Heather N Pardew
In this presentation I am investigating how an economical effort to attract consumers manifested itself in a complete redefining of femininity at the turn of the 19th century in Paris. Specifically, I will be looking at the product advertisements of Jules Chéret. Although it is clear that Cheret’s portrayals of women are often associated with feminine liberation, I plan to focus on the cause of the shift in the representation of women. Furthermore, I will discuss how this shift, in turn, influences the conception of the public feminine in Belle Epoque society.
With the advent of a bourgeoning consumer culture, Cheret’s depictions of women are not only seen as objects of desire but are depicted as desirous entities in and of themselves. A new definition of femininity develops alongside these depictions of joyful modern women, or Chérettes, as they were called. We see women who are enjoying themselves independently from their male counterparts. It is arguable, however, that this newfound enjoyment is manifested in a replacement of literal masculinity with consumer goods. A link reiterated, I would argue, by the masculine nature of commerce and financial systems.
Here, we see a scene in which the lamps seem to almost be courting the women. With the women’s backs arched in ecstasy, they are depicted as though they were dancing with a man. Their male counterpart, however, has been replaced by something else that they perhaps desire more, the Saxoleine product.
A critical premise will focus on the representations of pleasure and desire, and their respective targets. I will argue that these notions become ambivalent during the Belle Epoque’s emerging system of advertising, specifically because of a new sexually ambiguous consumer. In other words, the traditional gaze is shifting in order to accomodate a new feminine market.
Another main theme of the paper will be the transition in depiction from a passive role as object to an active role as consumer. These women are portrayed as active agents of consumption. Their traditional role as a desirable object of the male gaze is usurped by a feminine desire to take the place of the blissful modern woman. The female viewer (for whom most of the advertisements are aimed now) does not, then, desire the woman; rather she desires to be the woman. The represented woman, thus, is transformed from consumable to consuming.
Marty Roth, a professor at the University of Minnesota, describes these images as having an aesthetic of gaiety. The women hold the bottles, which signifies that they are the ones who are doing the pouring. I think it could be argued also that the cat in each image has replaced, or at least stands in for, the feminine as domestic? It is a tamed symbol for submission and control. Does this mean that they are still in the house. Roth argues that the male gaze is still present and active, he also argues, as have many with Manet’s “Bar at the Folie Berger”, that the offering of alcohol serves as a metaphor for prostitution.
This is one of a few of Cheret’s images that depict the woman as worker. Most all of the other images are categorically leisure-class women.
The new woman, as depicted by Cheret, is perpetuated by masculine-driven commerce. To this extent, it is an effect of the new consumer culture. The destruction of gender norms however could not have been a foreseen effect of the depictions. Baudelaire discusses the influence of the viewer’s image on the viewer in ((183) The painter of modern life). This will be discussed as a self-perpetuating narrative wherein the development of consumer culture, I will argue, is both a cause and effect of a new public femininity.
Cheret is sometimes referred to as the liberator of the modern woman. His depictions of women are seen as endorsements of a more casual public attitude for women. The light-hearted Cherettes are free-spirits who smoke, drink, and enjoy life outside of the home. I would argue, that only in the respect that an “appropriate” notion of formal behavior for women was confronted, could Cheret’s images really be seen as liberating. Cheret’s images do a lot to de-mysticize and de-mytholgize the passive woman – allowing her to leave the domestic sphere and enjoy herself. Granted this did not come without a cost; although she is not as heavily tied to the confines of domesticity, she is now inextricably connected to the confines of materialism and consumption of the modern world.
Vin mariani is the prototypical chérette - floating effortlessly thought the air – but she is not a dancer, she is not a waitress, she is a consumer. She is effervescent and bubbling as the tonic she consumes. Notice the feet in Cheret’s adverts – always casual in position. However, I do not believe these women are in the house, nor in the brothel? The chérettes are described, according to Jane Abdy, as “the personification of gaiety in his posters…the laughing, twirling, sparkling girl whom he uses as a model . . .. His girls are always smiling, sometimes a little giggly, often disheveled by the steps of the dance, with their apricot hair falling in stray curls. Living for pleasure, totally irresponsible, always kind and always careless, they tumble from the posters in the mood of the party (31)(3).
These are examples that conspicuously appeal to a feminine gaze (products aimed at a feminine consumers). In a sense the seduction of men by an objectified woman is somehow turned on its head and moves to seduce women, in the same way, with objects. This, I will argue, is an important shift in the discussion of the representation of women both in art and visual culture.
As Emile Zola relates in The Ladies Paradise, where the money was coming from in late 19th century Paris did not necessarily need to correlate with who spent it. I will argue that these advertisements targeted female consumption in a way that simultaneously influences and responds to new constructions of gender.
I’d like to go back to this final image because I think, of all of them; it illustrates some major points. Not only are these women independent of their male counterpart, but also the Job advert, in particular, illustrates a women standing while smoking – with unapologetically defiant glance over the shoulder.
My investigations will focus on transitions, in particular, shifts of the gaze, the object, and the pleasure in Belle Époque advertisements.
This is all centered on the intent of Cheret’s images, in contrast to high art, it is to sell. In relation to high art, it is still, to incite desire.
