ARCHIVE - Allison's blog http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/blog/33/atom/feed 2007-10-01T15:17:49-07:00 ARCHIVE - E-corpus: The body and machine as visualized in the 21st century http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/e-corpus-the-body-and-machine-as-visualized-in-the-21st-century 2007-12-06T23:54:24-08:00 2007-12-06T23:54:24-08:00 Allison Here are two videos I have found. The first is Alexander McQueen's 07 fashion show in which Kate Moss is a hololgram. It is beautiful and amazing and scary all at once. She is a body of light, literally.

 http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQT0vcw7xZM

The second is a bmw commercial featuring the art works of Theo Jensen. His sculptures are wind powered machines and they look like creatures walking on the beach.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jUsCQoDCXoY

]]> Here are two videos I have found. The first is Alexander McQueen's 07 fashion show in which Kate Moss is a hololgram. It is beautiful and amazing and scary all at once. She is a body of light, literally.

 http://youtube.com/watch?v=GQT0vcw7xZM

The second is a bmw commercial featuring the art works of Theo Jensen. His sculptures are wind powered machines and they look like creatures walking on the beach.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jUsCQoDCXoY

]]> ARCHIVE - E-Corpus: Brecht and South Park http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/e-copus-brecht-and-south-park 2007-12-06T17:45:41-08:00 2007-12-06T19:43:57-08:00 Allison I love watching South Park late on weeknights, and since we have discussed Brechtian theory, I have noticed how much South Park emulates the ideals of Brecht’s epic theatre. This especially hit home for me in an episode in which God is portrayed as a monster with fur and a hippo face with a snake tongue and a lion's tale. It pretty much got across the idea that our Occidental depictions of the abstract theory of God are ridiculous. For hundred of years God has been visualized as an aging old man with a white beard. Isn’t it just as silly to depict God as a man virtually on his deathbed as it is to make him into a strange, humorous monster? Without saying a word about the choice of depiction, a social subject was addressed by the animators. It is not just this one particular epidode; the creators of South Park seem to use Brechtian theory in many, if not all episodes.

I decided to research this online and see if I am the only person who feels this way. In doing so, I found that I am not alone. If you are interested, check out this website:

< http://storymind.com/dramatica/armando/17.htm>

I think it is awesome that Brecht is alive and well within entertainment!

]]> I love watching South Park late on weeknights, and since we have discussed Brechtian theory, I have noticed how much South Park emulates the ideals of Brecht’s epic theatre. This especially hit home for me in an episode in which God is portrayed as a monster with fur and a hippo face with a snake tongue and a lion's tale. It pretty much got across the idea that our Occidental depictions of the abstract theory of God are ridiculous. For hundred of years God has been visualized as an aging old man with a white beard. Isn’t it just as silly to depict God as a man virtually on his deathbed as it is to make him into a strange, humorous monster? Without saying a word about the choice of depiction, a social subject was addressed by the animators. It is not just this one particular epidode; the creators of South Park seem to use Brechtian theory in many, if not all episodes.

I decided to research this online and see if I am the only person who feels this way. In doing so, I found that I am not alone. If you are interested, check out this website:

< http://storymind.com/dramatica/armando/17.htm>

I think it is awesome that Brecht is alive and well within entertainment!

]]> ARCHIVE - In Class Writing Assignments I Missed http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/in-class-writing-assignments-i-missed 2007-12-06T17:27:36-08:00 2007-12-06T17:27:36-08:00 Allison Manipulating “The Eye” 

 

This exercise has given me a fresh perspective on analyzing writing and literature. I circled every 7 words, skip one, circled the next word, and then skip 6 and circled the seventh word again. This pattern of 7 and 2 helped to exhibit the underlying text of “The Eye.” The words I circled most had violent or horrifying connotations such as remove, straining, sickliness, dying, condemn, paralysis, and abuse. If the words did not have these connotations, they were words pertaining to health, beauty, and art.  This article is about the care and hygiene of the eyes. However, by circling certain words in a pattern, it became clear that this piece has more to do with beautiful and artistic presentation of the human eye and the awful things that occur when one does not follow the article’s rules of etiquette.   

It was also fascinating to see the phrases made by the circled words. Examples include “expedients dying be the use of many,” “eye face it is to Deity visions catch light in human,” and “thus practice near should carefully there often Modern reject good short-sighted to be precisely these only trial the art.”    These phrases speak of methods that desire universal use, of the face being a reflection of god, and of how people should reject their shortsightedness, and how people should judge art in an open minded fashion. At least that is how I interpreted these pieced together phrases. If my findings are in anyway accurate, they reflect the theme of the paper.

]]> Manipulating “The Eye” 

 

This exercise has given me a fresh perspective on analyzing writing and literature. I circled every 7 words, skip one, circled the next word, and then skip 6 and circled the seventh word again. This pattern of 7 and 2 helped to exhibit the underlying text of “The Eye.” The words I circled most had violent or horrifying connotations such as remove, straining, sickliness, dying, condemn, paralysis, and abuse. If the words did not have these connotations, they were words pertaining to health, beauty, and art.  This article is about the care and hygiene of the eyes. However, by circling certain words in a pattern, it became clear that this piece has more to do with beautiful and artistic presentation of the human eye and the awful things that occur when one does not follow the article’s rules of etiquette.   

It was also fascinating to see the phrases made by the circled words. Examples include “expedients dying be the use of many,” “eye face it is to Deity visions catch light in human,” and “thus practice near should carefully there often Modern reject good short-sighted to be precisely these only trial the art.”    These phrases speak of methods that desire universal use, of the face being a reflection of god, and of how people should reject their shortsightedness, and how people should judge art in an open minded fashion. At least that is how I interpreted these pieced together phrases. If my findings are in anyway accurate, they reflect the theme of the paper.

 

Obituary  

            The fabulous knee-high leather fashion boots came to their untimely end Tuesday after four years of devoted service. The heel on the left boot broke on a long walk downtown, making the pair impossible to walk in, thus ending their short lives. The boots dedicated their existence to dressing up any outfit including but not limited to jeans, short dresses, and office casual wear. Although those who wore the boots were few, their admirers were many. A private service will be held at the coat closet where the boots, who are still too beautiful to be thrown out, will be stuffed in the back corner until further noticed. No flowers, please. Instead, please send donations to Footfashion who continue fighting the battle against ugly shoes.

 

Form of Form 

While looking at the 1970 census form the question that first got my attention was the Head of Household. There is a “Wife of Head” bubble, but not a “Husband of Head” bubble. This makes it obvious how patriarchal our country has always been. The order has to be filled in as follows:

Head of House

Wife of Head

Unmarried Children, Oldest First

Married Children and their Families

Other Relatives of the Head

Non-Relatives of the Head

 

The form is made only for traditional nuclear families. There is no leniency within the form for non-traditional families.

 

This form should not have a Head of Household title. It should say “Homeowner” or “First Person Listed on Title, Deed, or Lease.” This question is not biased or sexist. It would also be more precise for the census. When it asks for the names of the other people living in the house it should not have bubbles to fill out, but simply a line that says “Relationship” and the person can write whatever they see fit.

]]> ARCHIVE - Winter Quarter Project Proposal http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/winter-quarter-project-proposal-0 2007-12-06T12:39:22-08:00 2007-12-06T12:40:21-08:00 Allison Allison

Fashioning the Body

Winter Project Proposal

November 27, 2007

 Summary

            My winter quarter project for Fashioning the Body is composed of a critical writing element and a photographic work in series entitled The Body as a Machine: a Visual Perspective. By looking at art, especially 19th and 20th century photographs, and putting it in a historical context I hope to discover the significance of the body being represented as a machine.  I will be evaluating topics such as  mechanical prosthesis, body imaging and conditioning, as well as the body’s relationship with technology in today’s post-industrial society. I intend on representing my work in a photographic work in series which will be a compilation of portraits of bodies juxtaposed with images of technology and mechanics. This project will be monitored by the Fashioning the Body faculty as well as my project group. I will be presenting my project to the students and faculty of Fashioning Body during week ten of winter quarter.

 Central Themes and Approach

            My primary theme for this project is evaluating the body as a manufactured entity.  This encompasses topics of how the body is depicted as an automaton in labor practices, the medical field, technology, and politics. I am particularly interested in how the visual arts have used mechanical imagery to discuss the relationship that our bodies have to machines. In her essay Envisioning Cyborg Bodies, Jennifer Gonzalez defines the cyborg body as “the body of an imagined cyberspatial existence. It is the site of possible being. In this sense it exists in excess of the real. But it is also embedded within the real,” (267). All images that depict the body as a machine are straddling the boundaries between current society and the realm of the imagination whether utopian or apocalyptic, optimistic or pessimistic.  It is the relationship that history has with the depictions of the mechanized body that will be the focus of my work for winter quarter.

]]> Allison

Fashioning the Body

Winter Project Proposal

November 27, 2007

 Summary

            My winter quarter project for Fashioning the Body is composed of a critical writing element and a photographic work in series entitled The Body as a Machine: a Visual Perspective. By looking at art, especially 19th and 20th century photographs, and putting it in a historical context I hope to discover the significance of the body being represented as a machine.  I will be evaluating topics such as  mechanical prosthesis, body imaging and conditioning, as well as the body’s relationship with technology in today’s post-industrial society. I intend on representing my work in a photographic work in series which will be a compilation of portraits of bodies juxtaposed with images of technology and mechanics. This project will be monitored by the Fashioning the Body faculty as well as my project group. I will be presenting my project to the students and faculty of Fashioning Body during week ten of winter quarter.

 Central Themes and Approach

            My primary theme for this project is evaluating the body as a manufactured entity.  This encompasses topics of how the body is depicted as an automaton in labor practices, the medical field, technology, and politics. I am particularly interested in how the visual arts have used mechanical imagery to discuss the relationship that our bodies have to machines. In her essay Envisioning Cyborg Bodies, Jennifer Gonzalez defines the cyborg body as “the body of an imagined cyberspatial existence. It is the site of possible being. In this sense it exists in excess of the real. But it is also embedded within the real,” (267). All images that depict the body as a machine are straddling the boundaries between current society and the realm of the imagination whether utopian or apocalyptic, optimistic or pessimistic.  It is the relationship that history has with the depictions of the mechanized body that will be the focus of my work for winter quarter.

            The second component of my project is a photographic work in series in which I will be taking portraits of bodies that are entirely or partially composed of machines or other relative pieces of technology. The themes of this photo essay will reference the texts and visuals from the first quarter of Fashioning the Body as well as additional resources that I have found outside of class in preparation for this project.     

I chose to use a combination of photography and critical analysis for this project because I want to investigate and evaluate artwork in a historical context and partake in the dialogue that persists about the body and its relationship to the machine.  It is also interesting to use a mechanical device to make images that will be alluding to the body as a machine. My ultimate goal with the creative aspect of this project is to discuss the common cultural anxieties and pessimism toward technology while giving my audience san image of ideal beauty. A keen understanding of art history relating to the body as a machine will help me develop visual ideas for my work in series.  I believe that the best way to visually express my acquired knowledge is through photography, the new artistic medium that defined the Industrial age.  I will be printing 8x10 and 11x14 black and white photographs because this medium is best suited for negative sandwiching, and in comparison to color photography, black and white is a more apt approach in creating distinctive shapes and forms. 

  

 Dialogue

            I will be in direct dialogue with all of the texts in my annotated bibliography including Le Mattrie, Zabel, and Kahn as well as texts used in the first quarter of Fashioning the Body such as Gonzalez and Huyssen. I will be viewing films in which the bodies are depicted as machines such as Metropolis, Star Wars, AI, and Bicentennial Man. There are many artists whose work I will be analyzing. I will be contemplating the art of Diego Rivera, Fritz Kahn, and Hannah Hoch as well as Fascist art produced by Arno Brecker for Nazi Germany. However, I will mainly be focusing my critical analysis on photographic works by artists such Man Ray, Grete Stern, Felix Man, Paul Strand, Peter Keetman, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston. These photographers’ use of subject matter and form are greatly inspirational to the photography I will be accomplishing during winter quarter. All of these sources relate to my theme and I will be using these works to discuss the body as a machine within my critical writing and photographic work in series.    

 Audience

            My imagined audience consists of academics as well as the general public. My critical work will be speaking specifically to people who are knowledgeable in the subjects of art history, anthropology, geopolitical history, and gender studies. I want my photography to transcend academic audiences. I would like my work to be visually compelling and intellectually stimulating for the public in general.

 Preliminary Annotated Bibliography  

Texts 

Descartes, Rene. Treatise of Man. Prometheus Books, 2003. 

            It is in this book that Descartes likens the animal body to a mechanism. This theory changed the way the body was envisioned and encouraged the modern assumption that the anatomical body is uncannily similar to machines. This text will be used in my winter quarter project so that I may assess how Descartes’ theories became a catalyst for the early Occidental depictions of bodies as machines.

 Fox, Nicols. Against the Machine. Island Press, 2004.

            Fox uses this book to place modern anxieties about technology into an historical context.  She uses examples of art and literature and describes how technological anxiety is hidden within them. Against the Machine will help me analyze works of art through a historical perspective as well as give me a retinue of new visual works to consider and investigate.

 Gonzalez, Jennifer. “Envisioning Cyborg Bodies.” Cyborg Handbook. Routledge: New York, 1995.

            This article discusses cyborgs and analyzes visual images that could be interpreted as cyborgs. I will be using this text for definitions of cyborg bodies as well as academic perspective on the art of Hannah Hoch.

 Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the New. Knopf, 1991.

            This book is about modern art and expands upon the PBS series of the same name. In this book, he discusses how technology influenced modern art. Fashioning the Body faculty member Julia Zay recommended this book to me, and although I do not know much about it, I trust that this book related to my project.  

 Kahn, Fritz. Man in Structure and Function. Alfred A. Knopf, 1946. 

            Fritz Kahn created drawings of the body that depicted anatomy as a working machine. He even included laborers working in the nervous system. This comparison of the human body to modern machines has made me curious about his writing. This book is about anatomy and the biological functions of the body. This book will give insight into his visual pieces that directly influenced other artist during the second half of the 20th century. His writing and visuals will be useful in my critical writing as well as inspirational to the concepts explored in my photography.

  La Mettrie, Julian Offrey. La Mettrie: Machine Man and Other Writings. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

La Mettrie was an 18th century materialist and his philosophical writings in Machine Man focuses of the perfection of the mechanism. This book was discussed during the Fall Quarter of Fashioning the Body, and I believe that La Mattrie’s philosophy directly affected visual art during the early stages of industrialization. This will be a much used source in my research of how certain historical events and works of literature changes visual art as well.

 Mumford, Lewis and Casey Blake. Art and Technics. Columbia University Press, 2000.

In his book Art and Technics, Mumford assesses the relationship between art and

technology and how this affiliation impacts humans in the post-industrial age.  His view is pessimistic and discusses how he believes technology has depersonalized modern life. This book will be a source for examining technology’s relationship to visual art as well as discovering possible subject matter for my photography.

    Preziosi, Donald. The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology. Oxford University Press USA, 2000.According to the Amazon.com book review, “this anthology is a guide to

understanding art history through a critical reading of the field's most innovative and influential texts over the past two centuries. Each section focuses on a key issue: aesthetics, style, history as an art, iconography and semiology, gender, modernity and post modernity, deconstruction and museology.” This book will be a great secondary source for me to use in order to further my knowledge of art history and its importance in academic society.

  Zabel, Barbara. Assembling Art: The Machine and the American Avant-Garde.  University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

This book is an examination of technology’s influence on art of the American avant-garde. Zabel asserts that machines directly influenced American modern art and explores this concept through examples of jazz music and visual art. This text will have a considerable influence on the topics of discussion in my critical writing as well as the subject matter of the photography component of my winter quarter project.

 Possible FilmsMetropolis directed by Fritz Lang. Kino Video, 1927. A.I.-Artificial Intelligence directed by Steven Spielberg. Universal, 2002.Bicentennial Man directed by Chris Columbus. Buena Vista Home Entertainment/Touchstone, 2000.Shock of the New (episode 1): The Mechanical Paradise. Directed by David Richardson. BBC, 1982

Star Wars Episodes III and V directed by George Lucas. 20th Century Fox, 1980 & 2005.

  Skills Required For Project

            This project requires an active and advanced knowledge of art history for the critical writing portion. I have studied art history for five years and I have many professional connections including professors, curators, archivists, and art historians who may help me and advise me throughout the course of this project.

            The photography component requires the skills of developing and printing black and white photographs. I have printed silver gelatin pictures before and know the basic components of the darkroom. I live a professional photographer and he will assist me with any problems that I face during the darkroom process.  

 Resources

          There is a complete studio darkroom set in my home and I will be using this studio for my project. I am ordering all required chemicals, film, and paper from the Freestyle Photographic Supplies catalog. I also will be using a Pentax 28-90 35 mm camera that I have borrowed for the duration of my project. I do not require a media loan from The Evergreen State College.

 Project Budget 

Film

Kodak Tri-X Pan (ISO 400)

35 mm X 100’………………………………………………………..48.99

 Paper

Kentmere Fineprint Finegrain VC Double-weight Fiber Semi Matte Warmtone

8” x 10” / 100 sheets………………………………………………….$63.99

11” X 14” / 50 sheets…………………………………………………$58.99

 Chemicals

Kodafix Solution (1 Gallon)………………………………………….$7.49 (x2)

Tmax Liquid Film Developer (1 Gallon)……………………………..$11.49

Dektol Powder B&W Paper Developer (5 Gallons)……………….....$26.49

Indicator Stop Bath (8 Gallons)………………………………………$5.99

 Other

Shipping………………………………………………………………$25.00

Computer Ink…………………………………………………………$16.28

Computer Printer Paper………………………………………………$4.99

Books (estimate)……………………………………………………...$300.00

Matting (estimate)…………………………………………………….$75.00

 

Total (preliminary estimate)………………………………………..$652.19

 

 Personal Syllabus Week 1

-Read Assembling Art: The Machine and the American Avant-Garde by Barbara Zabel and common group text by Thursday

-Develop film taken over holiday break

-Add finishing touches to group syllabus

-Update personal calendar

-Contact models if need be and finish shooting

-Post blogs on website

 Week 2

-Finish developing film if need be

-Set up darkroom/mix chemicals

-Start print tests

-Seminar with group over a common text and how it is relating to our projects

-Read through The Art of Art History over the weekend and finish up first common text for Tuesday

-Post blogs on website Week 3

-Seminar with group, present progress report and possibly watch a film of common interest

-Continue printing

-Watch a couple other films (TBD)

-Write short essays on films and how they relate to topic of body as machine

-Start reading Descartes, La Mettrie, and Kahn

-Post essays on website

  Week 4

-Continue reading Descartes, La Mettrie, and Kahn

-Seminar with group and present progress report

-Any shooting that may need redone

-More printing and developing

-Watch a film

-Post blogs on website

 Week 5

-Finish Descartes, La Mettrie and Kahn

-Write art history essay part 1 pertaining to three works and their relation to art

-Continue printing

-Seminar with group

-Begin any other related group texts 

-Post art history essay part 1

  Week 6

-Decided which prints will be part of final presentation and reprint the chosen photographs

-Finish up group text

-Seminar with group and prepare for critical writing on group members’ projects

-Begin reading Fox and Mumford

-Watch film

-Post blogs on website

 Week 7

-Finish printing

-Start matting and framing if possible

-Finish Fox and Mumford and begin essay part 2

-Meet with group, evaluate progress, and offer advice for finishing up projects

-Watch any remaining films

-Post blogs on website

 Week 8 

-Finish matting and framing

-Meet with group, show finished photos and essays

-Start critical writing on group projects

-Finish up any drafts that need fine tuning

-Post essay part 2 on website

 Week 9

-Prepare finished portfolio

-Develop a presentation

-Share finished critical writings with group members

-Post photography work on website

-Make sure that any loose ends are taken care of in preparation for week 10

  Calendar

            The attached calendar is in its preliminary stages. Activities or requirements that I am not certain of the specific time in which they will be placed are currently labeled under the 7:00-7:30 a.m. time slot just to be certain that I have reserved time for them to be completed.

  ]]> ARCHIVE - Beauty Shop: Personal Ads http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/beauty-shop-personal-ads 2007-12-06T12:36:19-08:00 2007-12-06T12:36:19-08:00 Allison I looked at personal ads at not only a genre but also as a culture with its own language, norms and counter cultures. The personal ad, surprisingly, has a much older and interesting part in society than one might suspect.  Personal ads began appearing in newspapers became about 300 years ago, and became regular features in the mid-19th century.

It is believed that Helen Morrison of Great Britain was the first person to place a personal ad in a newspaper. In 1727 she persuaded a local newspaper - 'The Manchester Weekly Journal' - to write an advertisement - stating that she was looking for someone nice to share her life with. It was not long before the ad was reported and she was hauled up to face the mayor of the Manchester city who quickly had her committed to a mental institution. The report is documented by the People Almanac and goes as follows: In 1727, Helen Morrison, a lonely spinster, became the first woman to place a Lonely Hearts advertisement. It appeared in the Manchester Weekly Journal. The mayor promptly committed her to a lunatic asylum for four weeks."
~The People's Almanac

Symbols, codes and word choice are the key elements required to create a personal ad. Within the confines of the ad’s space a new, secret language is developed that takes on a life of it’s own as it references codes with body type, sexual orientation, and interests. It is as if the body has been translated into binary code: succinct, but complicated.

< http://www.trygve.com/personalsglossary.html> Personal ads communicate through symbols, generally in regards to race, gender and sexuality. It is understandable why sexuality, gender, and sexual practices are incorporated into personal ads. But why is race almost always included as well?  

Like the picture described by Paul Gilroy in Race Ends Here (254),  personal ads also “point to the unresolved issue of how ‘race’ interrelates with sex, gender, and sexuality; something that is further than ever from being settled and which focuses a new urgent agenda for future work.”

]]> I looked at personal ads at not only a genre but also as a culture with its own language, norms and counter cultures. The personal ad, surprisingly, has a much older and interesting part in society than one might suspect.  Personal ads began appearing in newspapers became about 300 years ago, and became regular features in the mid-19th century.

It is believed that Helen Morrison of Great Britain was the first person to place a personal ad in a newspaper. In 1727 she persuaded a local newspaper - 'The Manchester Weekly Journal' - to write an advertisement - stating that she was looking for someone nice to share her life with. It was not long before the ad was reported and she was hauled up to face the mayor of the Manchester city who quickly had her committed to a mental institution. The report is documented by the People Almanac and goes as follows: In 1727, Helen Morrison, a lonely spinster, became the first woman to place a Lonely Hearts advertisement. It appeared in the Manchester Weekly Journal. The mayor promptly committed her to a lunatic asylum for four weeks."
~The People's Almanac

Symbols, codes and word choice are the key elements required to create a personal ad. Within the confines of the ad’s space a new, secret language is developed that takes on a life of it’s own as it references codes with body type, sexual orientation, and interests. It is as if the body has been translated into binary code: succinct, but complicated.

< http://www.trygve.com/personalsglossary.html> Personal ads communicate through symbols, generally in regards to race, gender and sexuality. It is understandable why sexuality, gender, and sexual practices are incorporated into personal ads. But why is race almost always included as well?  

Like the picture described by Paul Gilroy in Race Ends Here (254),  personal ads also “point to the unresolved issue of how ‘race’ interrelates with sex, gender, and sexuality; something that is further than ever from being settled and which focuses a new urgent agenda for future work.”

 

The codes and abbreviations are important aspects of the personal ad, and they are also the most mysterious to people who only casually peruse the personals. There are websites devoted to decoding and translating personal ads in a satirical fashion.

< http://www.slangcity.com/realenglish/personals.htm>

And it is there are many sites devoted to translating what people believe the codes REALLY mean. Here is an example:

< http://www.geocities.com/junmeskie/Personals.html>  

There are some personal ads that go beyond relationships and focus completely on sex. The Stranger’s Lust Lab is a prime example. In many cases the ad is not about sexing the body but about sexing body parts. Here is an example from September 6th 2007

 Headline: EAT MY CUNTW seeking M

I love huge cock and giving head all day long.

I am a pro at hand jobs. I like it deep and rough.

I love anal and everything about sex. I take it in every direction as well, so join me.

Katyusha, 21

This ad isn’t saying, “I want to please your body,” it says, “I want to please your cock.”

 

And here is another which includes using an electronic prosthesis as a sexual tool.

 Headline: HOT CELLPHONE TXT MSGERM seeking M

I want a hot dominate man to text me a picture of his fat cock cumming…Txt me what if felt like! Maybe we can meet. I have a virgin ass and want it ripped open by a huge cock!

Naughtyboy, 22

 

These kinds of ads use a language that reflects a sort of disembodiment that has a kind of instant gratification attached to it. It also greatly annihilates the possibility of a real emotional relationship occurring because the personality is so far removed from the pleasure of the bodies.

 

The personal ad plays a role in our economy. Personal ads are a great way for newspapers to make money. Prior to 2011 The New York Times felt itself too prestigious to print personal ads, however its finances began to deteriorate and it began printing them as a source of income. According to nytimes.com it costs $2.99 a minute with an additional $2.00 connection fee to respond to an ad unless you want to pay $3.49 per minute with a credit card.

It’s too expensive to be a joke. http://thestranger.selectalternatives.com/gyrobase/Adult/Join

 

I don’t have that kind of money so I applied for a Lovelab profile and here are some of the questions examples. *

 

<http://thestranger.selectalternatives.com/gyrobase/Personals/Profile?person=oid%3A1257998>

 

Body Type

 

Slender

Average

Full-figured

Need the gym

Big and beautiful

A few extra pounds

Fat

Large

Petite

Curvy

Heavy set

Muscular

Stocky

Height/Weight proportionate

Decomposing

 

        

Hobbies

 

Reading

Sex

Creating

Drinking

Smoking dope

Playing sports

I'm in prison

Clubbing

Working out

Watching movies

Shopping

Dining out

Sleeping

Communing with nature
  

So what can we truly say about the importance of personal ads?

Mary Douglas “Hence we would always expect some concordance between social and bodily expression of control, first because each symbolic mode enhances meaning in the other, and so the ends of communication are furthered, and second, because the categories in which each kind of experience is received are reciprocally derived and mutually reinforcing. It must be impossible for them to come apart and for one to bear false witness to the other except by a conscious, deliberate effort.”

Perhaps why the personal ad is such a phenomenon is because it is a way of finding control, reciprocity, and autonomy in a social context.

 

*In the week since I posted in the Lovelab I have received 8 responses.

]]> ARCHIVE - E-Corpus: In the style of Busby Berkeley... http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/e-corpus-in-the-style-of-busby-berkeley 2007-11-08T16:10:53-08:00 2007-11-08T16:10:53-08:00 Allison Check out this video which uses hands and arms to simulate synchronized dance much like the choreography of Busby Berkeley.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otOjDUzoCMg

]]> Check out this video which uses hands and arms to simulate synchronized dance much like the choreography of Busby Berkeley.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otOjDUzoCMg

]]> ARCHIVE - My prosthesis http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/my-prosthesis-0 2007-11-07T22:32:02-08:00 2007-11-07T22:32:02-08:00 Allison My favorite 'prosthesis' was a marvelous car named Regina. She was a 1991 Buick Regal, and I loved her. She had a huge Granny style steering wheel, red interior, and she was enormous. My friends and I used to bellow “iceberg ahead” whenever we had to maneuver her around obstacles. This car took me on many wonderful vacations and she even got amazing gas mileage, about 38 miles a gallon on the highway. My favorites include our trips to Yellowstone and Polson Montana as well as the numerous drives from Casper to Denver. I used to take her for scenic drives up and around Casper Mountain as well as midnight escapes to Alcova Lake. Driving down the highway I would feel as though Regina was a physical extension of my body, a tool that helped he escape to where ever I needed to go. It was a beautiful relationship with never ending possibilities, and it seemed as though we were made for each other.     

Five years of adventures and memories passed by quickly, and the entire time my boyfriend and I had Regina we promised that we would take her to the ocean. When we moved from Casper to Olympia the first thing we did was drive Regina to Ocean Shores so that she could finally drive on the beach. After the long drive she started to act funny, and I had to replace her fuel filter and spark plugs. Last September, tragedy struck when we were driving back from a Bill Bragg concert in Seattle. Some guy crashed into the back of Regina on Interstate 5. His car was totaled, but Regina, being the big girl that she was, hardly had any damage at all. She got both me and my boyfriend home safely that night, but she was never the same. A few weeks later she wouldn’t even start. I felt as though she had betrayed me after all of the years I had spent keeping her clean and taking her on exciting expeditions. 

]]> My favorite 'prosthesis' was a marvelous car named Regina. She was a 1991 Buick Regal, and I loved her. She had a huge Granny style steering wheel, red interior, and she was enormous. My friends and I used to bellow “iceberg ahead” whenever we had to maneuver her around obstacles. This car took me on many wonderful vacations and she even got amazing gas mileage, about 38 miles a gallon on the highway. My favorites include our trips to Yellowstone and Polson Montana as well as the numerous drives from Casper to Denver. I used to take her for scenic drives up and around Casper Mountain as well as midnight escapes to Alcova Lake. Driving down the highway I would feel as though Regina was a physical extension of my body, a tool that helped he escape to where ever I needed to go. It was a beautiful relationship with never ending possibilities, and it seemed as though we were made for each other.     

Five years of adventures and memories passed by quickly, and the entire time my boyfriend and I had Regina we promised that we would take her to the ocean. When we moved from Casper to Olympia the first thing we did was drive Regina to Ocean Shores so that she could finally drive on the beach. After the long drive she started to act funny, and I had to replace her fuel filter and spark plugs. Last September, tragedy struck when we were driving back from a Bill Bragg concert in Seattle. Some guy crashed into the back of Regina on Interstate 5. His car was totaled, but Regina, being the big girl that she was, hardly had any damage at all. She got both me and my boyfriend home safely that night, but she was never the same. A few weeks later she wouldn’t even start. I felt as though she had betrayed me after all of the years I had spent keeping her clean and taking her on exciting expeditions. 

I took Regina to a mechanic who told me that it was not worth spending $2000 to make her run again. He also said that if we decided to fix her she would never run the same again, and her days on the highway were most certainly over. So my boyfriend and I made the decision to have Regina towed to a junk yard, seeing how no one would want to buy a car that cannot run. We ceremoniously took all of the pictures, souvenirs, and mementos out of Regina, cleaned her out, and tore off her hood ornament that miraculously was never stolen. We watched to the large tow truck hook up her lifeless body and we waved as she was pulled up the street and out of sight.

I could never say that I fell out of love with Regina even after she broke down and I had to take the bus to school and to work for a couple months.  Sometimes when I drive my new car I like to pretend I am in old Regina, with her big comfortable seats and huge steering wheel and I smile to myself. In a strange way she is missing to me like a lost pet or a friend that has moved far away and has not been heard from for years.  When these feelings occur I sometimes ponder why I feel this way about a piece of metal. Yes, it is strange to have such strong feelings for a car, but in her own way, she was my very own prosthesis, and therefore irreplaceable. 

]]> ARCHIVE - Concept Rhyming Essay #2 http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/concept-rhyming-essay-2-0 2007-11-06T01:33:44-08:00 2007-11-06T01:56:28-08:00 Allison ARCHIVE - Concept Rhyming Essay #1 http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/concept-rhyming-essay-1-4 2007-10-16T01:42:29-07:00 2007-10-16T15:02:19-07:00 Allison ARCHIVE - Clinic Questions Week #3 http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/clinic-questions-week-3 2007-10-09T18:55:30-07:00 2007-10-09T18:55:30-07:00 Allison "With its emphasis on the sexual, "sexual difference"  is in the first and last instance a difference of women from men, female from male; and even the more abstract notion of "sexual differences" resulting not from biology or socialization but from signification and discursive effects ends up being in the last instance a difference (of woman) from man-or better, the very instance of difference in man"

-Teresa de Lavretis "Technology of Gender" (1)

The aspect I found most interesting in the "Technology of Gender," is that throughout this article, Lavretis seems to emphasize that our language has a considerable impact on our perception of gender. How can we as a society change these  language barriers? Is it even a possiblity? If so, what ways can we go about creating change?

 "But now I must discuss a further problem with Althusser, insofas as a theory of gender is concerned, and that is that in his veiw, "ideology has no outside." It is a foolproof system whose effect is to erase its own traces completely, so that anyone who is "in ideology," caught in its web, believes himself to be outside of it...However, unlike Althusser's subject, who, being completelt "in" ideology, believes himself to be outside and free of it, the subject that I see emerging from current writings and debates within feminism is one that is at the same time inside and outside the ideology of gender, and conscious of being, conscious of that twofold pull, of that division, that doubled vision." (11)

Once again, Fashing the Body students are confronted with the notion of socitey being a net or a web. It seems as though Western feminists have been trying to break certain pieces of "the net" for the past 8-9 decades. Have they suceeded in escaping from certain bonds? And with this reshaping of "the net," what new bonds and connections have been created?

]]> "With its emphasis on the sexual, "sexual difference"  is in the first and last instance a difference of women from men, female from male; and even the more abstract notion of "sexual differences" resulting not from biology or socialization but from signification and discursive effects ends up being in the last instance a difference (of woman) from man-or better, the very instance of difference in man"

-Teresa de Lavretis "Technology of Gender" (1)

The aspect I found most interesting in the "Technology of Gender," is that throughout this article, Lavretis seems to emphasize that our language has a considerable impact on our perception of gender. How can we as a society change these  language barriers? Is it even a possiblity? If so, what ways can we go about creating change?

 "But now I must discuss a further problem with Althusser, insofas as a theory of gender is concerned, and that is that in his veiw, "ideology has no outside." It is a foolproof system whose effect is to erase its own traces completely, so that anyone who is "in ideology," caught in its web, believes himself to be outside of it...However, unlike Althusser's subject, who, being completelt "in" ideology, believes himself to be outside and free of it, the subject that I see emerging from current writings and debates within feminism is one that is at the same time inside and outside the ideology of gender, and conscious of being, conscious of that twofold pull, of that division, that doubled vision." (11)

Once again, Fashing the Body students are confronted with the notion of socitey being a net or a web. It seems as though Western feminists have been trying to break certain pieces of "the net" for the past 8-9 decades. Have they suceeded in escaping from certain bonds? And with this reshaping of "the net," what new bonds and connections have been created?

]]> ARCHIVE - E-Corpus #1 Confession http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/e-corpus-1-confession 2007-10-04T23:21:36-07:00 2007-10-04T23:22:09-07:00 Allison Foucault’s philosophy about the importance of confession in the West is completely fascinating. I have never considered this, even though the evidence that we are indeed a confessional society is everywhere. Would talk shows even be entertaining without confessions or self-help advice for those who are coming to terms with their innermost desires? I don’t think so.  It seems as though everyone is trying to “find” themselves, and many believe that the truth to one’s being is buried deep inside and must be uncovered in order to live one’s life to its fullest potential. Dr. Phil and other therapists make tons of money by listening to people confess their fears, dreams and desires and interpreting them in order to help the person in question come to terms with their existence.

 The difference between the Occident and the Oriental interest me, especially in relation to this topic. I just happened to be reading The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama. He speaks on what he believes to be the main psychological difference between the East and the West.

“I think that in modern Western society, there seems to be a powerful cultural conditioning that is based on science.  But in some instances, the basic premises and parameters set up by Western science can limit your ability to deal with certain realities. For instance, you have the constraints of the idea that everything can be explained within the framework of a single lifetime, and you combine this notion that everything can and must be explained and accounted for. But when you encounter phenomena that you cannot account for, then there is a tension created; it’s almost a feeling of agony,” (6).

It seems as though people of the West use the act of confession to relieve the tension we accumulate because of our fear of the unexplainable, especially in relation to emotions and desires. It does seem as though we live by the clock, and as time seeps through our fingers we are left feeling anxiety due to our lack of self-knowledge. This is why psychological therapy is so important in Western society. I never would have thought of these obvious cultural factors had I not read Foucault’s thoughts on the Western obsession with confession.

]]> Foucault’s philosophy about the importance of confession in the West is completely fascinating. I have never considered this, even though the evidence that we are indeed a confessional society is everywhere. Would talk shows even be entertaining without confessions or self-help advice for those who are coming to terms with their innermost desires? I don’t think so.  It seems as though everyone is trying to “find” themselves, and many believe that the truth to one’s being is buried deep inside and must be uncovered in order to live one’s life to its fullest potential. Dr. Phil and other therapists make tons of money by listening to people confess their fears, dreams and desires and interpreting them in order to help the person in question come to terms with their existence.

 The difference between the Occident and the Oriental interest me, especially in relation to this topic. I just happened to be reading The Art of Happiness by The Dalai Lama. He speaks on what he believes to be the main psychological difference between the East and the West.

“I think that in modern Western society, there seems to be a powerful cultural conditioning that is based on science.  But in some instances, the basic premises and parameters set up by Western science can limit your ability to deal with certain realities. For instance, you have the constraints of the idea that everything can be explained within the framework of a single lifetime, and you combine this notion that everything can and must be explained and accounted for. But when you encounter phenomena that you cannot account for, then there is a tension created; it’s almost a feeling of agony,” (6).

It seems as though people of the West use the act of confession to relieve the tension we accumulate because of our fear of the unexplainable, especially in relation to emotions and desires. It does seem as though we live by the clock, and as time seeps through our fingers we are left feeling anxiety due to our lack of self-knowledge. This is why psychological therapy is so important in Western society. I never would have thought of these obvious cultural factors had I not read Foucault’s thoughts on the Western obsession with confession.

 

Sources:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Art of Happiness. Riverhead Books: New York, 1998.

 

]]> ARCHIVE - Foucault Clinic Questions Week #2 http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/foucault-clinic-questions-week-2 2007-10-03T14:47:04-07:00 2007-10-03T14:47:04-07:00 Allison “We must not forget that the psychological, psychiatric, medical category of homosexuality was constituted from the moment it was characterized-Westphal’s famous article of 1870 on “contrary sexual sensations” can stand as its date of birth- less by a type of sexual relations than by a certain quality of sexual sensibility, a certain way of inverting the masculine and feminine in oneself…the homosexual was now a species,” (43).

 

Why does American culture in many ways still analyze homosexuals with the antiquated Westphal theory?  Perhaps one reason is because many Americans find cliché feminine gay men and masculine lesbian women to be novelties, useful in humor and entertainment. Examples including Family Guy, Will and Grace, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, often appeal to Americans with stereo-typical “gay” antics. I admit that I have found these shows funny, and that many of these shows help to shape my opinions of homosexual people as a teenager.

  

“It is possible that the West has not been capable of inventing any new pleasures, and it has doubtless not discovered any original vices. But it has defined new rules for the game of powers and pleasures,” (48).

 

Isn’t the act of a confessing a pleasure which the West invented? Confession is a form of release for the one confessing and is often a vicarious pleasure for the one who is listening. Occidental people get much joy out of confessional gossip. For example, a confessor often hears in reply to one's sexual confession statements and qustions such as, “You slept with her/him! What was it like? How do you feel about this now?”  The listener often digs deeper into the subject of the confession in order to satisfy one’s curiosity. In this way, the process of confessing and the process of listening to a confession are forms of pleasure in Western societies. That is why I disagree with Foucault when he states that the West may not have invented new forms of pleasure.

]]> “We must not forget that the psychological, psychiatric, medical category of homosexuality was constituted from the moment it was characterized-Westphal’s famous article of 1870 on “contrary sexual sensations” can stand as its date of birth- less by a type of sexual relations than by a certain quality of sexual sensibility, a certain way of inverting the masculine and feminine in oneself…the homosexual was now a species,” (43).

 

Why does American culture in many ways still analyze homosexuals with the antiquated Westphal theory?  Perhaps one reason is because many Americans find cliché feminine gay men and masculine lesbian women to be novelties, useful in humor and entertainment. Examples including Family Guy, Will and Grace, and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, often appeal to Americans with stereo-typical “gay” antics. I admit that I have found these shows funny, and that many of these shows help to shape my opinions of homosexual people as a teenager.

  

“It is possible that the West has not been capable of inventing any new pleasures, and it has doubtless not discovered any original vices. But it has defined new rules for the game of powers and pleasures,” (48).

 

Isn’t the act of a confessing a pleasure which the West invented? Confession is a form of release for the one confessing and is often a vicarious pleasure for the one who is listening. Occidental people get much joy out of confessional gossip. For example, a confessor often hears in reply to one's sexual confession statements and qustions such as, “You slept with her/him! What was it like? How do you feel about this now?”  The listener often digs deeper into the subject of the confession in order to satisfy one’s curiosity. In this way, the process of confessing and the process of listening to a confession are forms of pleasure in Western societies. That is why I disagree with Foucault when he states that the West may not have invented new forms of pleasure.

]]> ARCHIVE - Smoking Tent Observations http://www2.evergreen.edu/fashioningthebody/smoking-tent-observations 2007-10-01T15:11:19-07:00 2007-10-01T15:17:49-07:00 Allison The Evergreen State College smoking tent is a physical place where human students, faculty and visitors go to inhale smoke from cylinder consisting of a dried plant called tobacco rolled in paper. This object is called a cigarette. These people are labeled “smokers” and they are isolated to “designated smoking areas” as signs clearly state around the Evergreen education facilities. My fellow anthropologists and I chose to study the smoking tent located outside of the COM building.

            This area is called the smoking tent because there is a “tent,” or shelter, in this location. The tent consists of metal bars that form an exposed square base and these bars support a blue tarp that begins about six feet from the base of the support bars.  The blue tarp is formed in the shape of a pyramid by metal bars. This served the purpose of sheltering smokers from rain. The tarp does not prevent wind and extreme temperatures from affecting the smokers. This was obvious when we arrived at the tent and no people were standing under it. Ten smokers were, however, standing 10-25 feet away from the tent in patches of sunlight that penetrated through the dense trees. These people were obviously breaking the “designated smoking area” boundaries, as specified by the signs. However, no authority figures corrected the smokers on their breach of regulated campus rules.

 It is also important to note that the tent can only comfortably fit 10-12 people in the event of rain. This could be a problem, especially when we observed 39 smokers using the facility during a 23 minute period.  There is also a bench in the smoking tent which is the only designated place for smokers to sit. The bench can fit 4 people and we failed observed more than two people sitting on the bench at one time. Some smokers who needed to sit placed themselves on the cement ground or on the stairs located near the tent.  

]]> The Evergreen State College smoking tent is a physical place where human students, faculty and visitors go to inhale smoke from cylinder consisting of a dried plant called tobacco rolled in paper. This object is called a cigarette. These people are labeled “smokers” and they are isolated to “designated smoking areas” as signs clearly state around the Evergreen education facilities. My fellow anthropologists and I chose to study the smoking tent located outside of the COM building.

            This area is called the smoking tent because there is a “tent,” or shelter, in this location. The tent consists of metal bars that form an exposed square base and these bars support a blue tarp that begins about six feet from the base of the support bars.  The blue tarp is formed in the shape of a pyramid by metal bars. This served the purpose of sheltering smokers from rain. The tarp does not prevent wind and extreme temperatures from affecting the smokers. This was obvious when we arrived at the tent and no people were standing under it. Ten smokers were, however, standing 10-25 feet away from the tent in patches of sunlight that penetrated through the dense trees. These people were obviously breaking the “designated smoking area” boundaries, as specified by the signs. However, no authority figures corrected the smokers on their breach of regulated campus rules.

 It is also important to note that the tent can only comfortably fit 10-12 people in the event of rain. This could be a problem, especially when we observed 39 smokers using the facility during a 23 minute period.  There is also a bench in the smoking tent which is the only designated place for smokers to sit. The bench can fit 4 people and we failed observed more than two people sitting on the bench at one time. Some smokers who needed to sit placed themselves on the cement ground or on the stairs located near the tent.  

            The smokers are very social. Most stood in groups of two or more, talking about school, their personal lives, and popular culture. We spoke to three smokers while we were observing the smoking tent, and they said they felt judged when they have smoked alone in this area. Smokers seem to enjoy sharing as much as socializing. Some smokers asked each other for “a light,” meaning controlled fire to ignite their cigarette. A few ask fellow smokers to “bum” or borrow a cigarette, and some offer to pay other smokers for a cigarette. The only smokers who did not socialized in this area were faculty members who chose to stand apart from the student smokers. Faculty smokers only spoke to other faculty members who were also enjoying a cigarette.  

            Even though there is something taboo about smoking outside of the tent, smokers appeared to be courteous and friendly people. They all placed the unfinished ends of their cigarettes in the ashtrays labeled “Smoker’s Oasis.” They also did not blow smoke at other people, and they threw away their unneeded garbage, such as coffee cups or food packaging, into labeled trash cans.

            The key observations about the smoking tent are:

 

1)      Smokers are required to stand in a designated area

2)      The designated area does not comfortable accommodate the amount of smokers that visit the tent within the set boundaries

3)      Smokers are social people

4)      The observed Smokers where environmentally conscious and respectfully dispose of their trash   

5)      There is a large smoking population at the Evergreen state college

6)      Those who appear to have influential power (in this observation, the faculty) did not socialize with those who did not (the students)

           

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