Icons and other symbols

Posted by Jenni Colwill on 23 December 2008 | 0 Comments

This December, as we contemplate the meaning behind the sanctification of the enduring Christmas metaphor, some reflection on a few other important and enduring icons might also be in order - and when I talk about icons, I don't mean the little pictures on the desktop of your computer.

Come to think of it, it would be handy if the icons I'm thinking about had a pop up description of their meaning like desktop icons - but they don't.

Icons are not restricted to images of holy figures; they are also people or symbols that represent something important, but often their importance is inferred, not stated openly.

It is also not unusual for icons to gain importance when they are challenged as happened recently on two occasions.

The first challenge to an enduring symbol occurred when a journalist in Iraq threw his shoes at George Bush. How symbolic was that. Of course, I would have selected a stiletto heel shoe.

The second challenge to an enduring symbol occurred when Anna Bligh blithely confessed using Botox to improve her appearance. She also talked about a whole lot of other things, but guess what got the headlines?

The shoe-throwing incident challenged the myth that the Iraqi people are grateful to have George Bush looking after their affairs. While the crime was symbolic, the message was real. But the punishment is where the real iconic moment will occur.

Under Saddam, this man may have lost his life. If the punishment doesn't fit his crime then what has the war in Iraq been about? A ruling that a sign saying 'I should not throw shoes' be placed on the offender's shaving mirror for three months should do the job.

Anna Bligh challenged two myths: we don't judge women on their appearance, and intelligent women don't care how they look.

Good for her - the feminist based politics of personal appearance has always been difficult to challenge.

While every advertisement for every beauty product tells us that loss of beauty from ageing happens to everyone and pressure on women to look like children is immense, the worst offenders are the women's magazines that are, by definition, of interest to women.

The iconic beautiful feminine (weak) woman and the intelligent feminist with no regard for personal appearance (strong) are two symbols we need to do away with altogether. They reinforce the notion that femininity and feminism are for different people.

Perhaps there was a time in the past when distancing yourself from your femininity was the only way a woman would be taken seriously. But this view was based on the prevailing male assumption that femininity equates to inadequacy.

I don't buy that view.

Feminism has changed a lot since its inception. Today, feminists are grown ups - males and females - and they can be interested in their appearance without risk of losing brain cells.

Beauty products and independent thinking can live side by side - with a little effort. It's just a bit harder when you're a woman leading a public life, like Anna Bligh.

Merry Christmas.