Bordo talks a lot about how society constructs an image of what our bodies "should" look like, and relates this image construction to how people act. Men and women alike must show extreme discipline to achieve the perfect bodies seen today in magazines and on television.Eve's body represents very little sexually, but is still overwhelmingly powerful. Leppert focuses on the amount of detail and attention paid to Eve's lips, fingers, and toes. A woman's body is not a purely sexual text, but one that maintains the attention of others because of its presence and capabilities. I feel compelled to quote Leppert simply because I think he puts it best when he says of Eve, representing woman, "Her agency is her being, and that being is sexual."
It is a woman's being, not her appearance, that grants her power over others. However, that being is powerful and can determine how her body is read to be a sexual object. This is represented with the simplified breasts and nether-regions of Eve's body.
Sex may sell, but it is not the body that produces sex. Instead, it is the being and agency of the individual.
This is a very very interesting point! I would have to disagree with Lepperts arguement that he makes because I feel that it is definitely the way that women are portrayed that gives them so much power.However I agree to a certain extent that either way the being of whomever it is gives them more power or less but it is in the way they present themself or are that is the overarching determinant of control
ReplyDeleteI love the way you wrote your blog post. It is simple, easy to read, and gets right to the point. I hope I've understood what you're trying to say.
ReplyDeleteEve's body in this painting may be powerful and beautiful (and it does not look like she has had to do anything extreme), but it is who she is that makes her powerful, not what she looks like. Anyone who knows the story of Adam and Eve will know that she is important and powerful, and will not need a painting to tell them this. I do believe the painting represents her well though. She doesn't need huge breasts or detailed genitals to prove she is powerful. She is "sexy" just because she is Eve. I also want to point out that she appears to be glowing in this painting!
I definitely agree with what you are saying in this post. A women's being can hold a lot of power over others. Also, many people will change the way they look because society constructs an image that people want to look like. This however, is sometimes very hard to obtain and not everyone will be succesful.
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