This may be hard to believe, but these are valentines. Choose one of them and use your image-reading skills to tell me about them. How does the image support the text? What do you think they say about their society? What is the tone of these valentines?Text for "Shop Girl"
As the sidewalk you pass along, to and from work,
Your homely phiz wears a self-satisfied smirk,
For though you're as plain and ugly as sin,
Admiration you crazily think you can win.
You should know, when men smile, that they mean but to mock,
For they all say the sight of you gives them a shock.
Text for the Cad
Don't
Be a tough and insult
Respectable women
By your
Unwelcome attentions.
Try to be a
Gentleman.
18 comments:
The tone of the second picture seems to describe a time where society thought that the female gender was not as important as the male gender. These valentines seemed that they were trying to say that they were glad to have them around and be with them but at the same time they didn't want to give them too much credibility or self-confidence. The image supports the text very well in conveying the thought that the male was the alpha species.
The image of the second valentine is a man hovering over a woman, and she looks as though she would rather be left alone by him. He is taller and bigger than her and smoking a cigar in her face.Both of them are dressed well, and he is carrying a cane. I think this card is saying that men should be gentlemen towards women. It reflects the standards of its time by saying that women are delicate and always polite while men are more vulgar. It also shows the rules between men and women of that time and how it was not acceptable for men to just go up to women and try to pick them up. There were certain rules for dating and courting. The tone of this card is kind of funny because it is saying that the man's attention is unwanted and it is saying a little bit sarcastically, "Try to be a gentleman".
The second valentine shows how men didn't really respect women back in those times. It shows how they thought they were better than women and could do whatever they felt towards them. But, to me, the text is also saying that men sometimes only did this to make themselves feel as if they had control and strength. 'Don't be a tough'!
The second image and the text support each other, because they both describe the male being the dominating person. The tone of the second image is to describe the time where women seemed to be less important and weren't respected like men were. The Valentine says to be respectful, but at the same time is implies to still not give women too much confidence and respect.
For "shop girl," the artist attempts to depict a girl who is sore on the eyes. The text tries to convince an ugly girl that no matter how hard she tries, she can't attract via her looks. The scrunched up attempt of a cute face in the picture backs this statement. Perhaps this card was a blatant truth to fake girls everywhere, trying to get them to use their personalities instead of makeup. Or maybe it's just being mean.
2nd picture: In this picture, the woman seems frightened by the man as he seems to kindly lend her a hand. This says that in the society where this picture takes place, the women are often encountered by disrespectable men, especially on the streets. The texts "Don't/ Be a tough and insult/ Respectable women/ By your/ Unwelcome attentions" shows that men in this society openly display their thoughness as a sign of pride and often approach women in an inappropriate manner. "Try to be a/ Gentleman" shows that the men aren't too often nice to women and that they should be. The way the character dress seems to say that they are from the late 1800's and early 1900's and maybe England? Both the man and woman look wealthy with their cane, cigar, hats, scarf, handbag, etc.
The second valentine is a picture of a small woman and a larger man, who seems to be more powerful in society than the woman. The man is kind of crowding the woman, and appears to be bothering her. The card is saying that even though this man may be much more highly thought of than this frail woman, he shouldn't take advantage of her, or treat her in any harmful way. It's telling the man to be a gentleman and respect the woman, even though he may be thinking that she should do the same for him. However, she will only respect the man if he does the same to her.
In the Text for the Cad it seems to relate women as inferior to men. This valentine is more like a advice column then what you would expect to be written in a valentine. Usually valentines are made in a positive manner to let someone know how much you care, but in these valentines it is saying you have to behave yourself on this occasion.These gloomy letters show just how much respect women got in the past.
The second one is fairly humorous to me. The text says that the man should be a gentleman and not shower women with unwanted attention. And so he's offering his arm to the woman, attempting to be chivalrous, but at the same time the woman is shrinking away not wanting his help. Though he's trying to be kind, his appearence and overall presence is somewhat "tough" looking. He's a big guy, smoking a cigar, carrying a cane; i certainly wouldn't want someone like him escorting me home!
The first valentine card about the shop girl, is about the discrimination men had towards women in the work place. He talks about how it makes them look ugly and how it scars them. I would say this would be around the time WWI ended because during WWI alot of the women worked in factories and other places to fill in for the men. And when the men got back from the war and saw that the women have taken their jobs there was a lot of backlash from it. Back then men thought the womens place was in the home, not a work. And in the picture the woman is dressed kind of scummy and has looks alittle manly.
What the "Cad" picture is saying is if a man sees a respectable woman, than he should be respectable himself. Since coming up to a woman who may not want a man approaching her might be considered insulting, the man is sending her the Valentine card instead. He's trying to be a gentleman by not invading her space, so to speak. Sometimes it is better that a man shows his feelings toward a lady through text, and not direct attention.
The second one seems to be a picture of a man who does not hold much respect for women. He does not understand how he makes a woman feel with his intrusive and blunt attitude..
He believes that males are superior out of the two..While the woman might dislike him too , she also behaves in a very dignified manner. It says in the end "Try to be a gentleman", this is ironic to the whole situation which mankes it a little amusing.
These are great! The fact that people took the time to produce these Valentines shows the importance of inclusion to society during the time period that they were used. Even ugly, disrespectful people deserve to get a Valentines Day card.
I think that this opens up a whole new avenue for the Hallmark people, one that I would enjoy working on. The "Tell It Like It Is" greeeting card line. When giving someone the finger just isn't enough, let our cards help you to express the hate and frustration you really feel for your fellow man. Sign me up!
I think that the image of "Shop Girl" valentine support what the text is saying very well. The girl, obviously who works in a shop, is not attractive. Her clothes are ripped up a little, and are mismatched. She seems to be in a poor part of town, with grafiti on the wall saying, "Factory, No Loitering About the Door". The words and images kind of give a sense that this valentine was created in a time when women were not treated equal. The tone is not one of which you would see on today's valentines. It is kind of mean and opposite of what I would describe a valentine to be. The colors are drab and dirty, rather than smooth, lovely pinks and reds.
In the picture to the right, one can see the way many men thought of women in the time it depicts. At that point in American history, there were places where women were not respected by men. Men would approach women with obviously bad intentions. Studying the picture you can see that she doesnt want him there. The text supports the picture by stating that you should treat women with respect or they will look at you as she is looking at him in the picture. Society was like this at that point and the picture depicts it well. This valentine is one of respect instead of just love.
The second valentine shows a man looking over the shoulder of a young, pretty woman. The text explains that back then men thought they were better than the all mighty woman. It shows how men probably didn't give the respect to women that they should have. The tone of the picture is really how men felt they were the dominating figure and women were not.
In the second valentine, the man is suppose to be a sophisticated man, nice suite, smoking a cigar, carrying a cane. However, by the reaction of the woman, he is not. The text goes along with the picture by saying even though you may not appear the same to other people as u do yourself, you still need to have respect for women. The tone is about respect.
In response to "Shop Girl", I think that this short poem is about a working woman on Valentine's Day. I believe that it's symbolic of many modern-day women that are self-supportive and not involved in relationships. I like the rhyme scheme that the author used. I also like how they kept it short and sweet, but still managed to convey a point. I think that maybe this is supposed to also be about a sour woman who is just angry that she is alone on Valentine's Day.
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