ART

Introduction

Painted in 1881 at a time when the impressionist movement was spawning into modernism, Edouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergere provides a striking glimpse into Parisian social life towards the end of the 19^th century. It was chosen due to its sensory triggers. There are few quality works that are able to emit sounds that resonate and conjure up images and constructions of thought as this piece does. As this discussion will demonstrate, the artistic form, subject matter and content of the piece were both collective and effective in the general presentation of it.

Artistic Form

The painting is centred upon a large female figure, whose image dominates roughly half the entirety of it. Almost perfectly centred, she stands by the bar with a mirror in the background and has objects such as a bowl of food and two roses in front of her. There are also a number of bottles of alcohol reflecting in the mirror. The colouring and complexion could be considered very murky, with the exception of the orange colour in the bowl of food which tends to be extremely visible. Particularly in the background, the oil brush strokes appear to be very thick and butter-like – yet they still manage to give the painting an ability to retain a symmetrical balance of space.

Subject Matter

The main representation that the work portrays is that of a social evening environment in old-time Paris, a time that feels (due to the clothes in which the barmaid is wearing) many generations ago. The central character is a barmaid who is standing there working, and appears to be very withdrawn. This aspect can be drawn from the observance of her facial expressions and the way her hands are by her side. One can almost hear the background chatter and various echoing sounds that would have been going on at that exact time. The unknown characters in the background could be from a large range of social stereotypes, and though their faces remain unseen, the viewer can still invoke characterizations of them.

Content

Within the same setting, Monet has successfully communicated the feeling of isolation to the viewer. Incorporating a mood of melancholy and bleakness (through colour), he produces an underlying message that perhaps the barmaid is discontent with her profession. The fact that she does not even have a reflection of herself in the mirror raises the notion of identity and perhaps realizes that the barmaid could have lost her sense of self.

She may feel left out and robotic within her occupation, and the necklace around her neck could be a symbolic token of her life outside of work. Nevertheless, is would appear that Monet is generally trying to form an image of modern everyday life within his own time period. Simply put, it is a representation of a regular woman with a commonly regular job, but with the incapacity to enjoy the scenery around her.

Participation

Upon first glimpse, my initial perception of the painting was the observation of a peach-faced woman standing at a bar with a neutral facial expression. She wore clothes that look like they are from an era long ago, and one might presume the work to be set somewhere within the 19^th century. It was not until quite some time after the first viewing that I noticed the mirror in the background was in fact reflecting an entire lively room full of other people. Then, once again, it took another couple views to realize that she did not even have a reflection at all. This is where the general assumption that she may feel isolated had come from.

I would agree that the participation and analysis of a work of art certainly does enhance it. It’s as simple as deconstructing and dissecting the work and noticing different things about it each time you question it. Repeated viewings of the work are also vital as it is easy for ones mind to miss the underlying aspects of each symbol, colour and shape. This particular piece, with its many mysterious secrets, is a pure example of that.

Conclusion

Each aspect of the painting compliments the other in such a way that it retains a consistently shallow mood as the one previously discussed. The artistic form, content and subject matter all correlate to produce the desired meaning – a lively scene with just one person left out – the lowly and mysterious barmaid.

The viewer is left with the raising of the question “who is she?” This evokes a feeling of curiosity, and reinstates the conclusion that the content of the work is complimented by its artistic form and subject matter, through the depressive mood in which it creates. Not only this, it also makes one feel pity for the main character which personalizes the painting and gets the viewer involved and participating and interacting with it.

Lastly, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere is effective in realizing that such a piece of work as this enables ones mind to develop and foster the enhancement of art interpretation skills. This painting is generally full of social ideals and notions of identity, that it could be near impossible to absorb the entire piece on just the first viewing.

Expressionism (from expression – expressiveness) – a modernist flow in the West European art, mainly in Germany, the first third of 20th century, prevailing in the specific historical period – into the threshold of the First World War. The ideological basis of expressionism became an individualistic protest against the deformed world, the increasing alienation of the man from the world, a feeling of being without a home, collapse, disintegration of those beginnings, upon which, it seemed, so solidly settled the European culture. The attraction to mysticism and pessimism are characteristic of expressionists.

Artistic methods, characteristic for the expressionism: failure of the illusory space, a tendency toward the planar treatment of objects, the deformation of objects, love for the sharp colorful discords, special coloring, which includes apocalyptical dramatic nature. Artists perceived art as a method of the expression of emotions. In the atmosphere of universal dissatisfaction and uncertainty of tomorrow in Germany at the beginning of our century, expressionism -one of the most contradictory phenomena of European skill was conceived. It expressed the high fervency of the protest of the artist and his deep agitation and the appeal to the vital problems of the present.

This paper will show that the turn to expressionism as the dominant form of art in the modern age has its reasons found in a fundamental shift in the philosophical approaches to art in response to the modern age. This thesis is supported through the paper in demonstrating that the techniques, modes of interpretation, etc, all can be traced back to the basic philosophical principles introduced as a fundamental division point between the Post-Impressionists and Expressionists and the changes that attributed to Expressionism seen as a starting point.

Expressionism is characterized by the principle that comprises the subjective interpretation of reality, which prevailed above the world of the primary sensual emotions, as it was in the first modernist direction – impressionism.

For the expressionist, the “external impression” was displaced by the “expression”. The depiction of the visible was not excluded, but the “soul” must jubilate over the “substance”. Natural forms often were transferred into the rank of symbols; artists’ expressionists attempted to grasp no t only the outer aspect of phenomena, but also their essence. Hence is the tendency of the expressionism to the abstractness, the aggravated and emphasized emotionalism, the mysticism, the fantastic grotesque, and the tragedy. The art of expressionism was constrainedly socially-oriented since it was developed during shrill sociopolitical crises, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the First World War.

However, it would be erroneous to think that expressionism is only an art movement. Expressionism was the extreme expression of the very essence of the time of those days, the quintessence of the ideology of the pre-war, military, and first postwar years when the entire culture on the eyes was shifted. This shift of cultural values reflected expressionism. Its almost main characteristic consisted in the fact that the object underwent special aesthetical impact, as a result of which the effect of precisely characteristic expressionist deformation was reached. The very important aspect in the object was maximally sharpened, as a result of which the effect of specific expressionist distortion was formed.

In my opinion, although this does not lie on the surface, the classical psychoanalysis of Freud was a phenomenon of expressionism. About this speaks the pathos of the deformation of initial “Victorian” ideas about the happy and cloudless childhood of a man, which Freud converted into the nightmarish sexual drama. In the spirit of expressionism lies the deepest peek into the human soul, in whom nothing bright is located; the gloomy study about the unconscious.

Hip hop dates back to 1970 and is considered to be a cultural movement among Americans and African Americans. Dj Clive ‘Kool Herc’ is considered to be a founder of hip-hop music, he made hip-hop music’s blueprint and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of boasting or toasting impromptu sayings and poetry over music. Together with other DJs, they organized small concerts by connecting their equipment to the power lines and performing music at basketball courts and the historic building where hip-hop is considered to be born.

Herc replied on break-beat deejaying where the breaks of Funk song usually percussion-based were isolated and repeated for the purpose of all-night dance parties. This breakbeat DJing, which used rock, hard funk, and records with Latin percussion laid a beginning to the forming of the hip-hop culture. DJs such as Grand Wizard Theodore, Grandmaster Flesh, and Jazzy Jay developed and improved the use of breakbeats, including cutting and scratching. In 1983 Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force released a track called Planet Rock by means of which hip-hop gained its strength. Bambaataa made some innovations into producing electronic sounds by using a drum machine and synthesizer technology and added these innovations of his to the known before rapping over disco beats. The importance of the music video for ‘Planet Rock’ lied in the fact that it reflected the subculture of hip hop musicians, graffiti artists, and breakdancers. Hip hop-related films released between 1983 and 19850 expanded the appeal of hip hop beyond the boundaries of New York. By 1985, the hip-hop culture became known all over the world, and very soon the hip-hop artwork and special ‘slang’ of US urban communities spread to Europe and Asia, and hip-hop acquired global scales.

The four pillars of hip hop consist in, Grafitti which is supposed to be a means of expression of emotions and feelings. Another element is DJing which helps to show respect to the great rappers who played their music earlier by playing their tunes and making an example of them. Thirdly, it is MCing or the art of mass combustion the main purpose of which is searching and developing new sources of clean energy. And finally, Breakdancing which is a pretty old art of dancing followed by those who prefer expressing their emotions in movements of their bodies rather than words.

What makes the hip-hop culture complete is hip-hop fashion. In the 1980s, sportswear and fashion brands attached themselves to the emerging hip hop scene; hip-hop icons wore clothing items such as brightly colored name-brand tracksuits, sheepskin and leather bomber jackets, Clark’s shoes, large eyeglasses, Kangol bucket hats, nameplates, name belts, multiple rings, and heavy gold jewelry. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, fashions and hairstyles reflected traditional African influences i.e. dreadlocks, Africa chains, and black, green, and red clothing. By the mid-1990s, hip hop fashion had taken on significant influence from the dress styles of street thugs and prison inmates which included baggy pants, black ink tattoos, bandanas, and shirttails outside one’s pants. In modern fashion hip hop, artists and executives started their own fashion labels and clothing lines, today, Hip hop clothing is produced by popular and successful designers.

Hip hop music though can trace its root in African America and West Africa it has penetrated all over the world has undergone various changes since the 1970s and yet retaining its originality. Over the years the hip-hop fans developed a very distinctive slang but because of the hip-hop’s music popularity, the slang got assimilated with different American dialects which are so numerous, and now some of the words are used even by non-hip-hop fans.

Work cited

1. AfrikaBambaata.True meaning of hip hop.1995: Universal Zulu nation.
2. George, Nelson. Hip-Hop America. New York: Penguin Books, 2000
3. Light Alan (ed). The VIBE History of Hip-Hop. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999
4. McLeod, Kembrew. “Authenticity Within Hip-Hop and Other Cultures Threatened with Assimilation.” Journal of Communication. 1999. 49:134.
5. Rodrick Rainey. Hip Hop Fashion, 2000: Sojones publication.

“They want us to kill ourselves… the best way you can destroy a people you take their ability to reproduce themselves.” This reflects the opening lines of the movie Boyz ‘n’ the Hood and the death toll concerning African Americans. “One of out of every twenty-one Black males will be murdered in their lifetime…most will die at the hands of another Black male.” The riots in the movie are a cause of one black male seeking revenge from the other. The riots in 1991 are the response to seeking revenge for what happened to Rodney King. Both events are unjustifiable and cannot be called an uprising.

Killing someone regardless of their color, race or ethnicity is inhumane. Rodney King’s beating by the LAPD police officers was and always will be unjustifiable but the riots that followed right after having no justification whatsoever.

Spanish philosopher and humanist Jose Ortega once said, “Revolution is not the uprising against preexisting order, but setting up a new order contradictory to the traditional one.” The fact that racism exists cannot be denied but fighting racism vs. racism can never be the answer. What happened to Rodney King sparked riots all over Los Angeles where fifty-five people were killed and the damages in property loss went up to billions. (Flashback: Rodney King and the LA Riots) Although revenge is a dish best served cold innocent bystanders do not deserve to pay for the mistakes of a few individuals. Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill part one and two both highlight the theme of revenge.

Uma Thurman finally gets her revenge after years of being tortured when she kills Bill and the morning after she is lying on her bathroom floor crying. Revenge may be a dish best served cold but in the end, it can never eradicate the problem, give a person inner happiness or present a solution to society’s problems. To be called an uprising and to bring about a revolution people have to create new systems instead of killing each other.

In the movie Boyz ‘n’ the Hood the dad wants the people in the neighborhood to stop killing each other because “you’re doing exactly what they want you to do, you have to think… about your future.” The father continuously teaches his son to think and stay away from acting like the other boys in the neighborhood. Ricky one of the major characters in the movie dies because of a confrontation at a party with another gang in the neighborhood.

After Ricky’s death, the father explains to his son Tre that he should not go out to seek revenge because that is exactly what the system is designed to do. He tells his son that if he wants to shoot a man he should shoot his dad first and that it is too stupid to lose Tre over a stupid battle. Ricky’s brother Doughboy goes out to avenge his brother’s death and kills the man who shot Ricky. One confrontation at the party leads to a riot that leads to the death of three people: Ricky, the man who called him, and Doughboy.

The entire purpose of the movie is to highlight the idea that a riot will never result in a solution. The father’s message to Tre and everyone else has always been to stop killing each other and pursue a life that is better. With his guidance, Tre is one of the characters that are alive at the end of the movie and goes to college. Although Ricky gets accepted and has a scholarship he dies before he can even embark upon the opportunity. Doughboy dies unhappy and unloved even though he seeks revenge for his brother’s death.

The riots after Rodney King’s beating led to a lot of hate crimes and violence in Los Angeles and other cities in America. The media distorted the video recorded by a bystander and edited out the first few seconds of the video that showed King charging against the police officers. Although the video showed that the white officers beat up Rodney King brutally the people watching failed to realize that Rodney King was resisting arrest. Although what the officers did was unjustifiable and used excessive force the answer to the issue should not have been the death of fifty-five innocent people. The best example that can be drawn to highlight what shouldn’t have been can come from the Second World War.

Jewish people were killed brutally every day and were starved in concentration camps. After the war was over the Nazis were convicted and tried for their crimes there was no uprising from the Jews. If they wanted they could have killed all German people or all the non-Jews in Germany through riots. What needs to be understood is that the action of one person does not reflect the opinions of others. Non-Jews helped out Jews during the Second World War and not every police officer in the LAPD is a racist.

The riots in Boyz ‘n’ the Hood led to the death of three people who might have been able to lead lives and bring about change in society. Instead, their lives ended because of confrontations and revenge-seeking. In the process, family members were hurt, a child was orphaned, and the man died feeling he was unwanted. The uprising caused after Rodney King’s beating should not have happened. More proactive decisions should have been made and a new and revolutionary system should have been created. The riots that led after the acquittal of the police officers cannot be called an uprising.

Works Cited

“Flashback: Rodney King and the LA riots.” BBC NEWS. 2002. BBC. Web.

Introduction

Dance is more than entertainment… it is an emblem of our culture, and a spirit of our society. It bestows in us feeling of belongingness with oneself, with our own world and with the world outside. It generates fire of imagination, shows attitude and represents whole essence of our life and our existence. In short, it is a way of our life. Among the various dance forms, youngsters of the urban elite in the European and U S states are seen enjoying musical bow, or berimbau. These are musical instruments of the most popular of all dance forms known as Capoeira.

Capoeira is a marshal form of dance and art emerged straight away from the soils of Brazil. It is not just a dance but represents the whole meaning and existence of life by its versatile characteristics. It is an expression of happiness on the one hand and a regression on the other. It is a sport, a ritual, musical identity; a marshal art as well as exhibits complete philosophy of life. My research for this project is identifying Capoeria in its various forms and perspectives.

It is has become most popular of all the dance forms among youngsters, as this is the expression of their feelings and answers to the various questions of philosophies of life. It encompasses the major part of the folklores of Brazil and then spread to the rest parts of the world. Traditionally it had been a sign of regression by the slaves and their willingness to free themselves from the colonial yoke. For Mestre Bimba who was an ex-carpenter, ex-horseman, ex-horse coach and a person who created capoeria regional said, “Capoeira is treachery, the way dealing with the dangers of life.” (Almeida, 1986, p. 2-3)

Capoeira comes under the category of marshal art form, as it contains all the traits of marshal art such as acrobatics, war scenes, and supplements physical and mental health including psychological perspective from a different historical and sociological context. For Bira Almeida, “it is a question of infinite possibilities, and spring of crystalline water to quench my thirst for knowledge”. (Almeida, 1986, p. 2-3)

Significance and the History of Capoeira

Capoeira is known to be 400 years old form of art mixed with music, dance, songs, and acrobats. It creates a blend of holistic feeling with a feeling of enlightenment and motivation to fight for their rights. This dance form originated in Africa and reached to the lands of Brazil through the slaves. Initially it was method of self-defense and their sign of showing their aggressiveness towards their lords.

The slaves who were brought to Brazil, combined their conventional form of dance and songs with the regional dialect to represent their glorious culture they had left behind, their lords and deities and their ardent desire to exert their right for freedom. “Number of percussion instruments like the tambourine (pandeiro), bells (agogo), and, most importantly, the one-stringed instrument brought from Africa, the berimbau” (Moulthrop, 2001, para 2) were used during these performances.

With the adoption of the new forms and styles, and faster styles of Mestre Bimba’s along with its traditional forms, it has now become most popular form of dance in the world and a way of life for the Brazilians. Capoeira is categorized in three forms: “capoeira angola, capoeira regional, and capoeira atual (Florida State University, 2007, para. 8)” The first form is traditional and exists and incorporates the various aspects of music and dance. The second form is more like a sport encompassing athletic style and accompanied with music. Whereas the third form is the blend of the other two displaying modern styles. It is popular among youths of New York and Los Angeles in the USA, Cologne in Germany, and in many of the metropolitan cities in the West. (Florida State University, 2007)

The most crucial element of the Capoeira dance is ginga, also known as swing. In this movement, two people giving performance make their movements look like dancing instead of fighting. It is performed to the tune of the berimbau and other instruments like bateria to increase the presence of the dance steps and also to teach the importance of timing, which is the most important part of Capoeira.

The participants avoid having a direct eye contact and showing of threatening movements against opponents, which helps them to hide behind the mask. Since slaves were not allowed to display their aggressiveness, they adopted the art of showing tricks, which they called by the name malandro. (Moulthrop, 2001) This practice is followed till the day today when capoeiristas of today prove their cleverness instead of power and belligerence.

The goal of Capoeira is not to defend through violence but by redirecting and avoiding violence. Though this practice was generally perceived as totally peaceful but in 1888 this practice began to be used by street gangs in Rio de Janeiro. In 1888, slavery came to virtual end but with the end of the slavery, number of jobs too got reduced and slaves adopted themselves to the new situation by forming their own Capoeira gangs who would earn their living by indulging in crimes.

The terror these gangs created provoked the law authorities to give orders for their banishment in Brazil in 1892. Still those who wanted to continue kept their art alive by moving underground. They were identified by their nicknames capoeiristas. (Moulthrop, 2001) This trend is continued till day today by bestowing the names in the form of titles to the new students of Capoeira. The Nationalistic President Getulio Vargas again revived this form of dance in 1937, as he wanted to give it a place in Brazilian sport. (Moulthrop, 2001)

Its traditional form depicts illusory movements of body and lyrics. During the performance, a good dancer must display cleverness to elude his or her opponent to get maximum points. The lyrics are sung with the use of the double entendre. (Florida State University, 2007) The deceptive part in their performances had always helped the African slaves in Brazil. The way the language was used also acted as the way of deception. This deception was their way to show their regression and now fun. Traditionally, males were the sole performers of Capoeira but now especially in America, women also participate in it as dancers.

As this form of art is a blend of dance and sports, it requires flexible body and a sharp mind. Training of the dance requires exercises like push ups, squat, dead lifts, etc. While performing the dance, they must show their relax moods but with movement and must learn to show “sensuousness, charm, and fun — even sweetness” (Macaulay, 2008, para 6) to make Capoeira breathe with life and emotions to make the purpose of this dance come alive on stage.

Cultural Significance of Capoeira

Capoeira represents the culture of the most dominated races of the world-African slaves. But now it is a culture and the life of Brazilians. It is both a part of the Brazilian folklore as well as the part of the country national sport. Some suggests that there has been an influence of the Kongolese and Yoruban cultures in today’s form of Capoeira. Among the enthusiasts the slogan Capoeira e uma so means there is only one capoeira and has lot of significance and in the schools of Capoeira both the Angola and regional forms of dances are taught. (Talmon-Chvaicer, 2008, p. 2)

This shows that the current forms of dance has an influence of ruling elite who has modified the traditional forms according to their needs. Julio Cesar de Souza Tavarez found that the slaves had conserved their traditions in movements of their body in Dança de guerra or War Dance. (Talmon-Chvaicer, 2008, p. 3) Kenneth Dossar reflected and displayed the aesthetics of Africa and various elements of dance in Capoeira Angola, and recently J. Desch-Obi discovered a link between capoeira with the Angolan martial arts namely kandeka and engolo and the culture so predominant among the military of the Imbangala groups. (Talmon-Chvaicer, 2008, p. 3)

Kongolese culture became the base of capoeira since the early years of nineteenth century and this is the place where it is thought of that the dance form had got birth. However most of the elements and the style this culture was hidden from the public views and underestimated by the Europeans.

It also saw the influence of Yoruban culture which had been effecting the lives of the slaves and culture of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia since the second half of the nineteenth century, and exerting its influence on the capoeira to the capoeira of today. Portuguese Catholics belonged to the ruling and elite classes and owing to their higher status and position had exerted tremendous influence over capoeira. The adoption this art form by the large number of Brazilian Catholics had also seen several changes in the very fabric of their culture. (Talmon-Chvaicer, 2008, p. 3)

As said by Matthias Rohrig Assuncao, “During 1990, it had become an expression of postmodern chic and is seen as an integral part of the post modern experience in globalized metropolises”. (Assunca, 2005, p. 2) Traditionally this dance form represented African warriors, their cults and the horrors they witnessed during the days of their slavery and their struggle with them like black slaves giving greater fights against police on the squares of colonial cities, gangs of guys creating turmoil and terror among citizens and assisting corrupt politicians to win their elections. (Assunça, 2005, p. 3) On owing to these practices they were bounded, bundled up into the different islands of Atlantic.

Military, bureaucrats and authorities representing tourist industry tried to coordinate with them. Still one of the many reasons why it had fascinated the young people all over the world is because it is a symbolic of resistance- against slavery, bureaucracy, politics and police. The capoeira dances along with the songs remember its most famous players and memorize about the constant struggles for freedom. Like Gred Downey suggested:

“This past gives Capoeira play gravity, revealing that Capoeira was once a deep and sinister business, and mincingly suggests the possibility that it may still be. The roda of Capoeira especially among those who self consciously cultivate “traditional practice”, is a play space haunted by an epic history.” (Assunça, 2005, p. 2)

Brazil had invited several cultures into its soils and intermixed with the culture that was typical Brazilian. This characteristic of Brazil is the characteristic of all the various cultures and it is the way of life and naturally this feature would have an impact on the Capoeira too which was not Brazilian native but brought from the African colonies of Portuguese. Many of these plantations were confined in the areas of Northeastern part of Brazil including city of Bahia. This city was the most important port where the slaves were transported and this place also became the first capital of Brazil. (Assunça, 2005) All these circumstances and the nature of the Brazilian culture promoted Capoeira.

Capoeira as a Marshal Art Form

Capoeira is a dance style yet it comes under the marshal art form due to its characteristics quite similar to marshal art. Typically marshal art involves methods of fighting, and develops in the performer discipline of mind and body, emotional and psychological satisfaction, moral relief and motivation and increases intellectual capability too.

Martial art has been greatly influenced by the Taoist philosophy helping in maintaining the balance between the body and mind, meditation powers of Buddhists and breathing techniques, and Confucian ethics. As said by Brutz Frantzis, “By its very nature the field of Marshal art deals directly with this area of human existence, not by sublimating our natural violent tendencies, but by delving into them.” (2007, p. 5)

We can call marshal art as an art of self-defense, an art of enhancing spirituality, attaining enlightenment and to coordinate between the mind and spirit. The concept of the marshal art is simple, and lays on the basis that tools for fighting are inside your body and in the mental strategies and the tools to enhance the spirituality are found inside the hearts of the artists, and in the mind and spirit. (Frantzis, 2007, p. 297)

The most useful aspect of the marshal art is the power that it endows even inside the weaker persons and the women. It gives them ability, and strength to defend themselves without any tools, which is very useful in our day to day lives. Experts in the marshal arts have also the power to defeat their inner enemies, which are in the form of weaknesses and increase the inner strength to tackle all odds and turmoil’s of life with great poise and servitude.

Further Frantz says “Spiritual martial art can provide martial artists with skills to genuinely encounter and embody spirituality, until they wake up and live in the depths of their souls. In doing so, they take up the greatest challenge of human existence, to become relaxed, balanced, compassionate, and free at the deepest core of themselves. If successful, they will emerge forever connected to- and not separated and alienated from-all of life’s experiences.”(Frantzis, 2007, p. 297)

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the way Capoeria was performed looked like a war dance with the Congo drum beating like war like rhythm. Then they had the “Batuque with its sensual movements (laciva), with the urucongo (the berimbau)” (Talmon-Chvaicer, 2008, p12) to increase and slowing down the rates of rhythmic movements. Capoeria adopted all the characteristics of marshal art, like learning warm ups, defense and escape moves, different kinds of kicks, various kinds of ground and acrobatic movements, and giving freedom to adopt an artistic flavor to increase the energy and strengthen the body. (Poncihanino & Porter 2008)

Latest of the Capoeria form is known as Boneco Capoeira, and has been formed a program of exercise with its kicks and spins. (Henderson, 2005) Dancers also learn to interact and act in a speed with many of the movements similar to Judo and Karate and in the many number of techniques, handstands is the most common. (Macaulay, 2008)

This form of dance was traditionally could also be considered as war to stir the emotions among the blacks to show their resistance against the whites but now performers of the Capoeria adopt many marshal art forms to attain strength, increase in stamina and make the body flexible for giving them training. It is said, “capoeira is a complicated art that combines physical strength with artistic expression”. (Atwood, 1999, p. 9) They also get emotional strength and adopt positive attitude towards the life and can also come closer to the world they represent.

Conclusions

We can call Capoeria as the most versatile form of dance with its ability to adopt various styles and techniques from different cultures. Just like its form and style, this dance form is performed with various purposes. It is for entertainment, it is for the fun of joy for sports, it is for self-defense and to show aggressiveness and rebellion yet in a non-violent form. It is also for building the body movements to attain flexibility, power and endurance and to create a harmony between you and with your society and culture. It has the influence of various cultures and is performed in the various parts of the world, but it is a part of life in Brazil and popularly performed by the Americans and youths.

It is a mirror to the heritage past. “In Capoeria Angola, the singing by the Roda (the circle of the capoeristas surrounding those performing those capoeria moves) has a traditional structure consisting of three parts, the ladainha, the chula and the corridor (McGowen & Pessanha, 1998, p. 120).” In the sequences they convey the story, reflect their cultural past and convey messages. It could also be political commentary. Earlier it was performed as a form of reprisal from depression owing to the slavery and subjugation the blacks in the Brazil had to endure to. They performed it, as it would give them relief from their hard work and to show their aggression against their colonizers.

But now the people practicing it feel enjoyment, spiritual relief and satisfaction of achievement. There are various forms of Capoeria with various modifications in the form and style representing and depicting their culture in which they are presented. This dance form has also become a part of films, movies, TV shows and video games and has become a pop culture in itself. On the one hand, it is a form of dance, songs and instruments and on the other hand, it has various attacking and defensive moves. It is also a sport with acrobatic skills.

Regional groups of Capoeria groups hold Batizados, which means baptism. (Atwood, 1999) Baptized members are given corda or cord belts and an apelido, which is a nickname of capoeira. (Atwood, 1999) These are the most important events performed where many groups and masters from near and far are given invitations. Many times Batizado is also held in collaboration with a Troca de Corda in which belts are changed whereby expert students are given belts as the part of their acknowledgements, but this system is not prevalent in Capoeria Angola.

In short, Capoeria is performed for fun, and excitement of dance, martial arts, games and music, all rolled into one.

Reference List

Almeida, B. (1986). Capoeira, a Brazilian Art Form: History, Philosophy, and Practice California: North Atlantic Books.

Assuncao, M.R. 2005. Capoeira: A History of an Afro-Brazilian Martial Art. Oxon / New York: Routledge.

Atwood, J. (1999). Capoeira: A Martial Art and a Cultural Tradition. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Florida State University. (2007). African Heritage 2 (Brazil). Web.

Henderson, S. 2005. The rhythm of capoeira: aerobic workout combines cultural music and dance for an effective exercise. Ebony, 51-52.

Macaulay, Alastair. (2008). Energizing Modern Dance With a Martial-Arts Kick. The New York Times. Web.

McGowan, C. & Pessanha, R. 1998. The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Popular Music of Brazil. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Moulthrop, D. (2001). Capoeira History. Web.

Poncianinho, M. & Porter, M. 2008. Essential Capoeira: The Guide to Mastering the Art. California: North Atlantic Books.

Talmon-Chvaicer, M. 2008. The Hidden History of Capoeira: A Collision of Cultures in the Brazilian Battle Dance. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Introduction

Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in a place called Malaga in the year 1881. At the age of 15, he already had acquired technical skills in the field of painting and drawing. He had a novel style that constantly underwent advancement all through his artist career in his attempts on expanding the real definition of what art work could mean. Other than drawing and painting, he also had a chance to carry out an exploration in other fields of art such as ceramics, sculpture among other fields and became one of the artists with much influence of the twentieth century.

Pablo’s period of blue paintings, depicted depressed general public painted in blue, demonstrating the feeling of unhappiness and isolation. Pablo’s painting i.e.(‘Rose period’) took a new face once he moved to Paris in his early days in life, the paintings mood became ‘warmer and more optimistic’. Later in time, in the year 1907 Picasso together with George Brasque who was a French man became pioneers of Cubism ( Chew, Robin Para. 2).

According to Warncke (n.d), Picasso’s Blue Period (1901 -1904) refers to Pablo’s paintings where the blue color became dominant thus the name blue period. The Blue Period plays a major role in the process of changing of style to abstract art from classism. Being one of the pioneers of the advanced abstract art, Pablo is normally associated with cubism as well as other close styles that are known to be abstract. Therefore, it is quite vital to come to a realization that during the blue period, the present abstract art did not exist.

At the age of twenty, Pablo Picasso was already a classist painter who was accomplished. However, just like the majority of young artists, he was not satisfied with the traditional art dogmas. Those who came before him like the impressionists had tried to show how moving from classism could bring about a visual language that was more direct. Thus, Pablo alongside his colleagues, were feeling the after effects that were as a consequence of the ‘Vincent Van Gogh’ artistic flare-up and which became a known as Vincent Van Gogh that became a stumbling block to the stunned world of art i.e. to abstract art and also to the century that followed.

The suspicion about classism is the tradition that inspires the marking of the end of a development by the blue period in which Picasso is attempting to come up with pictorial means which clears the shortcomings of classism and would in turn result in to cubism and the initial moves to modern abstract art. Pablo’s Blue period is best associated with acquiescence and melancholy. These emotions result from the death of his close friend by the name Carlos Casagemas who committed suicide. Pablo illustrates his distress in a sequence of paintings that are quite gushy and which comprise the blue period.

At the time Picasso made his first trip to Paris, he was in company of his friend who was very close, Carlos Casagemas, and was a fellow artist. At this time Pablo Picasso was a teenager and it was his first time, going away from home to stay. Unfortunately, he went to stay in very poor conditions. His stay was interrupted when he came to an agreement with his friend, Casagemas, to take him home for Christmas in order for the friend to recover from a romantic affair that had gone sour. Picasso decided to leave for Madrid when his family was not pleased with his wild appearance thus leaving behind his friend, Carlos Casagemas who in turn decided to go back to Paris where he shot himself.

The death of Casagemas instilled rage, guilt and sorrow in Pablo Picasso. He went back to Paris in order to take over his dead friend’s studio. He started producing works painted in blues and grays. He used these colors because they portray a somber mood. The objects he painted showed loneliness, unhappiness and a state of being needy. The objects were of beggars, blind figures, outcasts, alcoholics, the disabled, and prostitutes to show human misery. The picture gotten from this works was a display of feeling of darkness that were strong, pessimism and suffering which is a reflection of the suffering Picasso himself went through and the poor living conditions he himself stayed in.

The Blue Period characteristic can be well shown in the painting “The old guitarist” produced by Picasso whose theme can be captured in varied ways depending on the views of an individual who looks at it. This work of art is an example of a silent painting. This painting is opposed to other pieces of painting that tends to shout or scream and grab the attention of people.

When this painting is first seen, the observer’s senses are overcome by dramatic blues with a feeling of despair. The blue color is always associated (by people) with a feeling of sadness. The guitarist in the painting is seen playing his guitar like this was his last hope. Seeing this man, the immediate idea that comes on one’s mind is that the man is a beggar with clothes that are torn. The sympathy stretches further on realizing the man has no shoes in his feet.

The man in the painting, “the Old Guitarist” is still holding on to his love for the guitar not caring about the ruin on his health and finances. Probably, Picasso portrayed the man in such a way in order to foretell the human destination which is death. The only hope the man is still holding on to is his guitar. This is indicated by the painter of the picture not painting the guitar in blue. By not painting the guitar in blue and painting it in brown might probably mean or symbolize the talents that are often ignored and never noticed by people.

At the time of the blue period, most of Picasso’s paintings were made by the blue color due to the depression he had at the time. The basic issue here is to question ourselves what Picasso is thinking of. He might be thinking of the unavoidable miseries and misfortunes a human being must face at a future date in time. The importance and the meaning of the painting may be in the guitar, which is not painted blue but brown. Many of the observers of this painting may focus much on the sad blue and divert their attention from the guitar. Human beings should not resemble the painting in which the guitar symbolizes gift and talent which is not noticed since it has been overshadowed by the external interferences. Violent colors like blue might be interpreted as symbolizing anger and depression but it might never be known because, just like the guitarist, other thoughts might cloud it.

The development of Picasso’s artistic skills resulted from his great interest in art and this was complemented by his studying of art. He seriously studied art in Madrid and Barcelona though at that time he was already a skilled artist. The acquisition of the art skills can as well be attributed to his being brought up by a father who was an artist. His father was a Spanish painter and art teacher (Chew para.2).

At some point in the early twentieth century, Picasso toured Paris and was attracted by the region a thing that made him to settle there. While in paris Picasso joined the artistic community from the region who included Gertrude Stein (A writer with an American origin) who was very instrumental and played a bigger role in the letters and the experimental arts in Europe that occurred in the early 1900s. Despite the control of the already established European as well as other artists, Pablo came out very strong. He was resourceful and productive, a thing that gained him huge repute world over as an innovator of the time. Together with, Henri Matisse, Picasso is regarded as one of the great 20^th century artists (Thomas para.2).

Pablo Picasso’s Paintings

Evocation, burial Casagemas

• Type: JPEG image
• Image Dimension: 281px × 465px
• Size of file: 54.63 KB (55944 bytes)
• Alternate Text: Evocation, the burial of Casagemas
• Oil on canvas painting

Carlos Casagemas, Pablo Picasso’s close friend, shot himself after being rejected by a girl whom he adored the most. At that time, he was in a Parisian café accompanied by his friends. During that time, his friend, Pablo Picasso was away in Spain. The receiving of the news of his friend’s death came as a big shock to Picasso and this instilled in him so much grieve (Harris para.5). This shock resulting from the committing suicide by a friend marked the beginning of the blue period. This is the time when Picasso started painting using the blue color.

In Pablo Picasso’s paintings, it is often hard to distinguish between subconscious and conscious symbolism. Intentional symbolism is an element that is possibly indicated by the crucified rider towards the top of the painting. Clear observation will reveal to one that actually the rider is tied and bearing a cross. Probably, the rider who is crucified is a symbol that represents the soul of the dead person.

In the painting, otherwise referred to as “Evocation, burial Casagemas” there have been several interpretations of the women who are scarcely dressed. One group of people believe that the death of Picasso’s friend made him not to believe in the legitimacy of the reckless lifestyle of the art community of Montmartre although he would still stay in the state of sexual-free thinker till he died. Possibly, the women in the painting were meant to bring about consolation, bearing in mind the rejection Casagemas had faced that resulted in his death. In that interpretation, the women together with the children at the central point of the painting might represent the happiness expected in the family life that Casagemas never lived to experience. (Marten para.8).

In this painting the blue and green color has been used mainly. The composition and style in this painting has been highly influenced by the painting done by an artist by the name El Greco. The painting is called” The Burial of Count orgaz” (Charles Moffat Para 8). The paint in oil has been used on canvas.

Self-portrait painting

• Image size: 81 – 60 cm
• Medium: OIL on canvas
• Year 1901

Pablo Picasso went to Paris In France just before he attained the age 20 years and his start of life in France was very tough. On his own without enough money, the young genius roamed the streets of the city of Paris. Hopeless people including alcoholics, prostitutes among other people who were wandering started to represent the world in which he was living with a style that was unique of pale figures dipped in a melancholic word of blue tones. This is the starting point of the Blue period of the artist.

The self-portrait in the painting above is not the first that Pablo Picasso painted but is among the first ones that he painted at the start of the Blue Period. This portrait was painted a short while just after his friend Casagemas committed suicide and at this time Picasso was still new in the big city of France, Paris (Theartwolf.com para.2). The calmness and peace portrayed in the picture, the quality of the work, and the confident appearance seen indicates the image of a courageous and determined artist who could not be swayed by any difficulty he can encounter in the process of pursuing his goal.

This painting is mostly dominated by the blue color indicating a somber mood. The painting has been done in Vincent Van Gogh style (Anonymous Para 1). The blue color in oil has been used on canvas.

“Casagemas Death” Painting

• Painting Title: Death of Casagemas 1901
• Artist: Pablo Picasso – A famous Spanish artist, 20^th Century Painter
• Medium: Oil on wood.
• Size: 105.25 KB (107779 bytes)
• Image Dimensions: 470px × 360px

This painting is among those ones that Picasso produced at the start of the blue period. It shows the head of his best friend’s head, Casagemas who had killed himself by releasing a bullet in the head. The bullet wound is shown in the painting. Picasso expressed his sorrow over his friend’s death at the time of the blue period by using only shades of blue and like in the process of painting A sorrowful tone were lent to the painting by these colors during this period alongside the subject matter which indicated sorrowful subjects mainly.

This painting shows Casagemas Carlos in his deathbed. This is a heartfelt portrait of a friend who takes away his own life after a lover rejecting him. The complementary colors in the painting together with the thick brushstrokes reminisce Vincent van Gogh.

More so, Picasso’s painting was quite in line with the current preoccupation of the artists at that time. Early death, suicide and despair were subjects that were most discussed in the circles of art and were dealt with frequently in Barcelona. The intended dimension that is implied in the title is doubtful since the title was not given by the painter himself. The underlying issue behind the coming up with this painting by Picasso is that this is a way Picasso is trying to testify his shock over the friend’s suicide. Basing on the sense that Picasso is trying to handle his trauma, this painting is of the blue period but interestingly, it does not bear the atmosphere that portrays resignation and cool mourning that the blue paintings could carry.

Apart from the Blue period’s sad characteristics, there are signs of the influence of impressionist in the painting. This is seen in the way we see the individual brush strokes and the ways that a portion is not clear unless viewed as a portion of the whole. This can be best illustrated by the candle in the upper part of the painting in the right corner. More so, the style used here is using paint in oil and applying it on the cardboard together black charcoal that is used to paint the head of Casagemas in his coffin. Pablo Picasso’s blue period would go on till 1904 when he painted La Vie, a final show of Casagemas with a lover and then the Rose period would follow.

Conclusion

The mood that dominates the Blue period is the loneliness of the social outsiders: beggars, poor people or people in despair in general. This theme did not only respond to the blue mood it also gave a solution to the time’s spirit in the world of art at the starting of the twentieth century.

Quite a number of people believe that human beings, the way they were designed, identify emotions with colors. Melancholy matches with the blue color. To Pablo, the blue period became a practice. He came out with scenes where his paintings were dominated by the low light conditions. Basically, the reason why the starving artist myth turning out to be very popular is that, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the artists together with the intellectuals liked to see themselves as such. According to them, an artist was a social outsider by definition and would indulge in cultivated depression and romanticize their own supposed martyrdom (Warncke: n.d).

During the Blue period, Pablo Picasso was experiencing a very rough time in his young life and these lent very great emotions to his work. This is why his paintings are overshadowed with melancholy and sadness brought out by the blue color. The blue period is a very significant era in the history of art since at this point; Picasso was bringing about a transition from the classic art he acquired from school to the form of art he would eventually create; cubism and abstract art.

It can be concluded that, the Blue period, to a great extent, came about from the influence of the death of Picasso’s friend, Carlos Casagemas. At this time he portrayed the poor Parisian world by producing paintings of prostitutes, beggars among others in the blue and blue-green color.

Pablo Picasso’s work of art is so large that it stretches over a long period of time that experts, in the field of art, generally divide his career into different separate phases. These phases include, the Blue period (1901 – 1904), the Rose period (1905 -1907), and his most renown Modern art contribution, cubism (1908 – 1919) – a twentieth century avant-garde art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Brasque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture and inspired related movements in Music and literature (Cooper 19). Contrary to his predecessors, Pablo Picasso was a celebrity known the world over and a significant contributor to the art world as well.

In spite of Pablo Picasso associating with Modern abstract art of the twentieth century and cubism, he was still a nineteenth century creature (ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IRISH AND WORLD ART para.5). It is argued that his reasoning and his art results from the nineteenth century Expressionism and Romantism –a cultural style which started towards the end of the 18^th century. This was a period at which the Enlightenment dominated. Enlightenment was a value-system that emanated from advancement in science and put much belief in rationalization and reason. This approach was reacted against by the romanticists.

Pablo Picasso is the most significant figure in the field of art of the Modern era though much of his era still brings in controversy. Several people who have written about him try to leave out one or another of his big composition, to focus on some central part but which seems to be destined to stay indescribable.

Considering the last part of Pablo Picasso’s life, it can be said that he enjoyed an unusual active old age full of creativity. His last big exhibition in his lifetime was held in 1970 in Avignon. It comprised of large piece of new work having a brutal style and headlong and the public was alarmed by it and the reviewers were alienated. Up to just in the recent times has these works come to be considered as Neo-Expressionism precursors which have been dominant in the early 1980s. More than 300 prints series released in the space of seven months during the year 1968 was received in a better way, although what they conveyed was harsh; they mocked the youths’ illusions and in the same way were harsh on their condemning of the old age impotence. The open eroticism made some happy but others felt offended, but at this point Picasso had moved a long way as not to care anymore about what any person could think of him. He died in 1973, and his death and departing from this world brought a whole era to an end. However, Picasso’s drawings, paintings, ceramics, and sculpture can still be found in the best museums of art all over the world.

Works Cited

Anonymous, Picasso, self portrait. Not dated. 2009. Web.

Charles Moffat. PABLO PICASSO, the Art History Archive – Biography & Artworks. Not dated. 2009. Web.

Chew. Robin. Pablo Picasso artist, 1995. Web.

Cooper, D. The Cubist Epoch, New York: Phaidon Press Limited, 1970

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF IRISH AND WORLD ART. Cubism. 2009. Web.

Harris, M. The Burial of Casagemas (Evocation), 1901. 2009. Web.

Marten, Jansen. Evocation, the burial of Casagemas. 1997-2009. Web.

Michael R. Taylor, from Masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Impressionism and Modern Art (2007), p. 114 -165. Web.

Theartwolf.com PABLO PICASSO: “Self-portrait”, 1901-2009. Online magazine. Web.

Thomas, Hoving. Pablo Picasso.2009. Web.

Warncke. C.P. Pablo Picasso: 1881 -1973. Ingo F. Walther; Softcover, Taschen America Llc.

Essay outline

This paper will address how women have been portrayed in film since the nineteen thirties. The focus will be on how films define gender roles. Since films are often a reflection of the attitudes adopted by society, reviewing these films will help to shed light on what the perception has been on the things a woman can and cannot do especially in relation to work.

Through the thirties and forties, the attitude that women were meant to stay at home and look after their families while the men went to work was very prevalent. This began to change after World War Two but it did not die out completely and there are people who to this day still believe that a woman belongs to the house or even if she goes out to work, there are jobs she can do and those that she cannot.

By reviewing films from the 1930s to date, it shall be determined what attitudes have changed and what has remained the same in regards to a woman doing a man’s job. some of the films used in the paper shall be His Girl Friday, The Devil Wears Prada, Two Guys from Milwaukee and Adam’s Rib. The essay shall have a reference list of the works cited in the text.

Abstract

This essay will focus on reviewing and analyzing American films produced since the 1930s to date with the focus of seeing how the traditional gender roles have changed over the years. The review of these films, in combination with the writings of those who have done previous study on the depiction of women in American film will help in the assessment of what has changed over the years in regards to career more so male dominated fields, the role of the woman as wife and home keeper and the conflicts that may arise from the pull between career and family.

Introduction

It is debatable whether life imitates art, or whether art is what imitates life. Whichever the case, recorded art, examined in retrospective helps us to understand the cultural aspect of our social history.

Ever since the advent of the talking pictures in the late nineteen twenties, there have been thousands of motions pictures made covering myriad subjects and under all genres. In all these pictures there were women, playing different roles, telling the story of how a woman was viewed in the society at the time.

Traditional gender roles have been influential of how the woman is cast in films and naturally how she was to behave in real life as well. When women started doing male oriented jobs, they met with a great deal of resistance from men who thought that they could not hold up under the pressure.

By looking at the films made over the years about women who decided to flaunt convention and seek a career, it shall be examined how these women on screen dealt with the pressures, prejudices and probation that came hand in hand with opting to pursue a career, and how the position of the woman in a male oriented field has evolved through the years to the present time.

The nature of American films

It is no secret that the stories told within any given cultural setting in any part of the world is simply a reflection of what goes on in that society. Literature, art, music and drama repaint the lives of ordinary people within a cultural context as the artist sees it. The film is no exception to this; it is a media of communicating the norms in our society as well as addressing social issues that of a rather delicate nature by dressing them in the guise of humor. The underlying issues remain deathly serious.

Without even thinking of earlier American film in terms of women in careers, it has been observed that the lead roles cast men. In most of the films that were produced before the 1940s men were cast as the working professionals and the women in the role of the housewife. Of the one hundred films produced between 1941 and 1942 that were included in a survey to determine how the American woman was portrayed in film, eighty percent of them had men playing the lead.

Women, careers and family as depicted in American cinema

How women were depicted has changed a lot ever since the 1930s to the present day. While the earlier films cast the woman in the light of being a helpless, almost brainless creature who was driven by animal impulses, emotions and nothing more, later movies added more substance to what role a woman can play in society. There were earlier films made of women who even broke the cardinal rule of being good wives and mothers and opted to pursue careers. While such endeavors never went extremely well for the woman, as a reminder to her that her place was in the home and trying to break this norm had its consequences, they at least progressed her status in society.

Back in the nineteen thirties and nineteen forties, it was assumed that the ultimate achievement for a woman was not a successful career but getting her hands on a man and walking him down the aisle. Marriage and family were lauded as the only priorities that a woman should have. A career, in the earlier films, was a slight distraction, a fall from grace. Once the woman came back to her senses she would penitently go back to her husband, children and domestic responsibilities having learnt the lesson that a career was not the path for her.

Basinger’s recollections of her childhood adopt a wry tone towards how women were portrayed in the movies in the thirties and forties. She says, that above all, it was confusing what exactly was expected of the woman. In a world where the rule of children being seen but not heard still reigned supreme. The children then had to fish for their own answers. One of their best resources was going to the films where their parents gladly sent them off to with a penny for buttered popcorn and seemingly harmless entertainment (Basinger, 1993).

Basinger (1993) is quick to discredit the credibility of the plot lines that were spun around the plights of the heroines who were more often than not, damsels in dire distress who needed saving by the unflappable knight in shining armor.

Basinger notes that in the 1930s, after the tough times of the great depression, what moviegoers sought in theatres was a few hours escape from the harsh every day realities that awaited them in their real lives. The films made at the time, were focused on the young heroine, after going through a series of hardships, mostly of the economic kind and having resorted to a wild and unsuccessful scheme to gain financial independence would find redemption and security in the arms of a man who would help her see the error of her ways as well as prove to her that marriage and family are the best option.

A career was the last option a woman would resort to after everything else had failed. It was almost a disgrace to be out seeking a job instead of staying at home darning socks and keeping everything in readiness incase the husband needed it. In the 1946 film Two Guys from Milwaukee, Joan Leslie, the leading lady faces the choice of going for her career or settling down with her love, played by Jack Carson who does not even understand where the dilemma lies. For him, it is rather obvious that she should choose him over a job. He tells her ‘why do you want to fool around with a career when you can go out with me’. Her career is inconsequential, it is just ‘fooling around’ not to be taken seriously.

The attitude adopted at the time, as illustrated by these films, was that if a woman felt headstrong and determined to pursue a career, the man was to humor her, stand aside and watch her embarrassing herself then be there to help her up once she had failed to once she had had enough of the tomfoolery. It would then be the man’s noble duty to reinstate her to her rightful place, as a mother and home keeper (Basinger, 1993).

When a woman made the choice of career over family, she became a pariah because she had betrayed her womanhood. For this reason, something drastic would happen to her as a form of punishment to reinforce the notion that the woman had to stay at home. Most movies provided the woman with a choice between family and career. It was not even debated that she could do both. In the end, even if the woman chose her career at firs, she would still find her way back to love and family, the former being but a lesson (Basinger, 1993).

The purpose of film from the 1930s to the 1950s was to reinforce the stereotype of the woman as a home keeper. However, in Basinger’s opinion, such films led to a silent, underground revolution that actually rushed the process of female liberation. While at the movies, the female viewers celebrated in the utter freedom of the actresses on screen, the utter breaking away from rules and conventions and societal norms.

Another assertion that Basinger (1993) makes, and which she says helped in the liberation of the American woman was the whole paradoxical composition of the woman on film. Basinger says that women in early American films had to rely on subterfuge to get their intended message across by setting seeming double standards.

Though the film at in the thirties and forties did not give the answers to the numerous questions that women had, just posing this questions was an impetus that propelled women into taking a harder look at their own lives and the options that they had.

Joe Saltzman (2003) notes that for journalism which was considered a very strongly masculine field, women were almost completely absent before the late nineteenth century. There were very few female journalist of note and those who cut it were forced to write sentimental twerp, not the real stories that would make the front pages.

Joe Saltzman (2003) elucidates that the dilemma for women who opt to go into male oriented jobs goes beyond skepticism from colleagues; the woman ha to contend with striking a balance between what her job calls her to do which most of the time run against the grain of her natural feminine impulses.

A female journalist has to acquire the traits of what makes a successful journalist; she has to be an aggressive go-getter who has a thick skin, with little show of sentimentality and wishy-washiness. This is necessary for objective reporting and in dealing with all calibers of people one might meet while on the job. However, these traits do not fit the mould of what society expects a woman to be: caring, compassionate and sensitive to the problems of those around her.

Even when the women did manage to get into journalism, they still had to take up the low grade assignments, while the meaty ones were the preserve of male reporters. Anything

that made it to the front page rarely had a woman’s name on it. Assignments that had to do with finance, police investigations and politics were for the men while the female reporters were left with the task of writing frivolous articles such as tea parties and school functions (Saltzman, 2003).

The woman who opts to take up a career has to prove her salt. She has to work twice as hard to show that she is on the same per as the men. Her femininity is a natural disadvantage; it puts her on a lower rank from which she has to pull herself to be on equal ground as the man. Nobody gives her leverage on the way up; it is part of proving her worth if she can pick up all by herself. Women who opt to go into male oriented fields, more so those who chose to do so in the decades preceding the 1990s, knew what it meant to earn respect from colleagues (Saltzman, 2003).

The role played by Rosalind Russell as Hildegard ‘Hildy’, in the film His Girl Friday is a prime example of what kind of challenges women in careers were up against. Cary Grant, playing the role of boss and reluctant ex-husband who dos not want her to marry a bland insurance salesman, turns into a farce when the ex-husband goes to desperate lengths to keep the two apart.

Here is the husband who sees his wife almost as property that he owns and firmly refuses to let her go in the name of love. He cannot bear to think of her with another man because she is his. Not only that, but he is willing to acknowledge that he will lose a wife and a good reporter in one blow. His cavalier attitude leaves one wondering whether he is genuinely interested in Hildy’s wellbeing or it is to serve his own end that he fights her second marriage so hard.

Things change slowly and gradually so that it is almost imperceptible to notice that anything is happening. Women now work as much as and in the same careers as men do. While in the thirties it was an oddity to see a lady doctor in the movies, it is more common and acceptable in the present time to see a woman tackle what was once labeled as a man’s job. The statistics are indicative of what can be seen in the cinema.

The 1949 film Adam’s Rib incorporates an aspect of family life that had been almost taboo: divorce. A lawyer couple whose marriage is falling apart decide to take it to the courts. From that point on, the iron fist is completely taken out of the iron glove nad things turn messy. The unique attribute of this picture is not only did it depict a woman in a very male oriented field, law, but it showed her breaking away from the societal norms-marriage and her man- to go it on her won. There is no retribution for the woman because she makes this choice. Neither is her independence a happy interlude before disaster strikes. The heroine does remarry to the man of her choosing and it is a clean break from her first husband.

So there came a generation of women who had earned their right to work as much as men had. They had watched as children, the tribulations that their mothers went through as housewives trying to make ends meet. Maybe they had stood by the sidelines as their mothers’ ambitions were frustrated or thwarted as all the time they fed off the glamour of the women they saw on cinema screens and who fired their own secret ambitions. From these role models, they learnt that a woman can have a go at it just like a man (Hoffnug, 2004).

Today, women are going out to work almost as much as men are. While in 1992 the percentage of women under the age of twenty nine who wanted to be employed in positions of greater responsibility stood at 72 against that of men which stood at 80, now the percentages are at 66 and 67 respectively (Arnst, 2009).

It does not make much difference whether the woman has children or not. While in 1992 only 60 per cent of women with children had career aspirations, in 2008 78 per cent of those without children wanted jobs that put them in a position of more responsibility. Today 69% of young women under the age of twenty nine want jobs with more responsibility which is not a great margin of difference from the 66% of childless women who would also want to hold such positions (Arnst, 2009).

But the extent of change in traditional gender and sex roles does not stop here. Women are not only going out to work, but at times also earning more than their husbands do. By 2008, in families where both couples were working, the woman contributed as much as 44% of the gross income while a decade earlier it had been only 39%. Also, by 2008, 26% of women earned more than their spouses if they were both working (Arnst, 2009).

However this is just the tip of the iceberg; men, the same people who in previous years have greatly frustrated the woman’s bid for empowerment are now actually supporting it! Men are accepting that women can do a job as good (or even better) than they themselves can. In 1977, 64% of men believed that women should stay at home and be good wives while they went out to work. In 2008, only 41% still held the opinion that men should work while women stay at home (Arnst, 2009).

Furthermore, while in 1977 only about 50% of men with spouses thought that a working woman can make as good a wife and mother as a non-working one, in 2008 the percentage of men who felt that working women could make good mothers was 67%. Lastly, a greater percentage of men are taking responsibility for house hold duties, including spending more time with their children. Male spouses who were brought up by working mothers are more adjusted to the idea of their own spouses going off to work and of being active participants in the day to day running of the household (Arnst, 2009).

The role of women as love interest/sex objects or in films is still a major component of the box office, more so the action/science fiction/thriller genres. However, these women have more weight than their counterparts had five or six decades ago. They may be cast as lovers but at the same time they have lives of their own, they work in offices, they run businesses, they are lawyers and teachers and editors.

In The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep plays the role of chief editor for a fashion magazine. She is cast as being a ruthless, hardnosed driven, intimidating woman feared by all at her workplace. Now the woman is at work; but this presents another impasse, the feminine aspects of being a woman at work. The message being sent across is that one cannot be a woman with a high flying career and at the same time have a stable family life, if any.

This it seems is an attitude that has been carried down over the years. Saltzman (2003) remarks that the portrayal of the female journalist, who could have stood in the place of all career women at the time, was not one that was well rounded. They were drawn as overambitious women who would do anything for a story, including trading their beauty and sex for a scoop. The modern day female journalist has not moved far from her predecessors’ shadows. She is still cast as an unfeeling and insensitive person, who crushes and conquers and has almost zero capacity for compassion as well as such other feminine emotions.

It is almost as if the woman is forced to choose between her career and her responsibilities to her family. If she opts to pursue her career, she is looked upon as being overly ambitious or downright selfish. Though American society seems willing to accept the working woman, there is yet to be reconciliation between giving her one hundred per cent psychological support (Hoffnug, 2004).

Conclusion

The twentieth century was the century of female liberation; this is when the traditional gender roles as designated in American society were shaken to its roots. Women were able to vote, they also had a limited chance to do the work that men had been doing for years. Naturally, this was met by a lot of resistance from the men who were in no hurry to see the woman move out of her position as the home keeper, and the man as the breadwinner. That would have upset the status quo.

So women would go to work, at first as secretaries, office assistants, and nurses and in other positions that were considered feminine enough to suit their gender. When women began appearing in male-dominated fields, they were me with a lot of resistance and some level of derision; it was as if they were taking on more than they could handle. Professions such as newspaper reporting had been considered the men’s domain.

Some things do change with time but others remain indubitable no matter how much time passes. Bette Davis remarked in the 1950 film All about Eve ‘that is a career we all have-being a woman!’ This is a statement that rings true for the woman today as it did for the women of the forties; being a woman is not just a matter of sex, its lifetime employment.

Bibliography

Arnst Cathy. ‘Women Want Careers Just as Much as men’ Business Week, 2009. Web.

Basinger Jeanine. A Woman’s View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women, 1930-1960.

Alfred Knopff: New York, 1993.

Dirks Tim. ‘His Girl Friday (1940)’ Review. Web.

Hoffnug Michelle. ‘Wanting it All: Career, Marriage, and Motherhood During College-educated Women’s 20s,’ Sex Roles Journal of Research, 2004. Web.

Saltzman Joe. ‘Sob Sisters’ The Image of the Female Journalist in Popular Culture, Vol.1, 2003.