Ev Kadınlarını Görselleştirmek: Stok Görsellerinde Kadının Evcilliğinin Temsili

Year 2022, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 102 - 119, 28.04.2022

Beste Alpay Jeong

https://doi.org/10.18795/gumusmaviatlas.1053623

Abstract

Bu çalışmada, stok görüntüler, anlamların eklemlenmesi yoluyla sosyal fenomenlerin algılarını oluşturan görsel temsil biçimleri olarak görülmektedir. Bu bağlamda toplumsal cinsiyet kimliklerinin ve rollerinin toplumsal inşasına ve müzakeresine katkıda bulunabilecekleri vurgulanmaktadır. Makale, stok fotoğraflarında ev kadını kavramının nasıl tasvir edildiğine ve toplumsal olarak inşa edilmiş cinsiyet rollerinin ve stereotiplerin stok fotoğrafları aracılığıyla nasıl somutlaştırıldığına odaklanmaktadır. Seçilmiş görsellerin, Paul Frosh'un stok görüntüleri incelerken kullandığı metodolojisine ve Erving Goffman'ın toplumsal cinsiyet temsili teorisine dayanan bir analizi sonucunda mutlu ev kadını idealini ileten ve metalaştıran temel özellikler tespit edilmiştir. Ev işi ve boş zaman aktivitelerine dair öğelerin birlikte kullanılması yoluyla, kadının cinsiyetlendirilmiş konumunun, kadın evcilliğini metalaştıracak şekilde olumlu bir ışık altında tasvir edildiği ileri sürülmektedir.

Keywords

stok fotoğrafçılığı, ev kadınları, toplumsal cinsiyet

Visualizing Housewives: The Representation of Female Domesticity in Stock Imagery

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to interpret the gender representations of housewives in nine selected examples of stock images. The essay focuses on how the concept of housewives is depicted in stock photography and how socially constructed gender roles and stereotypes are materialized through it. Paul Frosh’s methodology for surveying stock images, and Erving Goffman’s theory of gender representation are used for the analysis. The essay finds essential features that communicate and commodify the happy housewife ideal. It is suggested that through the conjoint use of elements of domestic work and leisure time, the gendered position of the women is portrayed in a positive light in a way to commodify female domesticity. The use of social science approach is limited in the academic discussions of stock photography. In this study, stock images are viewed as forms of visual representation that construct the perceptions of social phenomena through the articulation of meanings. In that regard, it is stressed that they may contribute to the social construction and negotiation of gender identities and roles.

Keywords

stock photography, housewives, gender

References

• Bartky, S. L. (2020). Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power. In C.R. McCann, S.K. Kim, E. Ergun (Eds.), Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives Fifth Edition (pp. 466-480). New York: Routledge.
• Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'housewife'. In Collins Dictionary. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/housewife
• Connell, R. (2005). Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Drew, C., Gottschall, K., Wardman N., & Saltmarsh, S. (2016). The Joy of Privilege: Elite Private School Online Promotions and the Promise of Happiness. In A. Koh, J. Kenway, (Eds.), Elite Schools: Multiple Geographies of Privilege (Education in Global Context) (pp. 87-101). New York, London: Routledge.
• Freidan, B. (2001). The Feminine Mystique. New York, London: Norton & Company.
• Frosh, P. (2003). The Image Factory: Consumer Culture, Photography, and the Visual Content Industry. Berg Publishers.
• Goffman, E. (1979). Gender Advertisements. New York, Harper Torchbooks.
• Hudgins, N. (2020). The Gender of Photography: How Masculine and Feminine Values Shaped the History of Nineteenth-Century Photography. New York, Routledge.
• Kang, M. E. (1997). The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited. Sex Roles, 37, 979–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02936350.
• Kauth, J. M. (2012). Women and Children in a Fragile Paradise. In L. Manca, A. Manca, G. W. Pieper (Eds.), Utopian Images and Narratives in Advertising: Dreams for Sale (pp. 47-69). Maryland: Lexington Books.
• Latour, B. (1987). Science in Action: How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
• Mies, M. (1988). Colonization of Women and Nature. In M. Mies, V. Bennholdt-Thomsen & C. V. Werlhof (Eds.), Women: The Last Colony (pp. 65-95). Zed Books.
• Mottier, V. (2004). Feminism and Gender Theory: The Return of the State. G. F. Gaus & C. Kukathas (Eds.), Handbook of Political Theory (pp. 277-289). London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
• Mulvey, L. (1999). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. L. Braudy & M. Cohen (Eds.), Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings (pp. 833-844). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Nakkouch, T. (2016). Gendered Othering in the Plastic Arts: Delacroix’s ‘Femmes d’Alger’ and La Tour’s ‘The Magdalene with Two Flames. M. Heitkemper-Yates & K. Kaczmarczyk (Eds.), Learning to See: The Meanings, Modes and Methods of Visual Literacy (pp. 265–274). Oxforshire: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
• O'Reilly, A. (Ed.). (2010). Encyclopedia of Motherhood Vol 1. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, Singapore: Sage Publications.
• Signoretti, S. (2017). A Study of Gender Advertisements. A Statistical Measuring of the Prevalence of Genders’ Patterns in the Images of Print Advertisements, Proceedings, 1(9), 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings1090947.