How do the propagandist artworks induce an ethical imperative to drive a transformative change?

Transformative change within an orthodox society is an arduous objective to achieve, the subjective flexible nature of ethical imperatives, pertaining to societal issues acts as a sturdy barrier to achieving egalitarianism. Cultural relativism acts a tool which manipulates the notion of ethical imperatives - the belief of taking a measure towards morality that is extremely necessary - primarily regarding the social dynamics pertaining to the role of men and women which results in accentuating societal turbulence. Cultural relativism is the permissive notion that cultural beliefs cannot be criticized as they pertain to a culture which can only be understood by its practitioners, it is relative to the culture (Nickerson). The values and beliefs which entrail different cultures impact the subjective notion of ethical imperatives of communities within society. The conservative Indian demeanour acts as a deadlock for the female population victimizing and targeting the ‘vulnerable’. Mounica Tata a 24 - year-old Indian artist attempts to transform this restrictive hypocritical concept of cultural relativism through her rebellious artistic productions from her trademark ‘Doodle Drama’ (“6 Illustrations from ‘DoodleODrama’ that would make you introspect”). Under the exposure of her multiple artistic genres such as comics, and social media art, she critiques the scathing issues of idealization of women which originate from and result in the lambasting of their appearance, with the backdrop of absurd beauty standards, inequality and male chauvinism, the artist aims to break these stereotypical ideologies that circumference women through evoking a sense of self-realization within the viewer guiding to the line of inquiry: “How do the propagandist artworks induce an ethical imperative to drive a transformative change?”. This essay studies the effectiveness of satire, symbolism, colour scheme and visual representation in establishing moral urgency within the viewer to achieve a transformative change for women in Indian society.

 

The text foregrounds the notion of appearance anxiety as a result of hyper criticism. Body dysmorphia is a growing concern amongst women of all ages, it is summarized as the extreme preoccupation with the flaws concerning one’s physical appearance. The author emphasizes on this societal concern abundantly prevalent within Indian society by unearthing patent beauty standards and stereotypes that pertain to it. The art pieces largely target the female audience

as it allows them to resonate with the message that is being visually vocalized by the artist, serving the primary purpose to contort the rigid mindsets of the members within the Indian society, the artwork, however, serves a secondary purpose of being significant to women globally as it addresses concerns towards idealization of women in general. A key contributor to this hypnotic configuration of women is the unrealistic beauty standards set by society, the image above meticulously unpacks ‘the dream’ state of being to obtain a desirable pulchritude for a woman, the notorious beauty norm of being light skinned the Indian community is an integral characteristic of achieving physical enticement. Moreover, the author uses hyperbole through the phrase “The Dream” placed at the right side of the art piece as a medium to communicate the exaggerated unrealistic expectation concerning race and skin tone principally towards women amplifying the sense of appearance anxiety, this is an effective technique in redefining the mindset of the audience as it familiarizes them with the absurdness of this unachievable beauty standard which does not lie under an individual’s control regardless of gender. The use of vivid bright colours is effective in striking the viewer's attention, along with the animated nature of the graphics which facilitates the communication of the author’s purpose and engages the viewer. The satirical use of diction can be perceived as a form of criticizing the presumptuous quixotic beauty standards set for women, the phrase “Introducing: For a fairer uterus (White babies guaranteed!)” on the bottom right of the poster supports the claim as ‘fair skin tone’ is a prevalently utilized marketing scheme within the Indian cosmetic industry as it increases the desirability of the product, which induces consumers through the deceitful assurance of yielding results of a ‘brighter and lighter skin tone’. The author criticises this mentality with reference to the uterus indicating the idiocracy of the beauty standard and the extent to which women are expected to go to obtain social validation. This induces an ethical imperative within the audience combating cultural relativism, as it stirs a range of introspective arguments compelling the viewer to self-reflect on the unjustified expectations from women in the Indian community.

 

Furthermore, the beauty standards established for women align with multiple other farcical convictions such as body hair being an indicator of a lack of hygiene for women. Mounica Tata raises questions towards these by providing an antithesis to the norm through her artwork, the image on the right demonstrates a woman’s legs labelled ‘SHAME’ depicting society’s perception of the natural aspects of a woman's body being considered disgraceful and reprehensible. The simplicity of the image being

as it allows them to resonate with the message that is being visually vocalized by the artist, serving the primary purpose to contort the rigid mindsets of the members within the Indian society, the artwork, however, serves a secondary purpose of being significant to women globally as it addresses concerns towards idealization of women in general. A key contributor to this hypnotic configuration of women is the unrealistic beauty standards set by society, the image above meticulously unpacks ‘the dream’ state of being to obtain a desirable pulchritude for a woman, the notorious beauty norm of being light skinned the Indian community is an integral characteristic of achieving physical enticement. Moreover, the author uses hyperbole through the phrase “The Dream” placed at the right side of the art piece as a medium to communicate the exaggerated unrealistic expectation concerning race and skin tone principally towards women amplifying the sense of appearance anxiety, this is an effective technique in redefining the mindset of the audience as it familiarizes them with the absurdness of this unachievable beauty standard which does not lie under an individual’s control regardless of gender. The use of vivid bright colours is effective in striking the viewer's attention, along with the animated nature of the graphics which facilitates the communication of the author’s purpose and engages the viewer. The satirical use of diction can be perceived as a form of criticizing the presumptuous quixotic beauty standards set for women, the phrase “Introducing: For a fairer uterus (White babies guaranteed!)” on the bottom right of the poster supports the claim as ‘fair skin tone’ is a prevalently utilized marketing scheme within the Indian cosmetic industry as it increases the desirability of the product, which induces consumers through the deceitful assurance of yielding results of a ‘brighter and lighter skin tone’. The author criticises this mentality with reference to the uterus indicating the idiocracy of the beauty standard and the extent to which women are expected to go to obtain social validation. This induces an ethical imperative within the audience combating cultural relativism, as it stirs a range of introspective arguments compelling the viewer to self-reflect on the unjustified expectations from women in the Indian community.

 

Furthermore, the beauty standards established for women align with multiple other farcical convictions such as body hair being an indicator of a lack of hygiene for women. Mounica Tata raises questions towards these by providing an antithesis to the norm through her artwork, the image on the right demonstrates a woman’s legs labelled ‘SHAME’ depicting society’s perception of the natural aspects of a woman's body being considered disgraceful and reprehensible. The simplicity of the image being

comprised of a single circle with minimalist features is effective in maintaining the focus on the message being conveyed rather than diverting the viewer’s attention to the visual composition. This challenges the notion of egalitarianism, as the presence of body hair on men contrarily to women is a sign of machismo and masculinity, being supported by the orthodox beliefs of Indian society. The statement on the bottom half of the artwork acts as an antithesis to this narrow-minded ideology, objecting to the viewpoint of hair being a shameful feature on a woman’s body, the use of the term ‘just’ propels the reader to perceive body hair as a topic of trivial importance. To further highlight her intention the author utilizes contemporary colours which complement each other and are often associated with being eye-catching and pleasing, the use of yellow in contrast with a backdrop of pastel pink sets emphasis on the term ‘“SHAME”, impacting the mind of the reader and immediately addressing the issue. These forms of characterization towards women lead to an escalating development of low self-esteem and self-degradation, caused by absurd beauty standards pertaining to the cultural ideology of men and women within the society and the classification of their dichotomized roles.

 

The sense of ethical imperative is intertwined with male chauvinism through hegemonic masculinity as a barrier to achieve transformative change for egalitarianism. Societal norms on the distinction of attributes associated with the way women and men conduct themselves have inevitably and congenitally been established in societal customs. This form of

preferential mannerism has been consistent in society over millennials and has become an undeclared societal norm. The artist sheds light on this enigmatic ritualistic interaction by deciphering the metropolitan comportment of men, the following poster revolves around chauvinism as an alarming concern, the poster is quite effective through its conventional choices such as the colour pallet which set a concerning tone. The dull background complemented by the vivid red modicum instantly capture the attention of the viewer, the use of the colour red indicates animosity and danger, along with “strong link to sexuality and increased appetites” (“Color Psychology: How Do Colors Affect Mood & Emotions?”). The representation of men in the form of male genitals rather than anthropoid figures is a densely powerful technique executed by the creator as a medium of communicating their intention and what has corrupted their minds. This results in redirecting the perception of the viewer on men to align with one of the authors, it portrays the male species as beings that are merely pawns of salacity willing to exert their hegemony by subjugating women this can be justified through the lines “But your patriarchy barged in, your raging pallus marched in, along came your fragile ego, your hungry eyes, and your greedy hand”, associating these characteristics with toxic hegemonic masculinity raising awareness on the issue of sexual harassment. The facial expressions of the figure indicate fear and struggle setting a melancholic tone, the body's use of red beneath the eyes is a powerful technique in achieving to convey the emotion experienced by the figure, as the eyes are considered amongst the most effective indicators of sentiments. Moreover, the use of first-person diction is strongly effective in targeting the audience and evoking ethical imperative within the viewer as they sense that the art piece is directed towards them guiding them to introspect on the abuse towards women, the combination of stylistic features contributes extensively to evoking ethical imperative in achieving transformative change.

 

The theme of hegemonic masculinity, inequality, and absurd beauty standards pierce through Mounica Tata’s propagandist artworks. It is a representation of protesting and rebelling against the contemporary societal norms to achieve transformative change and redefine the role of women and men in society to achieve egalitarianism. The subjective nature of ethical imperatives due to cultural relativism was addressed through the Indian context. The consistent use of hyperbole, satire, and symbolism along with the effective use of comic and cartoon conventions by the artist deconstructed the normalized norms for being quixotic and manipulative.

“Color Psychology: How Do Colors Affect Mood & Emotions?” London Image Institute, 5 February 2020, https://londonimageinstitute.com/how-to-empower-yourself-with-color- psychology/ Accessed 2022.

 

Kulkarni, Damini, and Mounica Tata. “On Instagram, Mounica Tata highlights women's lives and concerns with honesty and humour.” Scroll.in, 29 April 2018, https://scroll.in/magazine/875262/with-humour-and-honesty-an-indian-illustrator- highlights-young-womens-lives-and-concerns Accessed 2022.

 

Nickerson, Charlotte. “Cultural Relativism: Definition & Examples.” Simply Psychology, 7 April 2022, https://www.simplypsychology.org/cultural-relativism.html Accessed 29 September 2022.

 

“6 Illustrations from DoodleODrama that would make you introspect.” Social Samosa, 28 August 2017, https://www.socialsamosa.com/2017/08/doodleodrama-introspect/ Accessed 29 September 2022