Violence Against Women Disguised as ‘Fashion’
Bulgarian fashion magazine 12 just published an appalling editorial containing nothing but portraits of models with horrific injuries. It's a "beauty" spread — the kind of feature that normally highlights a makeup artist's skills and aims to sell the "new" eyeshadow color of the season —but it isn't very beautiful. There are models with Black Dahlia-style Glasgow Smiles, models who've been strangled, models who've had their earrings and facial piercings ripped out, and models who've been mutilated with acid. It's all special-effects makeup, but it's still sickening. These photos give you an idea the nature of the spread. And it's hardly the first of its kind.
It'sa given that fashion magazines— like other forms of mass media —often aim to shock. Because they like the attention. Because they like the ad dollars. Because they like the rebellious reputation that shocking us squares confers. But it's still worthwhile to examine the means by which they achieve that shock value. The high-fashion world in general loves to think of itself as contrarian, élite, and boldly at odds with the tastes and mores of the wider public. It likes to think that it, in fact, leads those tastes. But much of the imagery the fashion industry uses to communicate its messages at best echoes and at worst reinforces some of the wider culture's most negative ideas about women and girls. As we all know thanks to Joan Didion, "it ispossible for people to be the unconscious instruments of values they would strenuously reject on a conscious level." Fashion, in all its contradictions, is great evidence of that.
The history of fashion is rife with depictions of and references to violence against women. Historically, photographers including Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin had a particular fascination with bloodied, bruised, or dead models, whom they often depicted in sexualized positions (a vein that contemporary fashion photographer Steven Klein continues to probe). The "dead girl" is such a trope of ladymags that it was imitated on America's Next Top Model— five years ago.
As Margi Laird McHue wrote in her 2008 book, Domestic Violence: A Reference Handbook, this kind of imagery is highly problematic.
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Who support this nonsense. It goes beyond just the bruises/beatings/victim of violence - and goes to the complete dehumanization of the subjects. Mannequins, missing body parts, grown women posing with dolls, twin imaging, duality - yuck. It all adds up to 'step out of yourself and be a good little girl'.
The more I dig into an article I'm writing for an esoteric publication - the sicker and sicker and I'm getting.
redqueen - forgive me if I took this too far off base. 
Propaganda as a means of mind and BEHAVIOR control can only occur with a complicit media - and consumers of media whose eyes are wide open - yet closed. The brutality and violence depicted are the tip of the iceberg.
it is an extremely important tangent, and one that imo needs to be explored much more fully.
Thanks for your insightful post, and I hope you'll share at least the high points of your paper somewhere on DU. 
I believe she was the one who walked with him, he was human, they had male/female divine energy. Occult sometimes means the "hidden". The occult side of the narrative that I feel was deliberately hidden. I'm very quiet about the spiritual circles I run in at DU - and in general as you will find most who adhere to the Unitarian from a Judeo Christian basis do not believe in evangelical behavior of those who are Christians. Aside from the denial of the trinity - those who document and explore the belief system from a scholarly perspective can never agree on anything! 
except for secular things like the Leauge ofWomen Voters, te ACLU, and potluck suppers!
Also - note my dad's military experience was in the 60's and 70's. I corrected the last post.
This isn't holy blood holy grail stuff. Starbird thought that was a hoax and set out to disprove it. instead - she disproved it to some degree but found something much more beautiful. Her first book was The Woman With The Alabaster Jar. Fascinating material. She doesn't re- write the gospels - but she does use human common sense and history to understand the time and place where the narrative took place.
And when we understand that time and place. Long before the Sun Gods' narratives were woven over the drama of one man with a lot of chutzpah, his wealthy wife/lover/comrade and how they triggered a revolution from within people (alchemy) - there was just love. I almost wonder and hope in my life I can unravel for myself if those two were driven by Canticles/Song of Solomon . . . Which "sings" of woman (en) being the wonderful creatures we are - the object of the spirit's love.
I'll get into te other stuff in another post. And I apologize to anyone who I might ave offended by preaching. It wasn't my intent. Just trying to explain that the pop culture books/movies triggered by The Davinci Code are just that. There are people that have held these beliefs in Arius' honor for more than 1700 years.
It affects me. I see it everywhere.
I worry for President Obama because I truly don't believe he was supposed to be where he is.
I worry for my father's friend - good friend - Jeff Macdonald. My father went to his grave believing he was sent a sharp message. Either Jeffrey Macdonald was put into sleeper mode and "slept" through the murder of his wife and children - or he was sleeping. The same kind of sleep Deltas do to get through their orders. Either way - they were all told to keep quiet or else.
I spoke with a woman who wrote a book about this that he had spoken to in the 90s. He believed her. He was also clear she could havehad memories implanted in her to make her think her childhood was that horrific - for the sole purpose of disinformation.
I'm not a loose change 9/11 Truther. But I understand why people feel the NEED to believe that. Klein's Shock Doctrine is just on the surface. I think these people have been "shocked". I think it was an opening but because they went the way they did - any questioning - example - why those Green Berets were killed so early in the Iraq so-called War leaves the questioner painted as a nut.
I will never - at my father's request allow my children to watch Disney movies. No way - no how.
And how it all ties back to the original post? Those dang Disney Princesses. 
It starts so young. What happened to Bambi's mother again when she didn't follow the rules? What happens to women who can harness the elements(scientists today - witches back then), and try to obtain and hold onto a kingdom (personal power and leadership)? Well she doesn't get to be the fairest one of all. Or she dies - or both.
It's not everywhere - but there is enough out there to make one pause and think. Why do "they" find women posed as mannequins so sexy? Why is a woman dressed up like a kitty cat so appealing? Why is a bruised and beaten woman in lingerie such a commercial draw? It's not even recent. The Guess brand had Anna Nicole Smith posed in a field in a hunters scope/lens - in the 1990's
Add it all up - and these women hating images are prevalent. And I think it's much darker than we ever think to delve into here. There is but one woman who I think could effectively pull it all together. Naomi Wolf needs to re- open the subject matter of The Beauty myth and marry it to Letter To A Young Patriot. Maybe then we will all wake up.
Sorry - heavy dark stuff. I promise I'm not crazy - just curious and a skeptic about any and all authority right now. Read up on MK Ultra. What was found through those experiments post WW II (and from Project Paper clip) was used in the 1960's on a few good men. . . Who were told nothing was off limits when serving you country? Leaders? Masters?
By it. 
we now return you to your regularly scheduled thread
