Phrenology and the Anti-Pornography Campaigns

First, I wanted to comment on a section of the Wells reading for this section that talked about the sciences of phrenology and physiognomy used in artworks.  Both these sciences were used by artists to classify bodies based on their visual appearances to form deeper meanings. I wanted to relate it to another art history class I am taking, 19th century American Art, because one artist, William Sydney Mount, uses phrenology in some of his works, specifically in "The Painter's Triumph". The artist has certain characteristics like arched eyebrows, a protruding forehead, and widely spaced eyes to have a quality about him the audience would be able to relate to. I just thought it was interesting how the two subjects intertwine and reading this section reminded me of learning about it in my other class, and I'm sure the other students who are in both of these classes thought the same thing. 

Another interesting part of the Wells chapter was reading about the anti-pornography campaigns. It is important to understand how men view woman in everyday life based on how they are perceived in images, and also how women see themselves. I agreed with the reading that paparazzi photos have solved photographs reputation for hiding the real in celebrity photos. It's true that people pick up the tabloids and love seeing candid pictures of celebrities with their makeup off or in bad outfits because it brings them back to reality and we see them as real people again. Advertisements , print and commercial, hide any imperfections and I think that a big part of why some celebrities have such a good fan base is because their candid or paparazzi photos are what people relate too. People feel better about their own bodies when they see how their favorite stars actually look like in real life. I would have to disagree with the reading when it says paparazzi photos also encourage them to view their bodies critically and finding every little flaw because I would argue that is how people react when they see the advertisements and the fake, or Photoshopped images. The real, candid pictures are more beneficial to society than magazine covers are.