Category Archives: The Commercial – Wedding Gown & Beauty Economy

“Chinese Essence, Western Method”: East-West Binary by Chen Man

Chen Man self portrait

In her work, thirty-five year old photographer and artist Chen Man “acknowledges the position of China within a predominately western fashion system and states a deliberate use of East-West binary…to work from a truly Chinese perspective whilst adopting western technics.”(Radclyffe-Thomas 4)  By combining traditional Chinese landscapes and modern photo editing techniques, Man aims to “produce modern representations of China,” that replace hegemonic western stereotypes and orientalism. Chen Man’s working modo is “Chinese Essence, Western Method.” (define immediately the claimed notion) In particular, Man’s collection “Chen Man East-West” occupies both floors of L.A. Louver, a gallery in Venice, California.

Long Live the Motherland, Beijing No 3, 2009

Denotations:

Man’s photograph, Long Live the Motherland, Beijing No 3, is part of this collection. In the foreground, a Chinese women stands off to the right of the frame. Her long legs are smeared with dirt and she wears tall leather boots and a short red romper. On each wrist, she wears metallic cuffs and she holds a hammer and work gloves. Her hair is pulled back and a skinny brown belt runs across runs across her waist securing a small brown work apron. Her rouge and pouting red lips are prominent as she looks off to the right of the frame. In the background of the photo is a large industrial complex. The photo is taken from a low angle.

Connotations:

The photos title (Long live the Motherland) and red elements conjure notions of Chinese nationalism. In a way, the photo acts to replace the depictions of the model Chinese women propagated during the Maoist era. Instead of an androgynous genderless figure, the women’s feminine qualities are proudly on display. Although her accessories (the work gloves, hammer*, and work apron) clearly connote that she is capable of any man’s job, she is not masculinized. Instead, her short romper, tight belt, exposed legs, and tall boots accentuate her sexuality. Her up do is in a state of intentional disarray. Her facial expression is one of subtle determination and immediately brings ‘Rosie the Riveter’ to mind. The model’s strong presence is defined by her firm stance, muddy legs, and proud display of feminism. By placing the model to the right of the frame, the viewer’s glance is drawn by a sense of depth to the back of the photo. The industrial background is a proud display of Chinese manufacturing and economic power. It provides a direct link to modernity and only bolsters the strength of the model in the foreground. In a way, the factory is a traditional chinese background. China’s economic power is inherent to the nation-states national identity. This representation defies typical western orientalist perspective by using modern chinese elements instead of traditional symbolism to connote chinese identity. The low angle of the photo accentuates the women’s legs and gives the viewer a ‘bigger than life’ perspective.

*The hammer also denotes communism: revolution/political motifs and empowered female image: call for further exploration. Does the analysis support the claim of Chinese Essence, Western Method?

Sources: Chan Man would be a wonderful case for further research

Radclyffe-Thomas, Natascha and Radclyffe-Thomas, Babette (2015) The new Shanghai Xiaojie: Chinese fashion identities. International Journal of Fashion Studies, 2 (1). pp. 43-62. ISSN ISSN 2051-7106, Online ISSN: 2051-7114

http://www.chenmaner.com/index.html

http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/glamour-in-old-beijing/

http://blogs.kcrw.com/dna/chen-man-high-flying-fashion-photographer-and-poster-child-for-the-post-1980s-chinese#.Vw2A-ixViko

http://www.photographyofchina.com/blog/chen-man

 

Perception of Beauty in Today’s Media

Since the late 1980’s when Chinese versions of Western magazines became available across China many American models and celebrities have graced the covers in China. Although Vogue China is written in Chinese many of the covers that include a Western celebrity also include English headlines.  

The faces and covers that international magazines use directly influence Chinese media and the perception of beauty in China. sound statement

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This particular cover of Vogue China illuminates the model, Gigi Hadid, an American model with a celebrity status. The denotations of this image are ????, A Vogue China magazine cover with a model who is not Chinese. The model has light, flawless skin from top to bottom and blonde hair. She is posing in a pastel blue crop top with white shorts. The majority of the writing on the image is in Chinese, except for the headline, “Girl on Fire”. There is a white background making Hadid the sole focus of the cover. This image can easily be glanced over without connotatively analyzing the cover. However, with some context one can understand that the Vogue image is sending a message to Chinese consumers. what is the message?

Gigi Hadid is known to have moles on her skin that fans can see on her stomach on forms of social media. In this particular image she is airbrushed of any imperfections. Along with this Hadid’s skin, particularly her face, is very light almost blending into the background. It is common in Chinese culture to buy skin whitening products. Because light skin is a beauty standard in China it makes sense that Hadid appears whiter than usual on the Vogue China cover. The clothing Hadid is wearing on the cover makes an effort to show trends that are currently in style including: pastels, crop tops, and choker necklaces. Since the headline is in English there is potentially a  Western allure. This cover of Vogue China creates a desire to be not only like Hadid but also to possess characteristics of a “Western woman”. Blonde hair, blue eyes, etc.

the pair of denotation and connotation, unfold one at a time: the western model, the title of girl on fire, Vogue in Chinese, for instance.

The intention of this magazine is not to inform Chinese consumers of trends happening within their own culture, instead this cover is informing Chinese consumers of how they can “Westernize” their style. Because Vogue has a powerful voice in the world of fashion, it is easy for the magazine to influence the perception of beauty.

Along with media influencing how consumers perceive beauty, international magazines are reflecting consumer culture. By having Gigi Hadid on the cover of this international magazine it draws in consumers because it is a face that is recognized globally. Vogue also encourages consumer culture by filling the magazine with ads for skin products, clothing designers, and other international companies that people like Gigi Hadid might be using.

good ideas which need coherent organization

Photo source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3453737/Gigi-Hadid-fans-accuse-Vogue-China-airbrushing-model-s-signature-moles.html

Exploitation to Make Money

china wordpress

Throughout history, the image and symbolism of the white woman has overwhelmed the contemporary world. Additionally, the political and the sexual have become entangled in the commodity of the white body. The white body also has had an impact on the idea of location in China. Metropolitan bodies value whiteness because of both the exposure of the western world due to social media, consumer advertisements, and influence due to television, movies and other popular culture. Whiteness also was symbolic of wealth and modernity, as the minority culture living in the country side, known as “Duocai,” meaning colorful, has been indicative of a lower socioeconomic class, where darker skin has been represented by working outside in the sun. This image, taken from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, has multiple meanings and symbolic undertones that ultimately exploit everything involved in the picture, from the man, the woman, and the Eastern world, in order to make gains for the privileged CEO’s of the company.

 select and focus on one of the “multiple meanings”

There are many contrasts in this photo, both exploiting the man and young woman in the picture. The first blatantly obvious difference between the two is their age. The woman is a young, youthful woman who clearly is a lot younger than the man who is next to her. This creates a perverted type image which is intended to sexualize both the man and half-naked woman sitting next to him. The clear age difference shows that femininity is valued for youthfulness by all ages, and that women should strive to be young. Because of this age difference, there is also a connotation of youthfulness representing modernity. This young woman, clearly out of place in rural China on the elderly fisherman’s boat, is a bold contrast to the traditional Chinese culture that this man has lived through. By placing the two next to each other, the woman looks much more modern than the traditional old man, and this contrast is used to sell a product, because the “white woman sells.”

 the idea of “white woman sells” sounds powerful and you may use it as topic sentence, then explain how and why white woman sells

It is important to remember that the people who run Sports Illustrated are there to make a profit, and are likely not concerned with cultural implications that go along with this picture. By using the exploitation of both the man and the woman, there is no concern for how they are viewed. The man, without this woman in the picture, would appear to be innocent and just doing his job and living his life. However, when the woman is placed into the picture, the way the man is viewed changes. It then appears that he craves young, white women, when in reality, the placement of this woman is so bizarre and does not make any sense. There is also a contrast in the socioeconomic statuses between the people who set up the picture and the people in the picture. The man, a traditional fisherman, is likely not making a lot of money, whereas the producers of this picture and the female model in the picture are likely making a lot of money, and the head of Sports Illustrated is making the most money of them all. Ultimately, the placement of the western woman into the eastern world is forcing eastern culture to value western ideals, specifically, the white woman.

I would say displacement of the white woman. good ideas and intentions which nee a better organization. Try to begin and focus on one pair of denotation/connotation before you move to the next

 

The Contemporary Chinese Bridal Portrait: Reimagining the Past, Recreating Reality

 

Chinese Couple at Contemporary Bridal Portrait Photoshoot

Chinese Couple at Contemporary Bridal Portrait Photoshoot 11/05/2014 http://www.loveml.net/case/qingdian/238.html

This portrait documents not only a married or maybe engaged couple but also represents an amalgam of nostalgia, national and international fashion, and a potentially faux relationship. In this contemporary Chinese bridal portrait, the photographer has his subjects, presumably a husband and wife, project their traditional Chinese heritage and history while simultaneously selectively distancing themselves from the Mao Era by connecting them to western culture and modernity.

Wardrobe: The man and women in this picture are clearly wearing qipaos or qipao-esque clothing, connecting them to the past. Knot buttons, intricate embroidery, symbolic images such as peonies, high collars, silk, and the color red, clearly found in the subjects’ clothing is specific to traditional Chinese fashion. Furthermore, the male and female though both wearing similar styles of clothing each projects a unique style. With respect to the Mao era, the complimentary differences expressed in the separate outfits of the male and female reject the androgynous restrictions and lack of personal identity represented by Mao suit and instead serve to highlight gender distinctions. Thus, the amplified sartorial aspects of this photo epitomize a pre-Mao era, and are nostalgic of an idealized past distanced from the Cultural Revolution.

Accessories: Although the clothing itself is inspired by the qipao and seems to be extracted from the more traditional and cultural memories of ancient or pre-modern China to preserve a sentimental hue of the past, the accessories donned by the subjects are a deviation from the historical thematic elements embodied by the wardrobe. While the shirts and skirts worn in the photo are antiquated, the accessories that are also prominently displayed on the body are both more modern and western, creating a common ground for contrasting ideals while also completely excluding the Mao era. The sun glasses and umbrella seem vintage, likely introduced to China in the 70s after the Cultural Revolution came to a conclusion, which brings the audience of this portrait from the qipao era to a more recent time period. But most interestingly, the red platform high heels worn by the woman seems temporally closer to the viewer. The heels are clearly 21st century, fit for any high fashion, black tie event. This portrait pulls fashion trends from both the present and the past, creating a contemporary interpretation on history in modern times.

Setting and Context: It is clear that this photograph was taken in a very posed environment, most likely at a photo studio, conveying a potential sense of artificiality. The background that consists of a solid red sheet, the manipulated lighting contribute, post-photograph filters, and high editing that are present in this portrait further contribute to the lack of natural ambiance found in traditionally western wedding photos. It is also important to consider the creator of the portrait. Most likely, the photographer is directing his subjects to his imagined ideal, not to recreate or document a genuine moment. The photographer is in command of not only adjusting general position and wardrobe but also in control of the minute, details such as finger placement, facial expression, and head tilt. Furthermore, the woman’s expression exudes forced playfulness while the man’s projects a faux a cool-ness, both faces likely heavily decorated with foundation, skin cream, and other make-up. The posed and highly controlled aspects of the portrait ranging from environment to outfits to subjects themselves suggests that the portrait may represent an illusion, that the reality for the couple may not be glamorous, wealthy, or loving.

By embracing both international and national sartorial trends, meshing idealized Chinese history with the present, recognizing the dynamic between man and woman, and superficially developing the photo, the contemporary bridal portrait rejects the Maoist era and creates an imaginary moment with falsely constructed people. persuasive conclusion

well structured and reasoned piece

Nennu and Shunu: Modern China and Asia

nennunennu1

right: Photograph by Jean Chung, March 23, 2015. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/23/about-face

left: July 20, 2007. http://www.china.org.cn/english/education/217877.htm

After these past two weeks of class, I have learned so much more about the desired beauty for Asian women in the modern world. My partner and I read the article, “Nennu and Shunu: Gender, Body Politics, and the Beauty Economy in China” by J Yang. This article focused on the concept on Nennu and Shunu. These two words are directly translated as, “tender” and “ripe,” and women are desperate to be characterized in this way.

Overview of Photos: The photos above, show two pieces of plastic surgery advertisements scattered around Asia. The one to the right, is a metro station in Seoul, South Korea, while the other is displayed in China. Both showcase and are trying to promote plastic surgeries to whomever walks by.

Focus of Photos: To the left, we see the Chinese women staring at the advertisement. The pair have completely passed by the unattractive before photo, and have settled their gazes on the newly done women looking back at them. The ad shows a huge transformation being done on this woman, not only relating to her face. After undergoing the surgery she completely changed her lifestyle. The first picture of her makes her look like a sad worker who is struggling to make it by, but in time she changed her appearance, and now she is out of work and driving her new car. Her face has been completely redone, including makeup as well as new features. The pedestrians seem mesmerized by this drastic change. That is one way in which advertisements are gaining the attention they need. Women who see this believe this could be them as well. The ad displayed above is very well done. The drastic changes between the two photos make what they are selling much more desirable.

The image on the right, has been taken in Seoul and shows a scene inside a metro station. The ads are continuously plastered along the wall, desperately looking for someones attention. However, the women leaving the station are not laying an eye on them. The ads brighten the drab stairwell, by adding color and excitement and showcasing the different surgeries one can undergo to become a newer woman. These ads go well with the concept J Yang mentions in her article. Nennu and Shunu is represented here in the everyday life of Asian women. The women in the ads are new, but still have the ripeness (shunu) they also desire to have. But the main desire for older women is to appear as tender (nennu) and are undergoing surgeries to do so.

Conclusion: I believe these two photos do a great job explaining what my article, “Nennu and Shunu: Gender, Body Politics, and the Beauty Economy in China,” was trying to convey. It mentioned the ads and the transformations Asian women are seeking desperately. The perfect medium of Nennu and Shunu is very much desired by all women in the modern world, that this article even correlated with plastic surgeries in the Western World. An example of this is the amount of celebrities in the West who have undergone plastic surgeries to keep the young looks they once had. After reading this article, it could easily be connected to things I know about America and the modern world we live in.

very nice description of the two ads. you could turn the description into analysis if led by the questions of how the ads convey the messages of transforming woman from a shunu to nennu.

Nennu and Shunu in Modern China

China_PlasticSurgery

Photograph by Frederic J. Brown. Getty Images. 2003. http://www.chatelaine.com/health/wellness/chinas-plastic-surgery-obsession/

 

The image above is taken at the first Miss Plastic Surgery Pageant in Bejing China in 2003. The pageant was created by women who had been turned away from China’s beauty pageants because they had undergone plastic surgery. They decided to create a pageant strictly for women who had been altered as a way to celebrate their crafted appearance. This picture leads me to make the claim that China’s cosmetic industry and societal pressure to appear young and beautiful runs so deeply that such things as “Miss Plastic Surgery” have become socially accepted.

nice to make a thesis statement

To support my claim I will further analyze this picture’s denotations and the cultural connotations that follow.

Background, Foreground and Focus

As we can see, the picture’s focus is the winning contestant front and center. The photographer chose to place this subject in the foreground to draw our attention to her. Looking more into this choice, we see that the photographer puts a lot of importance on the winner. Clearly this woman is being celebrated for winning the pageant. She is being honored for having done multiple surgeries altering her appearance to be seen as beautiful. In contrast to this, we look at the background and notice all the other contestants. There appears to be 2 runner ups and the rest of the “losers” in the far back. The women in the back aren’t even in focus. These photographer’s choices can only mean that these losing women aren’t worth focusing on or aren’t as important as the most beautiful winner. Again, there is such an importance set on this winning female for the best surgery results.

The Appearance

Looking more closely at the actual women we can see their appearances. They all appear young, thin and in the eyes of the public, very beautiful. We can see on the winning contestant and other women that they are all very made up ranging from cosmetics to hair style to dress. Their faces we know have been altered through surgery so we can assume such things as their skin has been tightened, their noses redone and possibly eye structure as well. The connotations that are implied through all these observations tell us that these are the ideal features for women to possess. The fact that the winner has bright defined cheekbones or perfect untouched skin suggests that everyone should strive to appear that way because that has been determined as beautiful.

Nennu/Shunu

My article was very focused on the concept of nennu and shunu. This picture is a great representation of these terms in every day life. As I mentioned earlier, these women appear very young as their skin is bright and not wrinkled. They seem in shape as well. This is the embodiment of the term nennu translating to “tender”. The reality of this picture though is that not all these women are actually so young. A lot of contestants were middle aged women who underwent surgery to appear younger also known as the transition from shunu (ripe) to nennu. This desire to appear young is so strong that grown women are desperately trying to alter themselves through surgery.

well structures and supported piece. what does the transition from shunu to nennu via surgical operation suggest to us?