Rewriting masculinity with male bodies: The sexualization of male martyrs in Prudentius’ Peristephanon

<p>It is now generally accepted that Saint Agnes is portrayed in the Peristephanon as ambiguously gendered (she is masculinized and refeminized), sexualized and objectified in such a way as to intentionally lead the reader to view her as a sexual object. Scholars have used philology, intertextual readings, gaze theory and, most successfully, Laura Mulvey’s conception of the workings of voyeurism4 in order to explicate and examine the portrayal of Agnes in Prudentius’ Peristephanon. However, as the above quotations indicate, there is a similar though different, subtler mode of sexualization, sexual allusion and, therefore, objectification that may be read in the Peristephanon’s martyrdoms-- those of the male saints. The passages quoted above show Agnes welcoming her executioner as a lover in strident rhetoric while Cassian’s executioners are exhausted from torturing him to death and are described in terms similar to lovers near the end of their exertions, giving new meaning to his exhortation that they ‘be vigorous’. This highlights the importance of the virility of the executioner/s as they stand in for God as agents whose actions will complete the contract of martyrdom and bring the martyr into a union, or marriage, with Christ. The eagerness and ability of the executioners is integral in this transaction. Agnes’ lover with his ‘eager steps’ and ‘hot desires’ is masculine and forceful enough to please even the masculinized Agnes. While Cassian’s torturers fail because they are not fully-grown and cannot therefore bring the contract to completion. Indeed Cassian only speaks once in the entire poem and it is to exhort his torturers to finish him off, to exhort his lovers to (at last) become men. Cassian is presented with exactly the kind of lover that Agnes has spurned, soft effeminate boys. Yet Cassian does not speak against their suitability as the chosen instruments of his bridegroom. He is feminized through his passive acceptance of the manner of his death. Then, much like Agnes, is remasculinized as the boys’ penetrations fail to kill him and God must step in. Cassian’s masculinity is undermined by that which is not present: ability in rhetoric, agency, and virility. And although it is recouped by God, it is interesting that he and his masculinity have taken a detour through mute objectification and passivity, a sort of sexualization.</p>

Rewriting masculinity with male bodies: The sexualization of male martyrs in Prudentius’ Peristephanon

<p>It is now generally accepted that Saint Agnes is portrayed in the Peristephanon as ambiguously gendered (she is masculinized and refeminized), sexualized and objectified in such a way as to intentionally lead the reader to view her as a sexual object. Scholars have used philology, intertextual readings, gaze theory and, most successfully, Laura Mulvey’s conception of the workings of voyeurism4 in order to explicate and examine the portrayal of Agnes in Prudentius’ Peristephanon. However, as the above quotations indicate, there is a similar though different, subtler mode of sexualization, sexual allusion and, therefore, objectification that may be read in the Peristephanon’s martyrdoms-- those of the male saints. The passages quoted above show Agnes welcoming her executioner as a lover in strident rhetoric while Cassian’s executioners are exhausted from torturing him to death and are described in terms similar to lovers near the end of their exertions, giving new meaning to his exhortation that they ‘be vigorous’. This highlights the importance of the virility of the executioner/s as they stand in for God as agents whose actions will complete the contract of martyrdom and bring the martyr into a union, or marriage, with Christ. The eagerness and ability of the executioners is integral in this transaction. Agnes’ lover with his ‘eager steps’ and ‘hot desires’ is masculine and forceful enough to please even the masculinized Agnes. While Cassian’s torturers fail because they are not fully-grown and cannot therefore bring the contract to completion. Indeed Cassian only speaks once in the entire poem and it is to exhort his torturers to finish him off, to exhort his lovers to (at last) become men. Cassian is presented with exactly the kind of lover that Agnes has spurned, soft effeminate boys. Yet Cassian does not speak against their suitability as the chosen instruments of his bridegroom. He is feminized through his passive acceptance of the manner of his death. Then, much like Agnes, is remasculinized as the boys’ penetrations fail to kill him and God must step in. Cassian’s masculinity is undermined by that which is not present: ability in rhetoric, agency, and virility. And although it is recouped by God, it is interesting that he and his masculinity have taken a detour through mute objectification and passivity, a sort of sexualization.</p>

An Inspiration to Womanhood through the poems of Kamala Das and Maya Angelou

History reveals that the girls and women had been kept in darkness from ages. They had no right to enjoy their fundamental rights. Women had been treated as inferior to men. They were tortured, suppressed, humiliated, and sexually harassed in all the fields. They were, not respected, and given importance and marginalized politically, economically, socially, culturally and emotionally. The condition of women had been very pathetic and, where rape, female foeticide, infanticide, dowry deaths and various kinds of exploitation were happening almost every day. The women were considered as a sexual object and to take care of the family over the years in the history. But gone are the days, where women were known by her husband’s name or by the name of the family. Now women are educated equal to men. Women can get empowered in their own choices by selecting their own jobs, own life partners, own places to study, and professions etc. They are working in all the fields and in every profession. They are in good positions in their work places. They are recognised by the society. They achieve many things and do wonders in their work places. They have become policy makers in their work places. They are recognised and respected in the family since they are working and earning money and taking care of their family. You can find women as president, chief minister, prime minister, director, principal, pilots, astronomers etc. Women have freedom to make their own choices. And now they have so many facilities announced by the governments where they can enjoy their freedom. Since there are special laws relating to women empowerment in favour of women, they feel free to enjoy their fundamental rights. This paper throws light on how women were leading their lives in the past and how they are leading their lives in the 21st century through the selected poems of Kamala Das and Maya Angelou. Both have been marginalized and subordinated, but difference lies between the way, they were victimized.

A view of women in painting from the past to the present: the image of women in art and women painters

The woman, has been one of the main themes of art throughout all art processes. Social processes and the place of women in society were also reflected in art and shaped the image of women in art. The same, artwork sheds light on the social conditions of the period. The fact that women remain in the background in social life is seen in the art of painting as in many other fields since the transition to the patriarchal order. Although the image of the woman has changed over the years, the woman is outside of her identity; It continued to be processed as a mother, wife or sexual object. Despite many advances in the individual works of contemporary artists and in the art that values women, a prejudiced view towards women has not yet been prevented. When the number of women engaged in art increases, women's self-expression has brought a different dimension to this commodification instead of the male gaze. The inclusion of feminist discourse and the changing structure of the world in art has also affected the role of women in social life. Art is one of the methods that can be used to achieve social change. For this reason, it can be said that women should continue to raise their voices for their rights and freedoms through art. One of the biggest roles in this regard falls to female artists. In this research; Throughout history, the image of women in painting and women painters have been examined, and the process of women's existence in art has been evaluated. For this purpose, written documents on the image of women, women painters and their lives from past to present have been examined. The image of women in art and its change throughout history, prominent female painters in the world, the image of women in Turkish painting and Turkish women painters, have revealed the place of women in the field of painting. Levina Teerlinc, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rosa Bonheur, Käthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Jeny Saville, Mihri Müşfik, Fahrünnisa Zeid, Şükriye Dikmen, Neşe Erdok, Nur Koçak and Gülsün Karamustafa, among the prominent painters in terms of Turkish and world history, were discussed. ​Extended English summary is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file. Özet The woman, has been one of the main themes of art throughout all art processes. Social processes and the place of women in society were also reflected in art and shaped the image of women in art. The same, artwork sheds light on the social conditions of the period. The fact that women remain in the background in social life is seen in the art of painting as in many other fields since the transition to the patriarchal order. Although the image of the woman has changed over the years, the woman is outside of her identity; It continued to be processed as a mother, wife or sexual object. Despite many advances in the individual works of contemporary artists and in the art that values women, a prejudiced view towards women has not yet been prevented. When the number of women engaged in art increases, women's self-expression has brought a different dimension to this commodification instead of the male gaze. The inclusion of feminist discourse and the changing structure of the world in art has also affected the role of women in social life. Art is one of the methods that can be used to achieve social change. For this reason, it can be said that women should continue to raise their voices for their rights and freedoms through art. One of the biggest roles in this regard falls to female artists. In this research; Throughout history, the image of women in painting and women painters have been examined, and the process of women's existence in art has been evaluated. For this purpose, written documents on the image of women, women painters and their lives from past to present have been examined. The image of women in art and its change throughout history, prominent female painters in the world, the image of women in Turkish painting and Turkish women painters, have revealed the place of women in the field of painting. Levina Teerlinc, Artemisia Gentileschi, Rosa Bonheur, Käthe Kollwitz, Frida Kahlo, Jeny Saville, Mihri Müşfik, Fahrünnisa Zeid, Şükriye Dikmen, Neşe Erdok, Nur Koçak and Gülsün Karamustafa, among the prominent painters in terms of Turkish and world history, were discussed.

The Sexual OBjectification and EMotion database: A free stimulus set and norming data of sexually objectified and non-objectified female targets expressing multiple emotions

Sexual objectification – perceiving or treating a woman as a sexual object – is a widespread phenomenon. Studies on sexual objectification and its consequences have grown dramatically over the last decades covering multiple and diverse areas of research. However, research studying sexual objectification might have limited internal and external validity due to the lack of a controlled and standardized picture database. Moreover, there is a need to extend this research to other fields including the study of emotions. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the SOBEM Database, a free tool consisting of 280 high-resolution pictures depicting objectified and non-objectified female models expressing a neutral face and three different emotions (happiness, anger, and sadness) with different intensity. We report the validation of this dataset by analyzing results of 134 participants judging pictures on the six basic emotions and on a range of social judgments related to sexual objectification. Results showed how the SOBEM can constitute an appropriate instrument to study both sexual objectification per se and its relation with emotions. This database could therefore become an important instrument able to improve the experimental control in future studies on sexual objectification and to create new links with different fields of research.

Luxury Fashion Brands and Consumers: Women are more sexualized by consumers than brands on Instagram

This study examines how luxury fashion brands and luxury fashion brand hashtags that consumers use in their posts portray women on Instagram. The study was framed by sexual objectification theory (physical presentation, body display, sexually suggestive poses, and feminine touch) and sexism stereotypes (women in traditional roles such as dependent, caretaker, decorative and sexual object). This study examines 700 Instagram posts, 350 from top luxury fashion brands, and 350 from consumers. Young and skinny women’s images dominate Instagram posts created by luxury fashion brands, while consumers are older and fit. Unexpected results show that luxury fashion brands feature women less sexually desirable, with less sexually suggestive poses and fewer sexist stereotypes than consumers.

Inhabitation of Inhibition and Creative Freedom for Breastfeeding Mothers

In this edited interview, psychologists Nisha Gupta and Eric Greene interview Lori Jordan Fountain, psychology doctoral student and filmmaker of Inhabitation of Inhibition, an autophenomenological short film about the lived experience of breastfeeding in public. Despite the known benefits, antipathetic attitudes toward nursing in public persist, and “breastfeeding is perceived by many as dirty, sexual, embarrassing, and generally, something that should be kept behind closed doors.” Inspired by Sartre’s notion of the gaze, the mother in the film takes up the self as seen by the Other. By assuming the guilt of which she is blamed, she embodies and enacts the judgments placed on her, foregrounding the covert oppression endured by breastfeeding mothers. In this interview, Lori describes the liberation felt when responding to the objectifying gaze—a gaze that perceives her as a machine-like milk dispenser, a bad mother, and a sexual object. She shares how satire enables her to ‘flip the script’ in order to demonstrate, address, and challenge the absurd, oppressive narratives that shame breastfeeding mothers. The conversation explores how protesting this covert oppression through the language of filmmaking allowed Lori to work through it directly and experientially, just as one might in psychotherapy.

The Communication Barriers in a Ukrainian Family: Adultery and Socio-Psychological Aspects

A common cause of disruption of family communication is adultery, which creates a traumatic situation and even leads to family destruction. The purpose of the article is to investigate sexual and psychosocial disorders in family communication under adultery—research methods. The study used validity methods «Eysenck Inventory of Attitudes to Sex» and «Diagnostics of the inferiority complex». Statistical methods. For the non-parametric data correlation variables, the Spearman coefficient was used, Kendall's, Pearson's. Results: The present study found the destructive effect of the psychological characteristics of sexuality on family functioning in CGA. The connection between disappointment with existing sexual relations and desire for sexual satisfaction was established (p <0.05). Conflicts between beliefs and internal impulses were detected (p <0.05). It was found that treating a partner as a sexual object without finding sensual pleasure correlated with intolerance to a verbal description of bed scenes (p <0.05). Sexual shyness is a characteristic of couples with sexual inactivity and aversion to sexual manifestations (p <0.05). In turn, the difficulty of acquiring sexual excitement correlated with a fascination with only physical sex without its spiritual component (p <0.05). Conclusion: Features of the psychological response of men and women in CGA and CG in the genesis and development of impaired family life are connected to the following: a great number of complexes and constant struggle with personal weaknesses, drawbacks, mistakes; fear of analyzing oneself and one's own actions by "hiding" and "postponing" the resolution; inflated self-esteem, self-deception, living in the so-called "imaginary world", low communication (p <0.05).

Objectified Women and Fetishized Objects

There are at least three senses of sexual objectification: the moral sense of treating a person as if she were primarily a sexual object, the political sense in which women socially count as instruments for men’s sexual pleasure, and the epistemic sense of forming a belief that a person is as one sexually desires them to be. These different senses have been treated as rivals, competing about what the correct account of sexual objectification is, or they have been treated as entirely different projects. I argue for a third relation between them: each sense grasps an aspect of the existing social phenomenon of sexual objectification. Each further points out a wrong involved in sexual objectification. And the three aspects interact—we cannot fully explain any one sense of sexual objectification without the other two. To properly understand this interrelation I lean on an analogy: commodity fetishism as described by Marx helps make sense of the complex social reality of sexual objectification.

Fifty Shades of Pretty and Thin

Today, gender representation in media and advertising could be responsible for creating and maintaining female stereotypes that have a negative impact on women's psychological and social well-being. From a psychological point of view, women have to face several issues including the objectification of their body, which could have negative effects on their mental, emotional, and physical health; furthermore, the portrayal of the female body as a sexual object could be associated with aggressive inclinations and behaviours against women, but also with cyber-bullying victimization in terms of body-shaming and revenge porn. Finally, it is relevant to consider how the use of gender stereotypes in advertising and media could lead to a distorted perception of gender roles, mostly based on outdated socio-cultural expectations of how men and women should behave and present themselves, that could be passed on to the next generations.