Makeup Exploration
Leanne Faulkner
Make-up for media and performance
Unit 5 – Makeup Exploration
Literature Review
Within my dissertation I will be focusing on the theme of body identity. From studying relevant theorists and academics within this area will produce a better understanding of the ideologies behind how identity is displayed through the body. I plan to explore whether this alters in relation to the development of technology and socialization and the impacts that are associated.
The book Body Modification by Featherstone (2000), explores the growing range of body modification practices, such as tattooing, piercing, scarification, etc. This book is relevant to my dissertation, as it gives a general overview on the ideologies behind identity, and includes information from history, research, media, and other written work from various theorists that address these topics.
Featherstone investigates how the traditional methods of displaying identification have progressed into the use of cosmetic surgery and medical research through the advances in technology. The purpose of body alteration has changed and is mainly used to enhance the appearance of the body. This modern act of body modification is an expression of the growing individualism of a contemporary society (Turner,1999,Featherstone,2000,p49). This provides evidence that due to advancement in time, body identification has been affected.
The chapter by Sweetman (1999,Featherstone,2000,p51-72), reports that the typical image of a tattooed person was young males of working class, or criminals, but has quickly become outdated. Now more men and women of various age groups and social-economic backgrounds decide to adjust their bodies for personal reasons to show individuality and identity. This allows me to create a comparison between the traditional and present day perceptions of altering the body.
More people are now turning to cosmetic surgery to enhance their appearance, as a result of the media and standards set by the beauty industry in today’s society. This information insinuates that body modification is not only to correct deformities and improve health, but is also being used to match up to the ‘ideal’ image that is portrayed within the media. It relates to the perception ‘if you look good, you feel good’ consumer culture. This questions whether body modification is not only to mark an individual’s identity but also to transform it, to make them feel more comfortable within the current society.
‘While our self is more than our face, it is our face that greets the world. To change our face is to change our identity and the way that we communicate in society’
(Clarke,1999,Featherstone,2000,p188)
This quote leads to the perception that due to technology development, the human body can now be enhanced, manipulated and altered with use of surgery, in order to conform to the desired image within society (Clarke,1999,Featherstone,2000,p185). This relates to the focus of my dissertation that as humans adapt to the changes within the world, so does the affects on body identification.
An Introduction to Cybercultures by Bell (2001) and Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us by Brooks (2003), both explain how cyberculture and technology has integrated permanently into our lives, affecting identities and altering the human body. The direct neural interface between man and machine is starting to happen, and surgery is becoming more acceptable for all sorts of body modifications (Brooks,2003,Prologuepgx). This shows the desire to incorporate inorganic elements to the human body caused by the advances in technology, and it is now going further than just to enhance a persons appearance. This opens up further investigation for my dissertation and allows me to explore the impacts it may hold on body identity.
Technology now allows the replacement of problematic organic elements, without acquiring an organ transplant that often relies on the death of another person. (Brooks,2003,p231). Medical prostheses such as heart pacemakers, artificial limbs and even contact lenses are felt by some to be the first steps towards posthumanity. More often the combining of bodies and technologies has come to be theorised as cyborgization (Bell,2001,p140-144). Therefore this can improve health, help overcome disease and often extend life expectancy, and may also enhance our natural capabilities. This introduces the idea that cyborgs are a form of body modification and therefore is in relation to identification.
“…..this post-human forecast could see an end to hunger, pain and illness and the opening-up of new ways and forms of life”
(Hayles,1999,Bell,2001,p145)
Hayles suggests that technology will allow the human performance to exceed that of the typical, ordinary person, and therefore ‘opens up new ways and forms of life’. This could result in making them more superior and could be the creation of ‘super-humans’. However, although the possibility of this may improve quality of life, it could also create a divide within society.
This divide was represented through the media, as it became aware of what was happening in the research laboratories. Movies about electronic brains, and the intelligence of machines rivaling that of humans began to emerge. The questions of whether this was possible in principal, and whether it was likely technologically, gained credence. While Hollywood predicted the overwhelming of mankind by machines, a serious debate started in academia (Brooks,2003,p166). As technology and performances were interlinked, the public became more aware of the technological advances and a perception of a possible future. This allows me to discuss the issues that may relate to the new body transformation practices and how the media have brought them to our attention.
Brooks (2003,p230) argues that the acceptance of incorporating technology into the body, even for medical reasons, for some people would be repelled, whereas others are curious and even eager to try these modifications. This opens the debate that some people may reject these technological alterations, while others will continue to enhance the body to acquire the image of perfection that is dictated by the media and society.
The theory of robots can be examined within the books by Jacobs (1979), Geduld (1978), and Wilson (2003). They predict the possible future of body modification in relation to the progress of technology, and also how it could impact identification. The theorist Freud (1919) explores the idea of the uncanny and how it creates the fears of the unordinary and unknown, which relate to the views of introducing inorganic mechanisms.
Further research for my dissertation could include how race, class, and gender are associated within the theoretical ideas of body identity. The book by Counsell and Wolf (2001), provides an insight of how these issues are portrayed through the media, andCase studies of performances with regard to body identity, listed within the filmography, can also provide further information.
Word Count: 1081
Reference
Bell, D. (2001) An introduction to cybercultures. London: Routledge.
Brooks, R.A. (2003) Flesh and machines : how robots will change us. New York: Vintage
Clarke, J. (1999). The Sacrificial Body of Orlan. In: Featherstone, M. (ed.) Body modification. London: SAGE
Hayles, N. K. (1999). How we became posthuman: vitual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics, In: Bell, D. (e.d) An introduction to cybercultures. London: Routledge.
Nottingham Trent University: Theory, Culture & Society Centre and Featherstone, M. (ed.) (2000) Body modification. London: SAGE
Sweetman, P. (1999). Anchoring the (Postmodern) Self? Body Modification, Fashion and Identity. In. Featherstone, M. (ed.) Body modification. London: SAGE
Turner, B.S. (1999). The Possibility of Primitiveness: Towards a Sociology of Body Marks in Cool Societies. In: Featherstone, M. (ed.) Body modification. London: SAGE
Bibliography
Bell, D. (2001) An introduction to cybercultures. London: Routledge.
Bell, D. (2006) Cyberculture theorists - Manuel Castells and Donna Haraway. London: Routledge
Brooks, R.A. (2003) Flesh and machines : how robots will change us. New York: Vintage
Clarke, J. (1999). The Sacrificial Body of Orlan. In: Featherstone, M. (ed.) Body modification. London: SAGE
Counsell, C. and Wolf, L. (2001) Performance analysis : an introductory coursebook. London: Routledge
Freud, S. (1919) The “Uncanny”. The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XVII (1917-1919): An Infantile Neurosis and Other Works. [pdf] Available at: <http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/bressani/arch653/winter2010/Freud_TheUncanny.pdf> [Accessed 25 January 2015].
Geduld, H.M. and Gottesman, R. (1978) Robots, robots, robots. N.y. Graphic Society
Hayles, N. K. (1999). How we became posthuman: vitual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics, In: Bell, D. (e.d) An introduction to cybercultures. London: Routledge.
Jacobs, N., O'Quinn, K. and Hefley, R.M. (1979) Robots. Starlog
Nottingham Trent University: Theory, Culture & Society Centre and Featherstone, M. (ed.) (2000) Body modification. London: SAGE
Sweetman, P. (1999). Anchoring the (Postmodern) Self? Body Modification, Fashion and Identity. In. Featherstone, M. (ed.) Body modification. London: SAGE
Turner, B.S. (1999). The Possibility of Primitiveness: Towards a Sociology of Body Marks in Cool Societies. In: Featherstone, M. (ed.) Body modification. London: SAGE
Wilson, E.G. (2006) The melancholy android:on the psychology of sacred machines. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press
Filmography
Cameron, J. (1991). Terminator 2. [film] United Kingdom.
Fleming, V.(1939).The Wizard of Oz. [DVD] United States.
Forbes, B. (dir.), Ross, K. and Prentiss, P. (1974). The Stepford Wives. [DVD/Blu-Ray]. Palomar pictures.
Gunn, J. (dir.) (2014). Guardians of the Galaxy. [DVD/Blu-Ray]. Marvel.
Oz, F. (dir.) (2004). Stepford Wives. [DVD/Blu-Ray]. Dreamworks/ Paramount.
Prison Break.(2005).Fox.8 August.[Television]
Padilha, J. (2004). RoboCop. [DVD] United States. MGM Home Entertainment
Spielberg, S. (2001). A.I. Artificial Intelligence. [DVD] United States.