Fashion photographs in modern society are a cultural device that reflects and forms the prevailing culture beyond simply promoting products or services, and for this they are called looking glasses of the spirit of the times or a language that reflect...
Fashion photographs in modern society are a cultural device that reflects and forms the prevailing culture beyond simply promoting products or services, and for this they are called looking glasses of the spirit of the times or a language that reflects the thoughts of the times. As the chaotic phenomena of gender roles such as a maximization of macho female or womanhood, sexlessness or feminization of male image, and homosexuality found in the latest fashion photographs are a cultural and social indication that aggressively shows a new social structure and transformations in societys recognition of gender, it shows the deconstruction of the dichotomous gender stereotypes of the past. These phenomena rapidly gained their recognition in the late 20th century after the arrival of modern society, and were greatly affected by the advent of post-modernism and feminism.
In particular, feminism is an issue that has been continuously discussed, ranging from the humanistic feminism of the late 19th century that featured a womens liberation movement that asserted the equality of the sexes and homogeneity of men and women, to a diversity of female expressions seen in the present. Feminism is bound in an inseparable relationship to fashion that may in turn be seen as a direct expression of womens self-consciousness. This is because feminism denies men-centered single logic and redefines femininity and gender identity in socially and culturally diverse perspectives with women as the topic. Fashion is not only a way of expressing womens self-consciousness, but also a mirror that reflects sex cords and the gender roles of men and women. Fashion photographs, a visual fashion medium, reveal in obvious ways the implications of fashion rather than simply promoting the fashion products themselves. Also, it is an efficient record of fashion at any given point in time, and may be used as empirical analytical material that provides a real and historical interpretation of fashion and the human body.
With this background, this study examines the influences of feminism on modern fashion photographs from the perspective of feminism.
The essence of feminism lies in establishing subjectiveness of women by breaking the stereotype of gender discrimination toward women, maintained by the men-centered society and redefining the sexual characteristics of women as an equal entity with men. Also, feminism is a movement to eliminate the unequality between both sexes by enhancing the political, economic and social status of women, and is a social movement to ideally reform the human society and the movement for the equality of the sexes. In this regard, feminism is based on humanism, not struggle against men, and is a movement to seek an ideal human and social model that can realize the equality of the sexes. The formation of feminism is derived from the background: First, the increase of women labor population. Second, awakening of middle-class women against psychological suppression, institutionalized unequal treatment, and enforced sense of inferiority. Third, elimination of those stereotypes toward women such as sexual passiveness and dependence.
The ideas of feminism are classified into liberal feminism, radical feminism, eco-feminism, and postmodern feminism. This classification is based on a variety of recognition about the cause of suppression and the association with historical and philosophical context. Based on this theoretical background, this study examines the influence of feminism found in fashion photographs.
As a result of it, the influences of feminism found in fashion photographs include erotic expression, gender confusion, and deconstruction trends.
First, the erotic expression found in modern fashion photographs is based on the feminism that recognizes the equality of the sexes, the commensal relationship between nature and human being, and the sexual differences between the sexes, and praises and re-interprets feminine gender. The erotic expressions in fashion photographs, which were influenced by these feminisms, feature stress on femininity, masculine sensualism, and fetishistic trends.
Second, modern fashion photographs reveal changes in gender recognition from distinct gender separation to gender confusion. These phenomena are the effects of feminism that claimed rights and freedom of women in the 20th century. The enhancement of womens social status disturbed the fixed gender system, which resulted in expressing human beings as obscure sexual identity. These gender confusion in fashion photographs is expressed in homosexual image or bisexual image.
Third, the deconstruction trends found in fashion photographs are expressed as dissolution of sex role in men and women and as an androgynous woman. These influences are based on the perspective of deconstruction which is oriented toward decentralization together with the creation of the third gender through deconstruction of sexual characteristics of the sexes, and on the idea of postmodern feminism that recognizes that the sex role of men and women which is expected by the society is more important than the sexual difference of men and women.
This study examines the social and cultural significance of fashion photographs by analyzing the influences of feminism on them and identifies its artful and aesthetic value. In addition, it is expected to contribute to more comprehensively utilizing fashion photographs by identifying the communication role of fashion photographs that not only feature commercial ways of publicity as fashion advertisement, but also imply a variety of social contributions.