw by you.  My love and my inspiration, desire; formed into your film.

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ARCHIVE - Obituary http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/obituary-0 2007-11-29T17:06:56-08:00 2007-11-29T17:06:56-08:00 kathleen Obituary

The Levis Boot-cut jeans were born in 1999 in a California factory to then be brought to the state of Oregon, where they were adopted by a permanent owner. They spent their life busy and productive as they were worn often. They spent little of their life in the drawer or closet. The pants traveled often around Oregon, especially the coast, as well as back to their own birth state of California on occasion. Supported by patches in their old age, they were loved and taken care of well for the most part. The jeans tragically died in a misshape involving sever molding after being accidently locked in a truck after a fateful trip to the ocean. They are outlived by their faithful owner and a privet service is planned for Saturday around the household dumpster.

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Obituary

The Levis Boot-cut jeans were born in 1999 in a California factory to then be brought to the state of Oregon, where they were adopted by a permanent owner. They spent their life busy and productive as they were worn often. They spent little of their life in the drawer or closet. The pants traveled often around Oregon, especially the coast, as well as back to their own birth state of California on occasion. Supported by patches in their old age, they were loved and taken care of well for the most part. The jeans tragically died in a misshape involving sever molding after being accidently locked in a truck after a fateful trip to the ocean. They are outlived by their faithful owner and a privet service is planned for Saturday around the household dumpster.

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ARCHIVE - Paper Two http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/paper-two 2007-11-29T16:54:38-08:00 2007-11-29T16:54:38-08:00 kathleen Kathleen Montesano

Concept Rhyming Paper #2

Beau Travail and Judith Butler

The film Beau Travail shows complicated gender roles materializing in a reiterated system that operates from power constructs. The film explores the genders of the characters Sergeant Galoup and his soldier Sentain. Their genders are shown in the context of the military institution they are a part of. Using Butler’s concept of gender performativity we see gender materialize by the reiteration of norms within the military system they live under in the film.  The institution is depicted as regulating the social norms of their genders at the same time as supporting both characters that are shown to have differences in their gender representations.

From the first narration by the lead character in the beginning of the film the viewer is meant to understand that he is a product of an institution he has made his life of dedicating himself to. “Chief Master Sergeant Galoup, that’s me, unfit for life, unfit for civil life (Denis, Beau).” It is important that this quote is placed near the start of the film. It sets up the context for understanding and observing the character.  He is putting his whole being into a title that is made and honored by the military institution. This gives the impression that he abides by a militaristic way of living, thought of as being both physically and mentally demanding and regimented.  Then he goes on to announce he is unfit for life and more specifically unfit for “civil life”. He is showing his investment in his military identity by denying his identity outside of its structures.  I see a “civil life” as being a way of stating a lifestyle in opposition to the military lifestyle he is depicted as living in through most of the film.

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Kathleen Montesano

Concept Rhyming Paper #2

Beau Travail and Judith Butler

The film Beau Travail shows complicated gender roles materializing in a reiterated system that operates from power constructs. The film explores the genders of the characters Sergeant Galoup and his soldier Sentain. Their genders are shown in the context of the military institution they are a part of. Using Butler’s concept of gender performativity we see gender materialize by the reiteration of norms within the military system they live under in the film.  The institution is depicted as regulating the social norms of their genders at the same time as supporting both characters that are shown to have differences in their gender representations.

From the first narration by the lead character in the beginning of the film the viewer is meant to understand that he is a product of an institution he has made his life of dedicating himself to. “Chief Master Sergeant Galoup, that’s me, unfit for life, unfit for civil life (Denis, Beau).” It is important that this quote is placed near the start of the film. It sets up the context for understanding and observing the character.  He is putting his whole being into a title that is made and honored by the military institution. This gives the impression that he abides by a militaristic way of living, thought of as being both physically and mentally demanding and regimented.  Then he goes on to announce he is unfit for life and more specifically unfit for “civil life”. He is showing his investment in his military identity by denying his identity outside of its structures.  I see a “civil life” as being a way of stating a lifestyle in opposition to the military lifestyle he is depicted as living in through most of the film.

                For Galoup his military identify becomes a part of his gender materialization. I am using Butler’s idea of materialization as being the manifestation of the reiteration of regulatory social norms that become the construct of “sex”.  “It is not a simple fact or static condition of a body, but a process whereby regulatory norms materialize “sex” and achieve this materialization through forcible reiteration of these norms (Butler,  62). “ here Butler is explaining her notion of gender materialization through reiteration.  By saying “sex” is not a “static condition of a body” I see butler stating sex and gender to be more than your physical makeup, which is something solid and unchanging.  Instead she calls it a process, something that changes as it develops. When she talks about this process she states it is “regulatory norms” that “sex” materializes from. This is important because the word “norms” implies working under a greater societal or institutional construct. Describing the norms as regulatory shows the strength of societal normality, because the word regulatory implies a sense of power or hierarchy. This sense is insured by her going on to say that this materialization is achieved through the norms “forcible reiteration” once again implying a greater construct and power by the “forcible reiteration “of its “norms”.  It could be said that the military institution depicted in the film would be concerted a reiterational institution of gender materialization for Gauloup. The reiterated acts he performs in the film make up and sustain his identity within the military institution.

The film depicts visual acts of masculinity that pertain to Butler’s idea of gender performitivity.  The all-male soldiers perform their masculinity through the way they look, and the way they move. These acts are citational and reiterative, because they are continually performed and stabilized. They are citational in the way that they both come from and reinstate the institutional system and the gender system they function under. These ways of being are linked and cannot be separated from the military institution they live under and subscribe to.  In the film we see the physical manifestation of reiterative acts of performativity. We see the daily drills and training, they are physically demanding and requiring conformitivity of movements. Everyone’s movements are synchronized and precise. We see the gender performitivity in their grooming techniques. The way Galoup combs his hair back precisely and how the soldiers are shown often ironing so their clothes have deliberate creases. These routines are all a part of gendered norms. The viewer sees them in the context of the military institution that Galoup and his soldiers are shown operating under. This is significant because this the construct shown in the film that supports the norms that are being performed, as well as Galoup's identity, as stated in the beginning of the film. Such routines are shown throughout the film lending to the notion of these acts being normative continual practices.

The importance of abiding under the uniformed masculine guidelines of this societal structure are for Galoup are shown by his dislike for Sentain. He describes him as being different  from the others “Thin, distant,” these adjectives can be seen as hinting at the femininity of the character that sets him apart from Galoup and the others. One way he is different is his shy and gentle demiurge. He generally talks quietly and sais little. The close ups of his face in the film show him to be more boyish and wide eyed then the other men. This difference in his expression helps the audience connect with him on an emotional level. Another feminine quality about him is he is more nurturing then the other men. He gives his fellow soldier that is being unjustly punished water, and he is kind to a fellow soldier by teaching him French. Sentain also he gets has to get rescued by others, the other soldiers help him when his foot is hurt and he gets rescued at the end of the movie by Africans. This is another characteristic that could be considered feminine. Another way he is set apart from the other soldiers is in his interactions with the women in the night club depicted in the opening scene. He is one of the only soldiers that seem to not be interested in the women dancing. These observations are significant because they set him apart from Galoup and the other soldiers by showing Sentain's gender as something complex and different.

The character Sentain threatens the symbolic masculinity that for most of the movie we see Galoup prescribe by. He defies the gender norms in the film by showing more feminine characteristics than the men as well as some distinctive traditional masculine characteristics. He is shown as being heroic by saving the life of another soldier. He also can be authoritative by standing up to and challenging Galoup with physical violence. This notion of challenges and physical violence are traditionally masculine. Sentain operates somewhere between stereotypical gender roles. These differences between him and the other men are the reason he is despised by Galoup. Galoup’s desire to destroy Sentain comes from his need for his materialized system of preformitivity to not become disabled. He is a product of a system made up of acts that he reiterates all the time. He sees Setain as a threat to him because of the difference in his materialization of gender.

The film shows system of military culture that promotes and exudes the materialization of traditional masculinity. It also makes spaces for gender performative aberrations from the typical masculinity that Galoup is show to attain to while in the military. The other soldiers like and accept Setain despite his differences and dislike by Sergeant Galoup. A way that this dichotomy is shown in the film is in the scenes of their training drills. Each one performs the same task, running over things running under things, climbing structures, ect., but I am unable to not be struck by the differences between each soldiers movement. They all are shown moving with strength and form, but each one does it with slight variation. This is important because these drills are part of the physical reiteration that materializes into gender. There is room for slight differences in the performance of the drills as there is slight room for difference in the performance of gender shown by Sentain.

The last couple scenes are of Galoup after he is dismissed from the army for possibly destroying Setain, he is lying in a bed with a gun and there is a voice over narration. His own narration reads the tattoo on his chest as the camera zooms in on it. It says “fight for the good cause and die” then the camera moves to the distinguishable pulse in his bicep, which becomes a part of the 90’s dance jam song that starts playing. This leads into the last scene of Galoup in an elaborate dance scene that ends the movie. The two scenes work together by playing off of each other in an unexpected way. The first part is important for the film, because we see Galoup in a way that is familiar and uncomfortable. He is his usual serious and ominous self, continuing the tone of doom that has been constructed in the film by a combination of loud and uneasy music and narrations from Galoup hinting about a downfall he constructs from his hate and jealousy for Setain.  The downfall has come because he has been kicked out of the military and essentially the life that supports him. The set up with the gun is able to increase this unease that has been created. The tattoo is read and builds upon the viewer’s unease then the scene transition starts by focusing on his pulse. This pulse represents the opposite of death. The music and Galoup’s dance are able to show a great change in the way he presents himself. Juxtaposition with the scene before makes the final scene shocking to the viewer.

The end marks a change in Galoup's gender preformativity. This kind of elaborate dancing is an aberration from the strict structures of masculinity he is shown reiterating throughout the film. It also brings about a reflection of Galoup’s dislike towards Sentain for embodying a different materialization of gender then the one Galoup previously took on. The viewer sees that an aberration from typically masculine norms is something that Galoup proves completely capable of. This shows his distain to be linked to his own self-repression. Sentain was able to successfully show a difference in gender materialization while being a part the military, whereas Galoup could only change his gender performativity once completely out of the military. The dance scene shows this difference that Galoup is now capable of. This demonstrates Butler’s notion that through the reiterative aspect of gender preformativity there is a possibility for rematerialization. His materialization was created by keeping up the regimented masculine reiteration that came to define and materialize Galoup in the context of the institution that he was a part of as well as produced. In the final scene he changes the reiteration that reinforces his gender performance in the way that, through Butler, we can see as the rematerialization of gender.

      

Works Cited

 

Butler, Judith. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive limits of “sex”. New York: Routledge, 1993

Beau Travail. Dir. Denis, Claire. France: New York Films. 1999.

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ARCHIVE - cut-up excersize http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/cut-up-excersize 2007-11-29T16:35:02-08:00 2007-11-29T16:35:02-08:00 kathleen Drink thought, urge body off circle, circulation disclosed to be close enough for comfort. Psychiatric visions of prostatic break-downs on the mantle. Piercing photographic layaways of limbs. Climbing mayhem. Telling stories from sorts, and over sores. Tearing muscles into bones. Washed treading

“The question often asked of the heart is here asked again. Whence this rhythm, whence these hearings, wince these waves that on occasion swell to billows? Is it the regulation all within the parts that deal with breathing?”

The skill-less sink, fortune handcuffs against the outline of a cycling thought. Carried from sight to side shot. Colorful mixed giving’s promised to hierarchies, redirect into blisters by glazed skin. Sough this premise.

“In that next breath of that old sinner caught at last, order”

Such low whip intensity, caught by tape.

“Act fits to act, part fits to part, the total creature fits the total world.”

Mixing vessels, rain written in lower case. To be exposed, to filled floor path way to excess. Can’t hold clarity, caught between a balance of conversion.

“Known and unknown keep regulated this highly regulated force.”

Rising orthopedic function. Sat-down and cooled-off. Sight of motion, picking up broken lines, sticking sharply from broken doorways, meditations of lack. Visions of uninspired pressings. Corners leading to outside, bubbles taking rocks, circled by the odorless form. Dumping -cycle grounds.

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Drink thought, urge body off circle, circulation disclosed to be close enough for comfort. Psychiatric visions of prostatic break-downs on the mantle. Piercing photographic layaways of limbs. Climbing mayhem. Telling stories from sorts, and over sores. Tearing muscles into bones. Washed treading

“The question often asked of the heart is here asked again. Whence this rhythm, whence these hearings, wince these waves that on occasion swell to billows? Is it the regulation all within the parts that deal with breathing?”

The skill-less sink, fortune handcuffs against the outline of a cycling thought. Carried from sight to side shot. Colorful mixed giving’s promised to hierarchies, redirect into blisters by glazed skin. Sough this premise.

“In that next breath of that old sinner caught at last, order”

Such low whip intensity, caught by tape.

“Act fits to act, part fits to part, the total creature fits the total world.”

Mixing vessels, rain written in lower case. To be exposed, to filled floor path way to excess. Can’t hold clarity, caught between a balance of conversion.

“Known and unknown keep regulated this highly regulated force.”

Rising orthopedic function. Sat-down and cooled-off. Sight of motion, picking up broken lines, sticking sharply from broken doorways, meditations of lack. Visions of uninspired pressings. Corners leading to outside, bubbles taking rocks, circled by the odorless form. Dumping -cycle grounds.

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ARCHIVE - Scott -Mini Play http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/scott-mini-play 2007-11-29T15:52:32-08:00 2007-11-29T15:52:32-08:00 kathleen Setting-

Outside a party, 3 AM a Saturday night.

Cast and costumes-

Me- lady wearing girl clothes, Minnie skirt.

Man #1- manly guy, drunk, friend of mine.

Man #2- another pretty manly guy, a friend, kina drunk as well.

 

Man #1- I can’t believe that guy didn’t punch me! I wanted to get punched tonight.

Man #2- I’ll punch you, if you punch me.

(They punch each other)

Me- My turn, punch me.

Man #1- I can’t punch you in the face, id feel too bad.

Me- fine, then I’ll slap you across the face if you slap me across the face.

(We slap each other equally hard)

Me- (to Man #2) Trade slaps?

(We slap each other equally hard)

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Setting-

Outside a party, 3 AM a Saturday night.

Cast and costumes-

Me- lady wearing girl clothes, Minnie skirt.

Man #1- manly guy, drunk, friend of mine.

Man #2- another pretty manly guy, a friend, kina drunk as well.

 

Man #1- I can’t believe that guy didn’t punch me! I wanted to get punched tonight.

Man #2- I’ll punch you, if you punch me.

(They punch each other)

Me- My turn, punch me.

Man #1- I can’t punch you in the face, id feel too bad.

Me- fine, then I’ll slap you across the face if you slap me across the face.

(We slap each other equally hard)

Me- (to Man #2) Trade slaps?

(We slap each other equally hard)

End scene

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ARCHIVE - Paper one http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/paper-one 2007-11-29T15:31:36-08:00 2007-11-29T15:31:36-08:00 kathleen Concept Rhyming paper #1Foucault and Discourse  Foucault argues that the topic of sex and sexuality have not been repressed through the last few centuries by being forced to be silenced.   In his History of Sexuality he explores the ways that sexuality has been talked about and represented through the western past.  Foucault focuses on the word discourse to depict an action of sex being construed into speech to show the way sexuality has always been talked about through the past. He uses examples of discourse being encouraged simultaneously with demonstration of the notion of repression to human sexuality.            In Foucault’s writing the word discourse seems to carry ample baggage. It stands to be augmented by the surrounding words that serve a function of implying power dynamics in speech or writing. He is not interested talking about the way members of society talk about sex with one another, but with speech that serves to imply a hierarchy. Foucault lays out his the meaning behind his use of the word when he writes.  “But more important was the multiplication of discourses concerning sex in the field of exorcize of power itself: an institutional incitement to speak about it, and to so more and more; a determination on the part of the agencies to of power to hear it spoken about (Foucault, 18).”  Here he explains that his interest in discourse is in its relationship to institutional power. Thinking of dialogue in this way allows Foucault to explore the way that society is fashioned by language from the way the society itself is structured.  In Foucault's discourse on discourse power is always in the mixture.  This quote acknowledges the presence of a difference in implication between the standard use of the word and in his own.  He shows this by pointing out what was important to his own unique exploration of the discourses of sex.            Foucault also demonstrates the power of this discourse he writes of. Using speech in these institutionalized ways reinforces the implied hierarchal structures. “Trough the various discourses, legal sections against minor perversions were multiplied; sexual irregularity was annexed to mental illness… (Foucault, 36). Foucault is describing ways that the “repression” of sexuality that Foucault argues was erroneously associated with a notion of sexual censorship, is in reality perpetuated by the discourses already installed in societal power structures. This repression through discourse seems to be a foreign idea regarding the everyday use and associations of these to terms. The word discourse in many settings brings about images of dialogue and exchange, an exchange meaning that there is a possibility for both parties involved to share equally. Leaving room for verbal exchanges seems to be an idea traditionally opposed to repression, from the direction that repression is perpetuated through one-sided exposure maintained by lack of opportunity for dialogue or discourse. Foucault uses the term discourse to show something purposefully placed in society to allow repression by using the word to in many cases exclude dialogue that has anything to do with equal reciprocation due to the hierarchal structure already in place that Foucault's discourse is touching diving into. This monitored form of dialogue that Foucault is writing about can only be allowed to maintain to the established order of its society it is operating within. The acceptance of discourse into power is maintained in these societal structures. Foucault talks about confessions being one such form. “To be more precise, it has pursued the task of producing true discourse concerning sex, and this by adapting – not without difficulty – the ancient procedure of confession to the rules of scientific discourse (Foucault 67-68).” Foucault looks at confession as being a part of the cycle of discourse in the form of a mechanism ingrained in our society that gives us relief through discourse. If something is talked about out of hiding it becomes truth.             When Foucault talks about discourse through confession it is the listener of the confession that is taking the more active role in the exchange. “where certain major mechanisms had to be found for adapting them to one another (the listening technique, the postulate of casualty, the principle of latency, the rule of interruption, the imperative of medicalization) (Foucault, 68).”  The confessor is only a passive part of this ingrained cultural process of confession. There is this idea of confession being a honed machine to reinstate oppressive positions by learning about sexuality. Foucault looks at a part of society that we take for granted as the need to confess and examines it along with the role of the person monitoring the confession. He uses words like technique and rule that show the pointedness of this position. These words are able to break down and show a sterilized process that serves to further the operative device it comes from. Foucault shows the listener as serving this machine. This confuses the common thoughts surrounding the terms of confessing and listening. The words listen cannot be passive in Foucault’s use nor can confessing be active. Confession is an ingrained process that the listener can use to control and enable discourse on sex. There is a understanding in his language that, like repression, discourse is something you are to be subjected to.  Effects of discourse such as sexuality to be constricted by laws or confined to terms and separations of mental illness are things because of one’s sexuality one can be confined by. These are terms once again that oppose the connection of discourse and liberation. A question that comes to mind is: why might Foucault turn common uses and notions of these words and their relations to one another on their sides?  One possible answer that comes to mind is for the reason of complicating the way use and hear words might also complicate our acceptance of easy binary ways we see these concepts depicted in society.  Works CitedFoucault, Michel. The history of Sexuality. New York: Random House, 1978.  

 

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Concept Rhyming paper #1Foucault and Discourse  Foucault argues that the topic of sex and sexuality have not been repressed through the last few centuries by being forced to be silenced.   In his History of Sexuality he explores the ways that sexuality has been talked about and represented through the western past.  Foucault focuses on the word discourse to depict an action of sex being construed into speech to show the way sexuality has always been talked about through the past. He uses examples of discourse being encouraged simultaneously with demonstration of the notion of repression to human sexuality.            In Foucault’s writing the word discourse seems to carry ample baggage. It stands to be augmented by the surrounding words that serve a function of implying power dynamics in speech or writing. He is not interested talking about the way members of society talk about sex with one another, but with speech that serves to imply a hierarchy. Foucault lays out his the meaning behind his use of the word when he writes.  “But more important was the multiplication of discourses concerning sex in the field of exorcize of power itself: an institutional incitement to speak about it, and to so more and more; a determination on the part of the agencies to of power to hear it spoken about (Foucault, 18).”  Here he explains that his interest in discourse is in its relationship to institutional power. Thinking of dialogue in this way allows Foucault to explore the way that society is fashioned by language from the way the society itself is structured.  In Foucault's discourse on discourse power is always in the mixture.  This quote acknowledges the presence of a difference in implication between the standard use of the word and in his own.  He shows this by pointing out what was important to his own unique exploration of the discourses of sex.            Foucault also demonstrates the power of this discourse he writes of. Using speech in these institutionalized ways reinforces the implied hierarchal structures. “Trough the various discourses, legal sections against minor perversions were multiplied; sexual irregularity was annexed to mental illness… (Foucault, 36). Foucault is describing ways that the “repression” of sexuality that Foucault argues was erroneously associated with a notion of sexual censorship, is in reality perpetuated by the discourses already installed in societal power structures. This repression through discourse seems to be a foreign idea regarding the everyday use and associations of these to terms. The word discourse in many settings brings about images of dialogue and exchange, an exchange meaning that there is a possibility for both parties involved to share equally. Leaving room for verbal exchanges seems to be an idea traditionally opposed to repression, from the direction that repression is perpetuated through one-sided exposure maintained by lack of opportunity for dialogue or discourse. Foucault uses the term discourse to show something purposefully placed in society to allow repression by using the word to in many cases exclude dialogue that has anything to do with equal reciprocation due to the hierarchal structure already in place that Foucault's discourse is touching diving into. This monitored form of dialogue that Foucault is writing about can only be allowed to maintain to the established order of its society it is operating within. The acceptance of discourse into power is maintained in these societal structures. Foucault talks about confessions being one such form. “To be more precise, it has pursued the task of producing true discourse concerning sex, and this by adapting – not without difficulty – the ancient procedure of confession to the rules of scientific discourse (Foucault 67-68).” Foucault looks at confession as being a part of the cycle of discourse in the form of a mechanism ingrained in our society that gives us relief through discourse. If something is talked about out of hiding it becomes truth.             When Foucault talks about discourse through confession it is the listener of the confession that is taking the more active role in the exchange. “where certain major mechanisms had to be found for adapting them to one another (the listening technique, the postulate of casualty, the principle of latency, the rule of interruption, the imperative of medicalization) (Foucault, 68).”  The confessor is only a passive part of this ingrained cultural process of confession. There is this idea of confession being a honed machine to reinstate oppressive positions by learning about sexuality. Foucault looks at a part of society that we take for granted as the need to confess and examines it along with the role of the person monitoring the confession. He uses words like technique and rule that show the pointedness of this position. These words are able to break down and show a sterilized process that serves to further the operative device it comes from. Foucault shows the listener as serving this machine. This confuses the common thoughts surrounding the terms of confessing and listening. The words listen cannot be passive in Foucault’s use nor can confessing be active. Confession is an ingrained process that the listener can use to control and enable discourse on sex. There is a understanding in his language that, like repression, discourse is something you are to be subjected to.  Effects of discourse such as sexuality to be constricted by laws or confined to terms and separations of mental illness are things because of one’s sexuality one can be confined by. These are terms once again that oppose the connection of discourse and liberation. A question that comes to mind is: why might Foucault turn common uses and notions of these words and their relations to one another on their sides?  One possible answer that comes to mind is for the reason of complicating the way use and hear words might also complicate our acceptance of easy binary ways we see these concepts depicted in society.  Works CitedFoucault, Michel. The history of Sexuality. New York: Random House, 1978.  

 

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ARCHIVE - Bodies http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/bodies 2007-11-29T15:26:03-08:00 2007-11-29T15:26:03-08:00 kathleen Bodies to show for. Obesity, deformity, and perfection. The standard and the ideal, the fictional. The promise of beauty’s fulfillment. Healthy and unhealthy bodies. Successful and unsuccessful bodies. Wanted and unwanted bodies. Clothes made for selling, on bodies made for sale. Bodily advertisements show investments. Money, perfect for the perfection of bodies. revealed playgrounds of self-esteem.  Who wore their class best, best to body.

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Bodies to show for. Obesity, deformity, and perfection. The standard and the ideal, the fictional. The promise of beauty’s fulfillment. Healthy and unhealthy bodies. Successful and unsuccessful bodies. Wanted and unwanted bodies. Clothes made for selling, on bodies made for sale. Bodily advertisements show investments. Money, perfect for the perfection of bodies. revealed playgrounds of self-esteem.  Who wore their class best, best to body.

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ARCHIVE - Form of a Form http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/form-of-a-form 2007-11-29T15:03:14-08:00 2007-11-29T15:03:14-08:00 kathleen Written for interpretation from the voice of a checkmark. The less is more rule. Directions in the direct concept guidelines. A box to fit an entire family, recreated on spreadsheets, spread around in circulation, and out of circulation. Confessor. Form staples- numbers and names. Sex and age, demonstrating to a point, how this world could fit you in. best use of a flat page, determined to manufacture you to form.

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Written for interpretation from the voice of a checkmark. The less is more rule. Directions in the direct concept guidelines. A box to fit an entire family, recreated on spreadsheets, spread around in circulation, and out of circulation. Confessor. Form staples- numbers and names. Sex and age, demonstrating to a point, how this world could fit you in. best use of a flat page, determined to manufacture you to form.

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ARCHIVE - bathrooms http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/bathrooms 2007-10-01T22:15:09-07:00 2007-10-01T22:15:09-07:00 kathleen Bathroom observations

The women’s bathroom has compartments with toilets that don’t reach the ground exposing feet of the person in the stall. The floor is tile with a drain in the middle. There are many places to dispose things as well as many things to dispose such as toilet paper and paper towels, as well as tampons and pads you can buy and dispose. There is soap and sinks that are varying heights, a mirror, and a place to clean and change babies. Everything is color coordinated. There is a separate room called a lounge with a couch.  

The men’s bathroom has no lounge but the same color scheme and sinks. There is one stall and two urinals with a small divider down the middle. There is a baby changing table, but no tampon dispenser. The mirror and floors are the same as well. In both bathrooms have sinks that turn on automatically and manually.

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Bathroom observations

The women’s bathroom has compartments with toilets that don’t reach the ground exposing feet of the person in the stall. The floor is tile with a drain in the middle. There are many places to dispose things as well as many things to dispose such as toilet paper and paper towels, as well as tampons and pads you can buy and dispose. There is soap and sinks that are varying heights, a mirror, and a place to clean and change babies. Everything is color coordinated. There is a separate room called a lounge with a couch.  

The men’s bathroom has no lounge but the same color scheme and sinks. There is one stall and two urinals with a small divider down the middle. There is a baby changing table, but no tampon dispenser. The mirror and floors are the same as well. In both bathrooms have sinks that turn on automatically and manually.

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