Process

Through this process we have worked well together and delegated jobs for each of us to complete. We all easily decided upon showing gender representation within album covers and using détournement by changing the genders of those within the album cover. Lucy then went and found album covers and then we all decided on the final covers we would choose to recreate. We then decided that Lucy and Josh would take the photographs and Dana would begin to take notes. Once Josh and Lucy took and edited the photo's, Dana expanded on these notes and wrote the blog posts. Lucy then constructed and wrote a script for the presentation. we worked together well as a group and had meetings to discuss more ideas, and problems easily in and out of class time. 

Arctic Monkeys and Grace Jones

Figure 1: Arctic Monkeys album cover (Unknown, 2006)

Arctic Monkeys:

The Arctic Monkeys are a band from Sheffield in Britain. They are popular for their indie-rock music. The band is made up entirely of men, and so the group has quite a blokey and masculine reputation.

In the album cover, the subject looks quite rough and dirty, like he’s smoking on the corner of the street, late at night. His forehead is shiny like he has been sweating, and his clothing is really casual, making this look like a casual photo that was taken on a night out, and not one that has been staged for an album cover. The black and white filter enhances the feel that the photo was taken at night, the lighting adds to this as well by looking as if a lamp or street light is the only thing lighting the shot. The subject is smoking and the action does look masculine, although it doesn’t really enhance his appearance or make him look more attractive.

Figure 2: Female on Arctic Monkeys album cover (Lucy Nesdale, 2016)

Our Version of Arctic Monkeys:
She looks quite rough and dirty, like in the original cover, which is mainly due to her messy hair, lack of make-up and the shadowing of the lighting on the black and white image. She is smoking, which is not a typically attractive action for women these days. Smoking in general is less accepted in society now than it has been in the past, and it would still probably be more expected to see a man smoking than a woman. She also looks like she is sitting on the corner of a street, late at night. This image is often associated with prostitution or a party girl personality, which is quite a degrading image for a woman. Changing the gender of this album cover changes how the audience perceive the meanings in the cover. By giving a woman a typically masculine pose, the whole meaning behind the image shifts.

Figure 3: Grace Jones, Nightclub album cover (Andy Beta, 2014)

Grace Jones:

Grace Jones is a Jamaican/American actress, supermodel, singer and performer. She is quite well known for being theatrical in her performance, but is also seen as a strong, beautiful woman. She doesn’t resort to a stereotypical female appearance, instead enhancing her differences and uniqueness in her appearance and appearing androgynous because of this. She has transgressed gender boundaries by mixing feminine and masculine qualities to create an ‘other’ or ‘uncanny’ category.

Although Grace Jones is adopting the same gesture in this cover as in the Arctic Monkeys cover and in our version, she appears to be a strong, powerful woman. Her whole profile is shown with strong, harsh lines. Her cheekbones, shoulders, neck and hairline are all highly defined which makes her appear powerful. She is looking directly at the camera which asserts her influence onto the audience, and making her seem powerful again. Jones is smoking, and as discussed above, this can be seen as quite a degrading thing, however, because of the way she is standing and looking directly into the camera, the audience gets the feeling that she knows what she is doing and doesn’t care what others think. We don’t want to question her because of the power she is asserting.

Signs in these images:

The cigarette in the Arctic Monkeys cover and in our version is used as a signifier for nightlife or the party life, however Jones uses it as a sign of power, and as a means to transgressing gender boundaries.

Black and white are used as signs in these images. White is a signifier for innocence and purity and in the Arctic Monkeys cover and our version of the cover, the white shirt looks dirty and tainted because of the black and white filter, suggesting that the subjects are perhaps the opposite of innocent. In the Grace Jones cover, she is wearing a black suit. Black is usually associated with darkness and power. Men in power often wear black suits. Jones looks edgy and powerful because of this.

References:
Beta, Andy. (2014). Grace Jones, Nightclub album cover. Retrieved from http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19222-grace-jones-nightclubbing-deluxe-edition/

Nesdale, Lucy. (2016). Female on Arctic Monkeys album cover.

Unknown Author. (2006). Arctic Monkeys album cover. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whatever_People_Say_I_Am,_That%27s_What_I%27m_Not

Lana Del Rey and Troye Sivan

Figure 1: Lana Del Rey, Born to Die album cover (Unknown, 2012)

Lana Del Rey:

Lana Del Rey is a well known model and pop singer and performer. She is very feminine in the way she presents herself and, at times, this can be in quite a sexual way. She is a beautiful, idealised woman.

On this album cover, Lana Del Rey is very feminine in appearance. Her hair and make-up have been styled to make her look nice - the red lipstick is quite seductive and feminine - her top is sexualised as you can see her red bra through the fabric. However, her stance is gender neutral. She is looking directly down and into the camera, making her appear powerful, particularly because the shot is looking up at her so it looks like she is looking down on us. The picture appears to have been taken in someone’s backyard, making the image appear slightly casual, however this contrasts with the obvious dressed up look of Del Rey.

Figure 2: Male on Lana Del Rey's album cover (Josh Barrowclough, 2016)

Our Version of Lana Del Rey:
The stance that he is taking in this shot doesn’t affect how we perceive his gender. As discussed above, this is a gender neutral pose and so either gender could adopt it and still be identified as male or female. The slight change in costuming may change how his gender is perceived. If he was wearing a see through top with a bra underneath, he would be seen as a man dressed as a woman, however, because he is wearing a white t-shirt, we identify him as a man. Because of the neutrality of setting and pose that Lana Del Rey used in the original, we still see her as a woman and we still see our version with a male subject. There is no transgression of gender roles.

Figure 3: Troye Sivan, Blue Neighbourhood album cover (Sam Murphy, 2015)

Troye Sivan:

Troye Sivan is an Australian singer, actor and YouTube star. He is quite feminine in appearance, while still maintaining his male identity. This could be because of the way he styles his hair and the way he often poses in photos.

In this album cover, Troye Sivan takes on quite a feminine appearance. His curly, styled hair and the animation of the shot help add to this. The pink on his cheeks has been emphasised and pulled together with the background colouring and the text. The lighting is quite soft in the shot, giving him a young, boyish appearance. Despite this, the audience still recognises him as male. He is gazing away from the camera, which makes him appear vulnerable and powerless. This pose would typically be more expected for a female, whereas the angle and gaze of Lana Del Rey would perhaps be more typically used on men. Sivan’s white shirt emphasises his innocence, while blue and pink (which are dominant colours in the shot), are often associated with babies when they are born - girls and boys - which neutralises the gender in this shot. Sivan is transgressing gender.

Signs in these images:

The colours blue, pink and white are significant in both of these shots. Blue is a signifier for boys while pink is a signifier for girls. The use of both of these colours together in these shots mixes the two genders together, creating gender fluidity and transgression from males and females. The use of white costuming in these shots is a signifier as innocence and may be representing the youth of these singers, but it could also be seen as a gender neutral colour - it is not associated with males nor females but both at the same time. It emphasises the idea of being gender neutral.

Gaze is a strong signifier for power in these shots. In Lana Del Rey’s cover and our version of her cover, the subjects are gazing down at the camera which gives them a powerful feel. However, Troye Sivan is gazing away from the camera, making him appear vulnerable and more feminine in his cover.

References:
Barrowclough, Josh. (2016). Male on Lana Del Rey's album cover.

Murphy, Sam. (2015). Troye Sivan, Blue Neighbourhood album cover. Retrieved from http://theinterns.net/2015/12/07/album-of-the-week-troye-sivan-blue-neighbourhood/.

Unknown Author. (2012). Lana Del Rey, Born to Die album cover. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_Die

Adele and Adam Lambert

Figure 1: Adele 21 album cover (Unknown, n.d.)

Adele:

Adele is a popular female singer, and is well known for her emotional ballads. She has quite a feminine personality and dresses as such. She does not have the ‘typical female body type’, however is quite iconic as a strong, powerful woman.

On this album cover, Adele is touching her hair and face, making her appear feminine but not in a sexualised way. Her eyes are closed and so there is no connection between the audience and artist, meaning Adele is not asserting influence or power over the audience. The black and white filter of the image gives a simple, old-fashioned feel to the image, while the soft lighting is traditionally used on females in movies (particularly in the mid-20th century) to make them look beautiful and appealing, particularly to males. An example is shown below.

Figure 2: Female shown with soft lighting (Unknown, 2015)

Figure 3: Male on Adele's album cover (Josh Barrowclough, 2016)

Our version of Adele:

The subject is touching his face in a highly femininsed pose. His eyes are closed, making him appear vulnerable and without power. The black and white filter, like on Adele's album, makes the image look old-fashioned or casual. All of these features together makes the audience think they are looking in at someone sleeping. Despite his facial hair and masculine appearance, the pose the subject has adopted makes him appear highly feminine. This is a display of gender transgression, much like that of Adam Lambert's album cover, For Your Entertainment.

Figure 3: Adam Lambert, For Your Entertainment album cover (Unknown, 2009)

Adam Lambert:

Adam Lambert is well known for his radical and theatrical performance as a rock singer. He manipulates his appearance (his clothing and make-up), to enhance his look which is different and very flamboyant compared to what could be considered ‘normal’. His costuming is usually quite masculine, however his make-up makes him appear slightly feminine at first glance.

The pose that Lambert is adopting in this image is very similar to the feminine self-touching of the Adele cover, however the gesture appears more deliberate than that of Adele’s casual stance. The soft lighting (as discussed above) and the fact that he is wearing make-up makes Lambert appear quite feminine, although we do identify him as a male. The colouring of this shot gives a more fantastical feel to the image compared to the relaxed, old-fashioned look of Adele’s cover. Lambert is performing gender transgression in this shot, where he is neither completely male, nor completely female. His glove is another example of this transgression - delicately touching oneself with a glove is quite a feminine gesture, however the glove he is wearing is closely associated with male rock musicians. He also is asserting power over the audience by looking directly at the camera, therefore appearing strong and powerful.

Signs in these images:

Colour is used as a signifier in these images to suggest at the artist’s performance style and personalities. Lambert’s cover uses bright colours to signify a kind of fantasy world, which is representative of his theatrical performance style, whereas the lack of colour on Adele’s album cover signifies a more casual and laid back performance style.

The gesture of self touching is used as a signifier in these covers. Where in Adele’s cover, the gesture is used to make her appear feminine, our version of Adele’s cover and Adam Lambert’s cover uses the gesture as a means of transgressing from gender boundaries, and appearing neither completely female, nor completely male.

Soft lighting is used in these images to recreate the feminised lighting that has been used in the past on female movie characters. Judith Butler’s belief that gender and representations of gender are created by the performance and repeated production of gestures and effects is coming into play here, as these images are drawing on a lighting that has been used in the past and is being reused. While Adele’s album uses this in the traditional sense, our cover and Lambert’s cover use this lighting as a means of transgressing from stereotypical genders (Judith Butler, 2011).

References:

Barrowclough, Josh. (2016). Male on Adele's album cover.

Butler, Judith. (2011). Gender Trouble. New York, NY: Routledge.

Unknown Author. (n.d.). Adele 21 album cover. Retrieved from http://adele.com/music/.

Unknown Author. (2015). Female shown with soft lighting. Retrieved from http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/1930s-hairstyles-wavy-hair/

Unknown Author. (2009). Adam Lambert, For Your Entertainment. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Your_Entertainment_(album).

An Introduction to Our Project

For this project, we decided to look at the representation of gender on CD album covers. We wanted to show through this project that it is not necessarily the gender of the subject which makes a person look particularly masculine or feminine, but the way in which they are portrayed within an image through the use of things such as costume, make-up, lighting, colours, gesture etc. The inspiration for this idea came through research of Judith Butler and her beliefs that genders are performative and have been created through production and repetition of gestures, clothing, lighting etc. and that this is what causes us to associate certain movements or colours with a gender. She believes that genders are not natural and have been formed by human creation (Judith Butler, 2011).

We decided to express this idea by taking a stereotypically female album cover, a male cover and an uncanny cover (one that does not seem inherently male or female) and shifting the genders to see what effect this created. Did it make a man seem feminine, a woman masculine, or did each retain their known gender?

We have structured this project so that we look at the subject of each cover (as obviously they are signifiers of certain traits already as famous musicians), before looking at how they are portrayed within the image. We then compare the original cover to our version of the cover with the gender switched, before showing another album cover which uses similar composition techniques to create a different portrayal of gender again. This allows us to show how gender is performative and how certain traits are associated with a particular gender, but at the same time how these traits can be twisted to create the ‘uncanny’, someone that has both female and male traits and so does not associate with any gender in particular.

We have drawn on visual and semiotic strategies to enhance our representations and give them intended, underlying meanings. We focused particularly on using specific gesture, colour, props, gaze and subject to utilise these strategies, and have used detournement as a way to emphasise the representations of gender, and make it easier for the audience to understand.

References:
Butler, Judith. (2011). Gender Trouble. New York, NY: Routledge.