Psychoanalysis


A psychoanalytic approach to examining Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue covers has the most potential of being the most helpful way of understanding what the message of the cover is trying to get across to the viewer. As I mentioned before, Rose says psychoanalysis, "consists of a range of theories that deal most centrally with human subjectivity, sexuality, and the unconscious (Rose 149)." Within a psychoanalytic analysis there are several types of theories that come into the picture such as scopophilia, male gaze, phallocentrism, and subjectivity. The male gaze is of utmost importance because, "The 'ideology of the male gaze' therefore refers to the situation in which sportswomen are framed as objects of the male reader's gaze; in other words, they are construed subjectively, according to stereotyped cognitions (mental schemata) which harmonise with the expectations of the male reader (Brandt and Carstens 235)." After looking at the images that grace the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues, the reader will then be able to identify and understand why the supermodels take on certain poses and attitudes resulting in certain reactions and attitudes taken by the audience looking at the magazine.

Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue offers beautiful, gorgeous, attractive, and sexy women to the viewer by representing the women on the cover of the magazine in swimwear, usually in a seductive bikini. "If women are depicted, they are portrayed in feminine stereotypical roles (Wigmore, 1996), emphasizing beautifully proportionate and conditioned bodies, posing in an erotic or sexually available way (Brandt and Carstens 233)." Therefore the cover of the magazine is eye catching for anyone that comes across this magazine, sometimes so eye catching that people can't keep their hands off the magazine, especially men. Everyone in our society gains pleasure in looking, also known as scopophilia. After looking at the cover I think that is might be nearly impossible for someone to not gain pleasure from looking at one of these beautiful women on the cover of the magazine. These supermodels and athletes have what our culture believes to be the "perfect" body, they are tan, have long legs, and are curvy in all the right places. This leaves the viewer with a sense of desire, whether it is man or woman that is looking at the magazine cover. Women are left desiring the woman for many reasons. Women desire the supermodels on the cover of the magazine because they want to be able to reach and attain this so called "perfect" body that all of these women have. "References to the male gaze derive undoubtedly from a heteronormative perspective, where it is assumed that all women want to appear desirable to men (Jaworski, 2003)(Pienaar and Bekker 439)." The man, who is interpellated by the seductively attractive women on the cover, desires this type of woman. However, the man wants to have and desire the woman who has the "perfect" body and knows how to be seductive and beautiful. That way when he has this unattainable woman he knows that he has what our culture thinks is the most attractive woman by his side. Men can't keep their eyes off the women on the magazine, which therefore brings in male gaze. "The use of the term male gaze here is consonant with Laura Mulvey's (1975) original use of her term to describe the gendered roles of male spectator and female sexual object... it implies that men traditionally adopt the role of spectator, gazing at and appraising women as erotic objects (Pienaar and Bekker 439)."

In the image to the left of the 2013 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue the model is presented to in a very sexual way. The models purpose is to be advertising the bikini and jacket however the way the model is posing and the outfit she is wearing may not get that point across. She is wearing a bikini bottom with a jacket that covers up just enough of her breasts to leave the viewer wanting to see more. This pose leaves the message up to the viewer as she has her breasts slightly covered, possibly the, "viewers may engage in fantasy scenarios (i.e. imaginative responses) with the sexually attractive reporter, celebrity, or coverperson (Reichert 7)." The pose, as well as the lack of clothing allows for the viewer to be captured, leaving them interpellated toward this magazine. Depending on whether the viewer is male or female, will leave the viewer interpellated in a different way. For a man, not only does the little bikini bottom and jacket just covering up her breast capture their attention, but so does the eye contact given by the model. This allows for the men looking at this magazine to think that they can not only desire her in a sexual way, but that they are on the same level leaving the male to think they can win her over and that she can be theirs. As the male looks at the magazine he gains pleasure of looking and possibly might objectify the women due to her sexual pose on the magazine. For a woman, the eye contact leaves them thinking that if they wear this little bikini and jacket. It makes the woman desire to be this model and attain everything that she has. The eye contact therefore serves as a purpose that women can achieve what they want and that she is not any better them. Not only does just the main cover model acquire the viewer's attention, but so does the linguistics of the magazine's cover. Written across the middle of the page it says "Polar Bare." "Bare" being spelled as being bare naked, which the model is half naked.

This is another cover photo of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue that was shot in 2001-2002. Although the scenery, model, and pose is very different than the photo above, the message being sent to the viewer is very much the same. This model is advertising a specific type of bikini but the viewer can't help but to notice how the model is posing as she rests on all fours wearing an orange bikini. The model has her arms straight down in front of her leaving the viewer focused on just her and nothing else. The pose can be taken as a sexual pose; especially with the direct eye contact she is giving the viewer, letting them know that she is available. Not only the direct eye contact she is giving the viewer but also with the slightly opened lips that she has which could be taken in various ways. The models leaves the viewer's sense of scopophilia higher with her pose. She is leaning forward on her hands, which therefore makes her bottom stick out as we can see because the photograph is taken at a diagonal shot. On top of her arched back, her hair falls over her shoulders just to the point of right above her breasts leaving them open to look at.
In our culture no one is satisfied and everyone is always left wanting more and never being satisfied. This is the case for men and women when referring to their bodies, and what is "perfect" or "ideal." These models above are what men desire, which produces women desiring them as well. The castration complex comes into play while examining Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue because these models are representations of women who perhaps do not have a phallus, which therefore makes women feel like they have to make up for it through their sexuality and physicality. "Coltrane and Adams (1977) concluded that regardless of the primary viewing audience of the commercial, women advertising characters tended to be shown as sex objects (Monk-Turner et al. 202)." By allowing their bodies to be put on exhibition, it leaves the viewer with a sense of desire whether that is female identification or male objectification in our culture. Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue are key models of scopophilia, and male gaze, which leave women thinking that these models have the "perfect" or "ideal" body that society hold up to women. "For the majority of women this ideal is impossible to attain and may lead to feelings of inadequacy (Malkin, Wornian, and Chrisler 647)."



Home Discourse Analysis

Works Cited
Brandt, Mandie, and Adelia Carstens. "The Discourse Of The Male Gaze: A Critical Analysis Of The Feature Section 'The Beauty Of Sport' In SA Sports Illustrated." Southern African Linguistics & Applied Language Studies 23.3 (2005): 233-243. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 May 2013.

Malkin, Amy R., Kimberlie Wornian, and Joan C. Chrisler. "Women and Weight: Gendered Messages on Magazine Covers." Sex Roles 40.7-8 (n.d.): 647-55. Print.

Monk-Turner, Elizabeth; et al. "Who is gazing at whom> A look at how sex is used in magazine advertisemesnt." Journal of Gender Studies 17.3 (2008). 201-209. Web.

Pienaar, Kiran, and Ian Bekker. "Invoking The Feminine Physical Ideal: Bitch-Slapping, She-Men And Butch Girls." Southern African Linguistics & Applied Language Studies 24.4 (2006): 437-447. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 May 2013.

Reichert, Tom. "The Ageless Allure: Sex, Media, And Marketing." Journal Of Promotion Management 13.1/2 (2007): 3. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 May 2013.

Rose, Gillian. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. London: SAGE, 2012. Print.

Illustrations

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/swimsuit/

Zach Lynch

May 8, 2013