John Fiske “Shopping for Pleasure”
In this article, the author describes the mall as a place for women empowerment.
He mentions that the mall is the safe space for women where they can be free
from their roles as housekeepers in the generalized family construct. Personally
I do not agree with this statement. I believe the mall exhibits societal ideals of
women through materialistic items. If women purchases and own certain items,
they are fitting into the trends. Mannequins and advertisements in the mall
portray the ideals of the perfect woman to be slim where in reality women
naturally come in many shapes and sizes. With the constant portrayal of the ideal
woman body and what the ideal woman would own/wear, women will purchase
products at the mall that is advertised to supposedly bring them closer to this ideal.
This is how large fashion and clothing corporations are able to maintain their high
profits. For example, Victoria Secret is a popular lingerie store among the female
population. All their models are slim. Women will pay $50+ to own the bra one
of the model is wearing in an advertisement. Women do enjoy leisurely shopping
for products and items that make them feel good about themselves but can easily
get sucked into purchasing overpriced items that advertise themselves as to
increase that pleasure due to societal ideals.
John Jordan “The Art of Necessity: The Subversive Imagination of Anti-Riot Protest
and Reclaim the Streets”
This article explains how art is used as a weapon for protests in the DIY protest
movement. Personally when I think of the phrase “DIY”, I think of the current trend of
creating items yourself with common household items and cheap art materials that are
similar/replicates of items you can buy in store that tend to be overpriced. For example
on Youtube there are many DIY videos on making room decor pieces that is
similar/replicates of items you can buy at Urban Outfitters which are usually extremely
overpriced. The DIY videos shows you how to make products for $10 or less whereas
in store you would pay $20+ for the items. But I do believe art can be a powerful
weapon for protesters because they show more and make you feel more than words can.
Omar’s Presentation:
I really enjoyed how interactive Omar made his presentation. I also thought his themes of tactics, comedy, and decoy were very interesting.
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