In the course of my study, I came across an academic paper by Danielle Wu analysing only the main photo in figure 2. The main issues that Wu discusses are objectification and dual demands placed on females such as being hardworking yet having to maintain beauty (Wu 2014). While this author has been important to my study, my analysis addresses all 3 photos which describes several traditional ideologies around Chinese philosophy.
Figure 3 shows the decade of 1969 to 1979. It is translated as “These are the glorious days. When President Nixon visited China in 1972, his wife wore a fiery red coat.” Chen Man’s agenda for the harmony between East and West is expressed here. The “written clothing” describe the highest level of East West communications.…show more content… One male holding the cigarette is contemplative, two males other males are holding onto their bicycle handle bars, a fourth male appears perplexed - their bodies and their gaze are pointed in multiple directions and not facing the camera. It is not the men’s priority to be on display to the viewer of the photo. Instead, their presence is manifested by their diligence (wearing iconic Lei Fong hats). The woman - she stands straight, erect and alert. She appears to be on guard, constantly watching her own self. She looks at the camera. She feels it is important for her to be on display to the viewer of the photo. This is an example of Berger’s theory where he said that for men, their presence was manifested by their potential power for example strength, wealth, moral uprightness. For women, she would have to watch everything that she does and how she appears to men. Men are the surveyors and women are the surveyed. Women become the object to be watched by men. In another section of Berger’s theory, he states that women’s bodies are positioned in such a way as to display it to the man looking at the photo, since photos were meant to be pleasing to the male sexuality. The woman’s eyes are an expression to attract the man looking at the photo (Berger, 1972). I found the example in this photo supporting Berger’s theory because Du Juan’s body is facing towards the camera. She is on display. Her eyes look into the camera as if to attract the male spectator. As the one being surveyed, she positions her femininity to the
