The Girl at the Mirror by Norman Rockwell
March 6, 1954
1. This image, painted by Norman Rockwell, appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in the 1950's. During this decade, beautiful women and girls were normally painted with blank but pleasant facial expressions and beautiful props. Norman Rockwell painted females much differently than his contemporaries; he was known for showing the true "experience of women in America." Although this image was painted in the fifties,it is timeless as it carries a strong message regarding the manner in which young women come to view how they should appear.
2. Almost the entire image is dark except for the girl in the center. She is the focus of the painting. She is looking at herself in the mirror with a sad expression on her face; in her lap is a magazine with the face of a popular actress at the time, Jane Russell. Tossed away from the girl is a doll and next to her are cosmetic items such as a brush and lipstick. Her hair is in an elaborate up-do, similar to the hair of the woman in the magazine picture. Around the mirror that she is looking at herself in is complete darkness.
3. The girl in the image seems to be comparing her appearance to the appearance of the movie star pictured in the magazine in her lap, she even has her hair in a similar hairstyle to the movie star. She has tossed aside her doll and the objects that are closer to her are cosmetics - symbolizing the transition from a girl to an adolescent. The mirror is surrounded by darkness but the darkness has not touched the girl. This could be indicating that what the girl sees as her reflection is not what she wants to see or that the mere act of this girl comparing herself to the woman in the magazine is bad. It could also be showing that since she is still a girl and not an adolescent, she has not yet been harmed by the negative effects of self-objectification.
This painting is very different from other paintings of the same time period that depicted women contemplating their appearances. Most paintings showed women admiring themselves in the mirror and decorated with elaborate clothing and jewelry. In this painting the girl looks unhappy and is wearing a simple white slip, quite the opposite. This suggests that Rockwell believes women in society struggle with their appearances from a young age and are not the "peppy" and "perfect" housewives that were so commonly depicted.
I really like the image you picked and how you analyzed it. There are a lot of similarities between her and the magazine which is what you described in your analysis. I think this problem is still relevant in today's society relating it back to MissRepresentation. Girls are still comparing themselves to celebrities and pictures in magazines that have been very edited and photo-shopped. Even problems in the fifties with young girls are still relevant today.
ReplyDeleteLook at the items she has at her feet also.
ReplyDelete