Amalia Ulman: Instagram as Performance

Amalia Ulman fooled the world with Instagram posts of her enviable life — and collected a huge fan base of followers. Ulman was, in fact, an artist using carefully stylized Instagram images as a commentary on selfie culture and the construction of femininity. For Ulman, her Instagram photos were “performance” art.

See this article about Ulman: “Is this the first Instagram masterpiece?” and also “Amalia Ulman’s Instagram performance exposed the flaws in selfie culture“.

Ulman photos became part of an exhibition at the Tate Modern in London. See here, “Tate Modern Taps Amalia Ulman for New Show.” 

Beauty Representation: Freckles in China

Fashion retailer Zara triggered controversy in China about beauty by showing a model with freckles. See this article, “Zara campaign sparks heated debate over freckles and beauty in China.” See also “Zara advert gets China asking, are freckles beautiful?”

Representation: Blackface and Racism

Blackface has a long history, in America and Europe, but it has been embroiled in controversy recently after celebrities and brands — including Katy Perry and Gucci — have been accused of racism. Katy Perry released a shoe range accused of blackface stereotyping, and Gucci marketed a balaclava accused of racism for the same reasons.

On Katy Perry, see this story, “Katy Perry saddened by blackface claims about her shoe range“. On Gucci, see “Gucci apologizes for controversy blackface sweater”. The film Mary Poppins was also accused of racial stereotyping. See this story in the New York Times: “Mary Poppins, a nanny’s shameful flirting with blackface.”

In politics, the governor of Virginia has been embroiled in a blackface controversy based on photos in his college yearbook. See this story: “Virginia governor apologizes for racist and offensive yearbook costume but refuses to resign.” In the Netherlands, the Christmas character “Black Pete” is based on blackface. See this article, “Who is the ‘racist” Christmas character sparking clashes in the Netherlands?”

On the history of blackface, see this article, “Why Blackface?” Finally, see, “Blackface isn’t just about racism in America’s past, it’s about racism in America’s present”.

“Fitspiration”: Strong is the New Skinny

Some observers note that, for women on social media, strong has become the new skinny for ideal body image. See this article, “Strong is the new skinny isn’t as empowering as it sounds“, and also “The ideal female body type is getting even harder to attain“.

 

 

Men on Instagram Embrace Clean-Eating

Discussions of social media and body image often focus on women and beauty standards, but men are taking cues from Instagram. One trend is “clean eating”. While clean eating is not exclusively male, many men are using Instagram to embrace the trend. See this article, “How men are embracing clean-eating posts on Instagram”.  For a critique of the clean-eating movement, see here: “Why we fell for clean eating”.

 

Self-Representation: Is Instagram Making People Miserable?

Mental health experts argue that Instagram is promoting images of”perfect” lifestyles that are making people feel inadequate. See this article, “Instagram is supposed to be so friendly, why is it making people so miserable?”  See also“The Age of Envy: how to be happy when everyone else looks perfect”.  

 

Representation: Vogue Cover

A Vogue magazine cover was accused of racist stereotyping for representing basketball star LeBron James as an “ape” holding model Gisele Bundchen, evoking a King Kong beast from old movies and anti-German propaganda posters.  See this article, “Race row over King Kong Vogue cover” and “Is Vogue’s ‘LeBron Kong’ Cover Offensive?“