Tiffany's Project Proposal

Tiffany Gamboa

Professor Doris Cacoilo

Media 384

1 April 2016

 Project Proposal

My name is Tiffany Gamboa and I have decided to create a magazine using, images, comics, excerpts from the readings we have done in class, to break down what is patriarchy and how patriarchy has shaped our society to believe in specific gender norms. I will create some of the content. My mother and grandmother who believe that certain actions should only be completed by a specific “gender” inspired this project. For example, swearing and shaving your head if you're a female should only be a “male” thing. I want to explain how these ideas come from patriarchy and how this type of thinking can be dangerous, especially when you are raising children.  I will be using a lot of Bell Hook’s writings (Understanding Patriarchy), because I was able to understand patriarchy the most by the way she pinpointed patriarchy and the negative effects of it.

I am making this for the class, women, such as my mother and grandmother, who became single mothers and have raised their children thinking that they need a male to raise children and continue to impose gender stereotypes on their offspring and myself. I have decided that I want the magazine to be printed, one will be English and the other will be in Spanish so that my grandmother can read it. However, I will also post it online, either in PDF form or a format that allows the user to go back and forth between pages. This online version will be used when I am presenting the final project. I think that I am flexible when it comes to using different mediums. I have an associate’s degree in Fine Arts that I cannot let go to waste. Combining artistic elements with the written word, will definitely make it pop out, since it is combining visual elements with text.

A theme that will be apparent throughout the magazine is sexism through the use of advertisements. An example is the advertisements below. These ads objectify women and I want demonstrate this in my magazine. I want to show how patriarchy has lead society to companies to exploit women and their bodies in order to sell their product. 

SKYY Vodka ad referring to a man's desire to control an attractive girl with the help of their product.

Sex or cologne? A sexist advertisement released by Tom Ford to sell fragrances. 

Breast augmentation ad exploiting women, claiming that small breasts are not enough.

Another theme that I also want my magazine to illustrate is body image and how advertisements feel the need to “dictate” what type of bodies are correct and what bodies are “wrong and undesirable” for women. I will be also be using statistics and information from Jean Kilbourne’s The More You Subtract. The More You Add. This reading did a great job in explaining the differences in male and female ads and discusses the harm it does to women in making them feel self conscious about their bodies.