Readings: Adrian, Framing the Bride

1. What is the difference between wedding and bridal photographs? To what uses are they put?

2. How does Adrian use bridal photography in Taiwan to talk about the impact of globalization? How does her argument differ from others we have read?

3. What role do bridal photographs play as a rite of passage for the bride? How does Adrian's account of women's status pre- and post-marriage relate to other accounts we have seen?

4. When Taiwanese brides get dressed and made up to resemble the white models shown in advertising and other mass media, this may look like a form of imitation or mimicry of the West. Adrian argues that it is a bit different. How? Are you convinced by her argument?

5. Adrian argues that bridal photographs are not authentic, but they are authentically meaningful. What does she mean? Do you agree?

 

Question for Response Paper #10 (optional): Objectification and Agency

Bonnie Adrian argues that the brides who are transformed for a series of highly stylized photographs recognize that the process is objectifying. But she suggests that the brides' recognition of this objectification affords them a kind of critical distance that women in the West often cannot obtain. In emphasizing brides' agency and awareness of the distinction between reality and fantasy, however, perhaps Adrian neglects the ways in which even the most lucid and self-aware appropriation of Western mass mediated images can reinforce their allure and the power structures through which they circulate. In this essay, evaluate Adrian's arguments about agency and objectification. What are the strengths, weaknesses, and significance of her ethnography?

For tips about crafting response papers, click here.

 

For more information, contact:  aleshkow@holycross.edu