Representing Everyday Life in Visual Cultures for Motherhood

Question: Discuss about theRepresenting Everyday Life in Visual Cultures for Motherhood. Answer: Critical analysis on the shaping of motherhood in everyday life The case of April (in Revolutionary Road) The most progressive character in the film, Revolutionary Road is that of April, who is a wiife as well as a stay-home mother. She seems to be devoted to her lovely suburban house, to her two kids as well as to her handsome husband. However, there quickly occurs the shattering of this heteronormative exterior and it can be seen that April is not a happy wife as well as mother, but a woman who is seriously depressed as well as disillusioned and simply undergoing the necessary motions, and all the while having dreams of a life that is different as well as better (Rose, 2016). Externally, April is meeting every criteria that is required for being a good wife as well as good mother, the cultural definitions that does the forcing as well as regulation of the behavioural choices of women, but internally she is feeling trapped as well as suffocated by her marriage, by motherhood, and also by the suburban neighbourhood where anything interesting is never happening (Pink, 2013). The occurs th e clear articulation of the inner turmoil of April via her various arguments with Frank. Through these dialogues, the violence regarding heteronormativity has been exposed and allowing the invisible individuals to appear to gain visibility. There occurs the exposing of the invisibility of April, being a heteronormative suburban wife through her non-normatve feelings, intense perceptions as well as drastic dreams (Oksiloff, 2016). She is in constant denial in accepting her unhappy life and does the bucking of the heteronormativity sustem that is oppressing her so strongly. More than simply having argument with her husband, April is also very proactive to change her life, and she approaches this aspect in a practical as well as productive way. She is the one who chalks out the drastic plan of shifting the entire family to Paris, where she will be breadwinner and her husband will be getting the necessary time for finding himself. April also does the planning of their future life in Paris, and even makes decisions what job she will be doing for supporting the family. April is having keen awareness of her status within heteronormativitys patriarchal constructs, but as because, knowledge, after all, is not considered to be power by itself, she does the realization that in respect of making improvements to her life, she is required manipulating her husband into accepting the plan that she has devised (Murray 2015). Therefore, she does the framing of her arguments that seemed to be clear advantages in respect of Frank and when she sensed that Frank has become fascinated by the idea, she makes the best use of the situation and appeals to the masculine ego of Frank and his sense of entitlement. By doing this, Frank becomes a putty in the hands of April. In his regard, Aprils progressive attitude is depicted by tteh fact that, she actually makes an observation of her social condiction and is having an outstanding insight in respect of social limiations as well as injustices of her time (Morley, 2017). Whe April makes the doscovery that she is pregnant for the third time, then her prime focus turns out towards the termination of the pregnancy. Even though, there has ben the addessing of abortion in nainstream movies, it is still considered being very much uncommon for a stable, married mothetr of two older children, who lives in a comfortable house and having adequate financial support, makes the determination of not havin any more children. Aprils drastic position is captured in a vivid manner by her rebellious protests when Frank makes the conclusion that pregnancy will be resulting in ending their plans regarding Paris (Levy, 2017). To have children, is not considered being a mistake. Heteronormativity does the implication of motherhood, and any sort of deviation receives social criticism. April, on the other hand, gives more priority to her personal requirements than the child that is not yet born and this is considered to be radical within a cultural scenario in which, babies are considered to be a blessing and women are supposed to have a feeling of being privileged, overjoyed as well as thankful for being mothers. April, on the other hand, would rather choose death than allowing her life to be again limited by one more baby, therefore when Frank discards their Paris plans, she feels that she is having no other option but to take her own life (Mirzoeff, 2014). The suicide of April is considered being a drastic act. Through her self-imposed botched abortion, she does the making of a strong, self-assertive statement which is to destroy her own womb in a violent manner. Through this, she is doing the simulteneous destruction of the heteronormative institution of motherood and also her individual life that has already been damaged by the institution (Jenkins, 2013). The final act of April strongly symbolizes her untiring fight against the heteronormative scripts, which imprisoned her, and the violence relating to heternormativity is having a tragic realization through the suicide committed by April. The case of Brenda (in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) Taking into consideration the sub-theme of abortion, the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning has much to say regarding the matter as Brenda gets pregnant. The matter is strongly debated in the present society, having a distinct division amongst those who are endorsing it and those who are opposing it. In the film, after hearing about the pregnancy of Brenda, Arthur delivers Brenda to his Aunt Ada who attempts an abortion at home, depicting an intertextual reference with Vera Drake, since the abortion method that is used is very much identical. In reference to the major theme of gender, there occurs the viewing of abortion as having a vast diffeence in the modern society (Herzfeld, 2014). The enactment of the abortion process is considered being a major decision in respect of any individual who is undertaking the same. This is because of the fact that, there occurs the taking of life of another human being in an effectivve manner. In the current age that delves with the equality of relationships as well as the disputes that are associated with abortion, the choice of a couple in doing this is generally very much a shared as well as cautious decision. In contrast, the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is depictng the decisions that only Brenda is undertaking, with Arthur giving a very limited view regarding this issue (Grossberg, 2014). Moreover, apart from Arthur primarily offering a solution to what was considered to be simply a problem, Arthur is showing very limited assistance in respect of Brenda. Instead, Arthur simply does the dumping of Brenda with his Aunt Ada and had strong hopes that the problem will not persist any longer. These observations strongly d epicts about the rather hasty personality of Arthur as anything else but also depicts how there has been a change in time regarding the relationship amongst a fathet as well as their child (Carson, 2016). Along with this, another very significant matter that is noticeable in the film is about the fact that, at no point after Brenda made the declaration that she is interested in keeping the baby, does Arthur then make any effort of pursuing any future association with either Brenda or her child. Reference Carson, F., Pajaczkowska, C. (Eds.). (2016).Feminist visual culture. Routledge. Grossberg, L. (2014).We gotta get out of this place: Popular conservatism and postmodern culture. Routledge. Herzfeld, M. (2014).Cultural intimacy: Social poetics in the nation-state. Routledge. Jenkins, H., Ford, S., Green, J. (2013). Spreadable media.Creating Value. Levy, A. (Ed.). (2017).Widowhood and visual culture in early modern Europe. Routledge. Mirzoeff, N. (Ed.). 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