{"id":3712,"date":"2015-06-09T00:57:01","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T00:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=3712"},"modified":"2016-08-10T00:19:52","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T00:19:52","slug":"two-covers-two-culture-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/two-covers-two-culture-shifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Two covers, two culture shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Renee Cramer<\/a>, Drake University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes, a picture can transform a culture.<\/p>\n

Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s Vanity Fair cover<\/a>, which exploded across the country this week, certainly elicits comparisons with transgender actress Laverne Cox\u2019s 2014 photograph on the cover of Time. Time itself called<\/a> the photo of Cox a \u201ctransgender tipping point,\u201d and, undoubtedly, it paved the way for Jenner to appear on the cover of Vanity Fair.<\/p>\n

But Jenner\u2019s photo also evokes a different cover, from a different time. Its existence owes just as much to a pregnant and nude Demi Moore on the cover<\/a> of Vanity Fair in 1991.<\/p>\n

Like Jenner\u2019s cover, Moore\u2019s image was gorgeously and memorably shot by Annie Leibovitz. In both, the women face the camera head-on (even as Moore is turned to show her pregnant belly), and the patina of the print is rich. There\u2019s a barely restrained sexuality in both, even though they are not what the general American public has been trained to perceive as sexy: Moore is pregnant, Jenner is a transgender woman.<\/p>\n

Both covers are as controversial as they are iconic, and controversy sells. Moore\u2019s cover helped the magazine shatter sales records. Even though it was considered indecent (it was displayed for sale behind brown paper), it sold more than one million copies (in contrast to a regular distribution at the time of around 800,000).<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have sales yet for Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s issue, but AdAge\u2019s Michael Sebastian<\/a> notes that it is \u201cbreaking the internet,\u201d with millions of views across multiple platforms.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Moore\u2019s cover helped change the way pregnancy was perceived, from something to be hidden to something to be proud of. And if the response to Moore\u2019s cover is any indication, Jenner\u2019s shoot could have a similar effect.<\/p>\n

From shameful to beautiful<\/h2>\n

Moore\u2019s Vanity Fair cover changed how the contemporary press represented pregnancy. Since her shoot \u2013 and in large part because of increased celebrity openness about their pregnant physiques \u2013 the pregnant body has largely lost its reputation as repulsive and embarrassing.<\/p>\n

This is a sea change from the way pregnancy was historically treated in the United States, and from the way pregnant women were allowed (or not) to be visible and public with their \u201cbumps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pregnancy was long considered too risqu\u00e9 for polite company, and contemporary media\u2019s coverage of female celebrities highlighting their pregnancy in form-fitting dresses could not have been imagined even as recently as 1970. That\u2019s the year Cleveland junior high teacher Jo Carol LaFleur was placed on mandatory leave because administrators feared her body would distract, disgust and embarrass her students.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nToday, it\u2019s common for celebrities to proudly display their pregnancies.<\/span>
\nLucas Jackson\/Reuters<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jo Carol LaFleur won her Supreme Court appeal<\/a> two decades before Moore\u2019s cover appeared, but Vanity Fair did far more to change perceptions than a Supreme Court case that didn\u2019t deeply impress upon on the popular consciousness.<\/p>\n

Beyond backlash<\/h2>\n

Demi Moore\u2019s Vanity Fair cover helped shift cultural norms. So will Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s.<\/p>\n

And just as there was backlash then, there will be backlash now.<\/p>\n

Since Moore\u2019s groundbreaking cover, we\u2019ve seen women\u2019s bodies become increasingly politicized.<\/p>\n

Reproducing women are increasingly subject to surveillance and regulation by the state, strangers and each other. Barely any aspect of reproductive decision-making has been left untouched \u2013 from an employer\u2019s interest in a woman\u2019s use of birth control<\/a>, to the state\u2019s interest in her miscarriage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The general public and the courts now work together to make women more responsible for their reproducing bodies, while the general public has become even more invested in performances of pregnancy and definitions of acceptable femininity. We became interested in those representations in part due to media coverage like Demi Moore\u2019s Vanity Fair Cover.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jenner\u2019s cover has already become fodder for those who wish to denigrate transgender people and cast aspersions on her transition process. Some on the political right now claim<\/a> that Jenner\u2019s transition is a \u201ctragedy\u201d that will not fix what\u2019s wrong with her \u201chuman heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be important for trans activists and allies to consider the limits of the publicity surrounding Jenner\u2019s transition. While Jenner\u2019s photo is stunningly beautiful, it\u2019s also airbrushed. And expensive. Jenner also possesses considerable class and race privileges<\/a>. Indeed, as both Laverne Cox<\/a> and Jon Stewart<\/a> have already pointed out, the cover represents a very particular form of idealized female beauty, and is being received in ways that don\u2019t always challenge unreasonable expectations for women.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also important to note and celebrate the potential for equality inherent in the proliferation of this one photograph.<\/p>\n

Much has been written about the relationship between law, social movements,<\/a> and public perception<\/a> of those movements. One theme often emerges: a necessary step<\/a> in achieving social justice is having what\u2019s considered \u201cdeviant\u201d represented as normal \u2013 even beautiful<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the story of an Olympic athlete becoming who she is and was born to be \u2013 well, that\u2019s beautiful in a way that defies expectations and represents transformative social change.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Renee Cramer<\/a> is Professor of Law, Politics and Society at Drake University<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a>.
\nRead the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renee Cramer, Drake University Sometimes, a picture can transform a culture. Caitlyn Jenner\u2019s Vanity Fair cover, which exploded across the country this week, certainly elicits comparisons with transgender actress Laverne Cox\u2019s 2014 photograph on the cover of Time. Time itself called the photo of Cox a \u201ctransgender tipping point,\u201d and, undoubtedly, it paved the way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":5400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,38],"tags":[500,365,892,885,891,860,493,313,1157],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3712"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3713,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3712\/revisions\/3713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}