Day 10
Well this experience has been truly amazing- i've learn't and experienced a lot more than i normally would of- in conclusion to im going to discuss shortly a few of our Module 4 theories in terms of "Burkatopia", this project.
Beginning with Howson, A. 2004- The Body in Consumer Culture: the body in society. The body image is generally understood as a mental image of ones self- or how one thinks they appear to others. In our consumer society we are constantly filtering information, whether it be a colour, how someone walks, talks or even looks. Society is no longer about fitting in, as the 60's were, no longer are u condemned for being unique- if anything people and society thrive on the "uniqueness" of individuals- we strive to be lone soldiers, who appose the old regeem of 'groupedness' and still we find ourselves therefore boobie trapped into out own category: namely "she's" ALTERNATIVE or DIFFERENT. Ones body image is the key to society: an instrumental manner, a status and tick box for social acceptability- this view is based on the popular physiognomic assumptions that the body, especially the face, is a reflection of the self: that a person’s inner character or personality will shine through the outer appearance. So where does this leave Burkatopia- well seeing that they have been stripped of any 'typical' opportunities for physical uniqueness they can not be seen as part of our ever demanding society, or can they?
Being in a Burka is your own form of uniqueness- maybe not in the far and middle east, or turkey etc but her in Sunny South Africa in the glorious Western world people still take a double look. Although they are not abiding to the typical rules of a body image- as there's is somewhat of a lack of body image- the fact that they are covered head to toe is a for of empowerment whether they like it or not not only are the being unique they are down right disallowing your gaze- the Burka is a harsh order of "You may not look here!" "You may not make up your own mind about who or what i am- with your western ways."
The next theme i will comment on it that of O'shaughnessy, M & Stadler, J. 2007. Feminism, Post-feminism and Ideologies of Femininity.
"Earlier feminism was not a simple, unified set of ideas. It was a variety of evolving positions that, despite shaping the overall objective of developing womens live's for the better, differed on how this was to be achieved." (O'shaughnessy, M & Stadler, J. 2007)
Feminism has had an enormous impact on society. Initially it fought for women's social, legal, political and economic rights,and attempted to understand the construction of Femininity and the status of women. The movement altered both female and males perspectives and impacted society largely as a whole. Feminism and the Muslim religion have been on contradictory and the same sides for years- we have the Feminists that believe that the Burka and its traditions is quiet simply women slavery, that it strips them of all there rights- protests among Feminists to ban the burka are currently happening however the Burka is also seen as the most extreme form of eradicating the 'Male Gaze' by extreme feminists: as you will see in the clip below. The feminists movemenet seems to be torn in terms of the Burka it's self and just to make it more complicated- Muslim women constantly protest PRO- BURKA.
This project has been a great experience i feel my conclusion is not as important as my entire concept of this project- the fact is that no matter your status, image, religion or outlook if you do not have respect for another beings space, outlook, image and beliefs than how dare you call yourself a 'human being'- for in being part of this glorious world you must be a 'being' who is human- not all will be explained always- so take your own initiative and explore something unknown before you condemn it to hell, or heaven.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog.
Alex x
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