In the picture portraying the women burning their bras to show their enthusiastic yearning for independence, the presence of ethos is substantially flawed. This is for many reason. For starters, there are no prominent or iconic figures in this picture. Say that instead of having a random blonde woman with her head turned away from the camera, there was a woman such as Rosa Parks. It would be very safe to say that the action that the women are taking part in is a reflection of positive, nonviolent protests for female rights since Rosa Parks is undoubtably known for her nonviolent motion of not giving up her seat on her bus to a white man in order to show that she had the same exact rights as he did. This had a very constructive outcome in the end. Without knowing anything about who the women are in the picture, it is hard to say if what they are doing is a right or wrong action. It's hard to say whether the women are being rebellious and acting out of order in a way to hurt or harm the society. Also, the photographer is someone that we can give credit to either.According to Duke University, we do know that the photographer was a female; however, we do not know whether this woman was for or against the act of burning bras. Neither do we know if she is a photographer that has taken pro-feminist or anti-feminist photographs in the past that could potentially relate to this picture. One last thing to consider is that there is evidence that fires were never actually ignited to burn the contents thrown into the trashcan. This, in essence, makes the audience question if the women were actually advancing in society at the time. The items put into the trash cans were supposed to signify all the shackles that the women had felt were holding them down from being equal to men at the time, right? And they were supposed to be burned to show that they would no longer be of existence. Therefore, if facts confirm that the items were never actually burned, that leaves the audience questioning if women were really making process in their march to women's freedom at the time of the bra burning although we do know that the feminist movement led to equality in the end. Due to the incredible lack of ethos in the picture, it is hard to tell what the photographer truly wants to convey. Since the photographer was a woman, many have assumed that she approves bra burning, and that she is trying to advocate this type of protest as one that was women passionately took part in to aid the feminist movement. She is also trying to convey that the women in the picture are "burning their bras" to illustrate that they are no longer going to be looked at as unequal to the male gender.
Breanne Thompson
Interesting point about whether or not the photographer is supporting the cause. I assumed as a woman she clearly would be in favor but it's entirely possible that she was taking this picture in a negative light. Maybe by having such little information, however, the ethos lies in the objectivity of the image since we can not make many set claims about why it was taken.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be some form of ethos in a picture such as this. Don't you think the women have some credibility to themselves because have been through these tough times and gender inequality? Also, this is a movement of many people. Do you believe there should be one particular face or leader who stands out?
ReplyDeleteNatasha Virjee