This course examines major issues of gender in American visual culture. By focusing on images of women in film, fine arts, music industry, and mass media, we will discuss the significance of construction of women’s identity and their roles through “the gaze” and gendered practices of looking. Analyzing some stereotypes of women in paintings, ads, moving images, and photographs will lead us to question how, by whom, and why these images are produced, presented, and circulated in visual culture. This involves considering contemporary issues and arguments of the relationship between sexuality, race, and hegemonic ideologies in American culture. We will also look at feminist practices since the 1970s intended to deconstruct stereotypes and create their own images. By analyzing differences in the portrayal of women between feminist art works and mass-produced popular images, we will consider functions of social norms in male-oriented society and culture.
