Started by comedian Marcia Belsky, the new Tumblr The Headless Women of Hollywood draws attention to the all-too-common practice of featuring fragmented, objectified images of women’s bodies in advertising for movies and TV.
From the Tumblr’s “About” page:
“The head is first and foremost the thinking part of the human body, where our motivations and feelings are located. So, these images we are bombarded with on a daily basis tell us persistently that women’s thoughts, feelings and personal agency either don’t exist or are of no interest.
Further, facial features are the way we recognize other people. It’s the face that makes us individuals. That too is taken away, and we are taught that all women, especially ones that match the ideal, are the same and interchangeable.
We are made numb in pop culture to female bodies remaining background to male-centered action. A right for men to focus on or ignore, but always there if and when he so chooses. And always there explicitly, first and foremost, for his intent.”
Scrolling through image upon image of headless women in movie ads ranging from super-retro to very contemporary, from lauded classics to bro-mantic comedies, speaks volumes about the persistence of sexism in Hollywood. Belsky’s captions contextualize this problem with a special dash of a levity and LOLz:
Check out more Headless Women here.
H/T to the brilliant Kerryn Feehan for letting us know about this awesome project!
