Final Proposal

The media today are seen as the 'gatekeepers of truth’ and are continually the lead protagonists in shaping public opinion. When it comes to how women 'should look', the media (in my opinion) have too much influence. The media continually tell women how they should look, or ways to ‘improve our appearance’.   Because of the media, men too have a huge influence over how women look and feel about themselves. Therefore through my project I aim to explore the idea of sexual fetishism-the use of women in selling men’s products but also the concept of ‘the male gaze’ and the idea of how women gain and learn to be ‘feminine’

   Women today are under enormous pressure to conform to hegemonic 'norms' of society and if not they are seen as outsiders. I aim to produce photographs that suggest that the media are too heavily involved in how women should look.  Additionally i propose to take images whether it is through montage, through the body form, or through using objects and metaphors.   Also one of the main things to point out, is not just the influence the media has on women but also more shockingly on young girls-whether its eating habits, dieting ideas in magazines, growing up to fast-i believe exploring this topic will help me produce photos that make people stop and think.

   As a final piece, i aim to produce pictures that challenge the norms of society and play on the idea that women have become puppets and dress up dolls in a media ruled society, but also how women are presented to men.

   I have decided to base my independent production project around this critical practice because i do believe the media and the male gaze are preached too much and has too much influence on people consequently making women feel inadequate and under constant scrutiny by the 'gaze' and public eye. This causes some women to make bad choices because they don’t come under the norm of what is 'BEAUTIFUL' or ‘perfect’ according to media opinion and celebrity image.