Alternative Views of Women

http://uncletaz.com/classgallery/Dali/ledatomica.jpg

This site leads to a Salvador Dali painting of a naked women, sitting on a bird. Women were viewed as desirable many years ago if they were plump and pale. This is the exact opposite now-a-days. Women are “beautiful” if they have color ( a tan ) and are very skinny and in shape. The women in the painting is gorgeous, even though she has small breasts and wide hips, with visable weight on her thighs. Salvador Dali is a very repuatable, and has painted many attractive women, none of which look like what the media presents today.

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http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/

Dove has come out with a new campaign for real beauty. They are now putting average, slightly “overweight” women in undergarents on their adds in magazines. This must have been shocking for many to see because, we are very used to seeing the tall skinny girls as models. Dove is emphasizing that beauty is not only skin deep. But it starts with your skin, that’s what you should use Dove products : ) I reviewed Dove’s website, and they seem to be emphasizing that self esteem should not only come from the way you look. They have many pictures of so called “nonattractive” women on their site, who are created with being very beautiful. This is a great movement for all women to feel more confident in themselves, and to know that personality and many other aspects contribute to whether or not you are a beautiful person.

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http://www.ece2.engr.ucf.edu/~kba/world.html

The Fourth picture down on this website has a Muslim women who is covered by her traditional dress. This women has beauty in the strength that she possesses, while carrying on her daily routines and such. I find beauty in this picture becasue it can also be representative that women do not need to wear small amounts of clothing to have significance in the world. Being modest with your style, gives more interest in who you are a human being, rather than focusing soley on looks and how attractive you are.

Second Reading Questions for “Ways of Seeing”

The definition of Mystify is to utterly bewilder or perplex (someone). This is a great explanation as to why mystification is a means of control and power. If an educated, art historian mystifies a painting they are creating the moment for you. However they are never going to succeed in portraying the right emotions and surroundings that were occuring at that moment in time when the painting, or form of art actually took place. Mystification of art almost always takes place, because someone always feels the need to make a strong interpretation for everyone else, before even they get to see it on their own. The most common example of this would be with the Mona Lisa. There were may views already formed, like is she smirking? or who she is representing, so the viewer does not get to think of their own interpretation but only contemplates on the on the ideas already made. There is great control in being able to mystify art, becauase the words try to explain the picture but they will never do it justice.

Now-a-days many learnt assumptions have been put into our heads about viewing art. As Berger states, these assumptions are Beauty, Truth, Genius, Civilization, Form, Status, and Taste. We go about looking at art, already knowing what we are looking for. Although, these assumptions obscure the past, and proceed to “mystify rather than clarify.” I believe that there is no exact way to be able to clarify what the art work is about. Only the artist will ever know exactly what was going on, and what emotions went into the specific piece of work. Words are descriptive, and can sometimes hit emotion but hardly do they ever have the exact effect on the viewer as what the artist had experienced. Mystification should be about wonder, but instead it also makes advances towards what you are supposed to feel when observing art.

Second Reading Question Two

Percy’s essay does emphasize that there is a loss that occurs in more than one instance with the situation of traveling and sight seeing. Most people go to their foreign destination on a vacation and have a preconceived notion of what to expect. When they arrive at their destination they are then walking in a “planned” direction instead of taking the trip into their own hands and wanting to create their own perspective. We are feeling a loss of what could be an amazing adventure. This is only possible if we present ourselves to the situation with the right mindset and goal of appreciating the beauty of the many differences in the world.

Second Reading Question One

Percy had a good point to include more than one example within his whole point. Each example that he gives, does show multiple meanings as well as degrees of what he is trying to portray to the reader.

This first main example has to do with sightseeing at the Grand Canyon. Percy begins his degree of intensity at a very low level when he uses the comparison of looking at a strange object in your backyard to gazing at the Grand Canyon. This shows a literal meaning and is very obvious. He is saying that this is like seeing the object at the already formulated symbolic meaning like a picture, postcard or geography book. It would then be a downer for the tourist to not be as safisfied if they did not see the beauty that was portrayed on that previous picture that they had seen. Percy then continues to elaborate on the idea of “recovering” the beauty of the Grand Canyon. He gives many ways of doing so such as leaving the beaten path, creating your own perpective, or making a completely new configuration of the situation. The Grand Canyon example suggests that sightseeing is best to be done on your own so that the situation is unique to your own personal liking.

The second dominant example deals with a couple visiting Mexico. They get lost in this foreign country and come upon a native trip during a religious festival. Their trip was not satisfactory until they found something that was authentic. They had made the trip personal because they saw something that not everyone would be privileged enough to witness. They had now found the “it” that all travelers are hoping to experience. The “it” makes the trip satisfactory to those who go sight seeing. However this couple was seeking the approval of an expert ethnologist, so they were not completely soaking in the amazing atmosphere they had encountered.

Percy’s many examples provide different aspects to the perception of travelers who go out with great expectation of witnessing a unique and interesting sight.

Walker Percy-The Loss of the Creature

This reading did not leave me with many questions. I understood that the main point was that life itself can become Cliche. Main examples of this were with the Grand Canyon and the dogfish disection in biology class. If we look at aspects of life from the normal, typical angle we will be okay with the sight, but not completely satisfied. If we were to look beyond and find our own way of approaching the situation, our desires would then become fulfilled. To go beyond, searching for your own individual path, will lead you to the “it” that you were initially looking for. The “it” is different for everyone, which means that everyone needs to search on their own to find personal meaning to each situation. Cliche essentially means typical, and this reading made many references to not follow what typically was done, said, or looked at. Rather, once again, it is important to find your own way because you will be more contented. The only place that I struggled through this reading was with the flow of words because I found them to be a little choppy, and the thoughts presented were randomly placed throughout. However, in the end, the story pulled all of the main points back together. Overall I enjoyed reading Walker Percy’s writing.

New Experiences

A Liberal Arts College is full of many new experiences. You have a variety of sports, clubs, and activites to choose to be involved in. There is always someone else with the same interest as you, and if no club is available you can make your own. New experiences come along with an opportunity to take risks, and try new things. As a result you will engage yourself in countless hours of fun and exciting memories.

Diversity

In a Liberal Arts College you are introduced to many kinds of diversity. There is diversity among races, backrounds, and individuals. Every person you meet has a different history, and they are able to share their experiences as well as wisdom through a friendship or even a causual relationship. A very important example of diversity in a Liberal Arts College is among academics. All students are required to explore the many areas of academics even if they are not initially interested. The variety of classes helps all students to become well rounded individuals.

Perpective

A Liberal Arts College gives you an opportunity to open your eyes to a crazy and interesting world. You use your eyes to gain a new persepective, and view about life. This allows everyone to become more cultured and knowledgable about what the future has to offer.

Creativity

A Liberal Arts College represents Creativity. I believe that Creativity is not only easily expressed, but is throughly explored in a Liberal Arts College. Here, Casey and John had to find an inventive way to make smores, because the fire outside was put out by a sudden rain. They had to find an alternative way to finish the task they had started, because their first plan could not be used. In a Liberal Arts College, creativity is necessary to ensure maximum success, and promote a broader horizon of ideas.