Time Line: Foucault, Technologies of Self, and the Media: Discourses of Femininity in Snowboarding Culture. By Thorpe, H.
I think it's a positive progression how snowboarding culture has changed and evolved since the 1980s.This article left me conflicted with my ideas of femininity. Some of the snowboarders suggested that there is nothing wrong with being 'sexy' and athletic. I feel like these women posing for magazines like maxim undermines their their accomplishments. Does being feminine have to mean being sexually provocative? Would these women have the same success in their professions if they kept their clothes on? I think if they're comfortable taking their clothes off, that is up to their discretion.
“People do not lose their voices, they lose the desire, the courage, the will, the ability to tell their stories.” (Gilligan, 2002, p.223)
The technology that I have chosen from my past is makeup. As a child, I envied friends who had makeup kits made and marketed especially for children. My parents did not believe it was appropriate for children to wear makeup because is matures and "sexualizes" young girls. In the eighth grade, I would watch girls sneakily wear clear mascaras and tinted lip balms (makeup was not permitted in my school) and being curious. I began wearing makeup myself when I was about seventeen years old. As an adult, I have mixed feelings about cosmetics. It is one of my most consuming hobbies, collecting, wearing and learning about makeup accounts for a large amount of my spare time. On the other hand, I feel like I've become too reliant on makeup for my self esteem. I cannot imagine ever leaving my house without a full face of makeup.
Task 1: Draw Yourself, Draw Someone Else & Draw Two Other People
The pictures posted above are my drawings of myself (bottom right) Robin (bottom left) and two other girls I was instructed to draw in our seminar. When drawing myself, it was easy to choose which of my characteristics i would highlight, like my hair and wardrobe (in this case just a scarf) and used basic shapes to encompass my face. When asked to draw the person beside me( Robin) there was a slight anxiety and i did put more effort into making her drawing more accurate. I tried to draw her shirt as it was and her had is a fair representation of the real thing. Also I noticed i gave her slightly more detail than myself. Notice, she has eyebrows and lips whereas i do not. When then instructed to draw two more strangers, there was a sense of panic. I found it awkward to be staring at these complete strangers trying to encapsulate their features. Part of this anxiety arose from the fear of offending either of them by portraying features that they may not like. This resulted in far less detail then the first two pictures.