Jodi Cobb- Frost Foundation Lectureships on Global Issues

An insight to global women's issues, as told by one amazing woman

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Jodi Cobb, the first woman photographer for National Geographic, accompanied students and faculty of TCU on March 2nd, 2015. Initially, it was her work in the 60s documenting counter-culture and popular musicians and artists that peaked my interest. However I walked away from this experience with knowledge and insight on a completely different range of topics and issues that affect women across the globe. Jodi Cobb covered stories from a vast variety of cultures, all to uncover stories that have yet to be told, and many of times areas that a woman has never been before. In her lifetime Cobb has experienced more than the average person could dream in exposing women’s issues, and changing how we look at these issues to now be known as gender issues, and power issues. Cobb stated that since early childhood her aspiration in life was to change the world, which lead to her career change from journalism to photography, and are we grateful she did. One quote that stuck with me through out the experience was this, “no one returns from a journey with nothing to say.” This was powerful to me, because what followed this was an array of stories to be told and experience, through her photographic work, Cobb made cultures and issues around the world accessible to those who could not go there themselves, she brought these stories to us, and we may decide what to do with the information she has provided us.

Throughout the lecture we gained just a small glimpse at work that has accumulated over the span of her entire life, beginning at her earliest photographs taken as a young girl. Her first big project was to experience and capture what life was like in a commune in the Ozark Hills, during the 1960s. These photos were presented in black and white, which made them reflect the time period and enhanced the experience for the audience. These photographs depicted the day-to-day activities of the people within the commune, which meant a fair amount of frolicking in the nude. These light-hearted images portrayed freedom, unity, and family. Her next adventure took her to China after it reopened to westerners, she was one of the first people allowed to inter upon the reopening. She mentioned having a lot of trouble getting around, and faced scrutiny because she was a woman. More than once she mentioned feeling like no one was taking her seriously because of her gender. Cobb took on the adversity by a predominately male-bias culture and persevered. She was the very first person allowed into the world of the Geisha, and was quick to point out that, contradictory to popular belief, Geisha’s were not prostitutes. Geisha in Chinese means artist, and these women portrayed themselves as living art from their dress to extravagant make up and foot-binding practices. Cobb was exposed to both the beauties and tragedies that made up the life of a Geisha. Most young girls became Geishas because the needed money, or their parents sold them for money, however there are still those that choose willingly to become a Geisha. As the highest and most respected entertainers in China, it is sad that this could possibly be the last generation of Geishas, for it is a dying practice. Out of this experience led Jodi Cobb’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Geisha: The Life, The Voices, The Art.” On another project, Cobb traveled the world and documented what was considered “beautiful” from the viewpoint of many different cultures. In our country today, more money is spent on beauty and cosmetics, than education and social services. She found that body paint, or a version of paint/ink, has been used in every culture since the beginning of time. She also noted that through her travels from community to community, she noticed a trend or difference between the body modifications of different genders. Changes to men’s bodies typically had a significance that translated to strength and dominance, while women’s body modifications were made to weaken them, and make mobility at times very difficult. The Body project at Bradley University also recognized this contradiction between different standards of beauty between women and men. The project referenced big names such as Marilyn Monroe, a voluptuous woman who was an early idol for beauty, and then came a dramatic shift to “stick-thin” idols I fashion such as Twiggy and Kate Moss. The Body Project describes the transition as this, “The compelling fact here is that just as women started to make dramatic gains in the areas of education, employment and politics, the ideal female body began to look like a malnourished preadolescent girl, weak, emaciated and non-threatening. Women may have been gaining in freedom and power, but they were increasingly encouraged to discipline their bodies through diet and exercise to conform to ideals that were almost impossible to achieve.” Although it was not initially a goal of Cobb’s to expose these types of gender differences, that is exactly what happened, and she learned that it is not just in big countries such as the U.S. but trickles down to some of the smallest tribes in Africa, this type of body image is universal and portrayed in all cultures.

On a much more serious note Cobb shared with us her journey through one of her more recent projects entitled “21st Century Slavery,” which exposed human trafficking, child and slave labor, and the sex trade. Today, there are approximately 27 million people in human trafficking, or slavery. This piece brought to light that what was commonly thought to be a business of poor countries, was actually a problem in the U.S. and other large countries as well. Jodi Cobb went to great lengths to expose as many different realms that human trafficking existed in, and in many cases endangering her own life. The Huffington Post reported on sex trafficking in the United States in 2013, stating that the Super Bowl is the largest human trafficking event in the U.S. because it hosts so many people each year that it is the perfect scene for pimps and victimized trafficked humans to seemingly go unnoticed. However, they have indeed been noticed, and there are many agencies and organizations now working to prevent sex trafficking at large events such as the highly favored Super Bowl. While many people believe these numbers of influx in human trafficking are exaggerated, there is no denying the increase in “activity” during these sporting and entertainment events. One reporter, Rachel Lloyd said “The real crime is happening when no one’s looking and no one cares, not when every media outlet, advocate and cop has it’s sights set on it.” I think Jodi Cobb would most likely agree to this statement, primarily because most of her work includes going where no one else has gone before and uncovering the dark nature of unlikely stories such as human trafficking and sex slavery.

Through her artful photography and published writings, Jodi Cobb has made rhetoric her forte. Her pieces seek an outcome and elicit a response from her audience. Through her claims and photographic evidence, Cobb hopes to shut down stereotypes, gender biases, and human trafficking, all of which are huge issues not only in our own country and culture, but every country and culture. Through her photographs and spreads in National Geographic, Cobb helps people in all areas of the world to be more aware of these issues, using intersectionality. She combines topics of gender and body modification into a light that is easily relatable by women and men of other various cultures. By bringing pieces such as the ones on the Geisha to America, women in America can relate more to those who were once seen as exclusive, and further more clears the stereotype of Geisha’s being prostitutes. They are merely women in the entertainment business, much like any actress in major film or stay at home mother that likes to put on extravagant dinner parties. She made her audience connect with these people on the other side of the world, and rather find things that are different between us, helps us look to all the similarities there are. Cobb addresses identity and how views of identity translate different across cultures. In the pieces portraying body modification and painting, she explains that many of these men and women who practiced body modification centralized their identities around the practice. In different African tribes, the girls with the larges lip plate or most elongating neck rings were seen as most beautiful, and most likely to be married. Also referring to the Geisha practice again, their methods of foot binding was very essential to their individual identities based on how well they have accomplished foot binding, and how small there foot became afterwards. These practices not only influenced how the women of these cultures viewed themselves, but how others, both men and women, viewed them individually and within their cultural group. In the more extreme cases of body modification, it is certainty linked to the need for acceptance among others within the group, as to help distinguish personal identity. Jodi Cobb successfully facilitates the connection between her audience and the cultures to which she visits and accounts, and breaks down socially constructed views of women and children across the globe. Likewise, We can now see that it is not only certain areas of the world that experience hegemony, which we mostly consider to be the white race. Through her pieces I saw a trend of men being in the dominant group with power in nearly every single piece of work presented, with the exception of the commune in the Ozarks, they are blissfully naked, free and happy. In nearly every culture there is a dominant group in power that then decides on how the others within the culture interact and communicate with each other, this group is predominantly men, ss experienced by Jodi Cobb herself when visiting Saudi Arabia, and experiencing the literal divides between men and women. One of the most shocking being that the weddings between men and women in Saudi Arabia, being held in completely separate venues, and for the women and men to not see each other. There are many ways in which Jodi Cobb addresses women’s issues, which was the basis of the entire week of presentations and the series of Frost Foundation Lectures. By using all of these elements Jodi Cobb seeks to highlight women in ways that others cannot, through art. There are some people who only read text, others who only look at photos, and some who pay no mind or attention at all to today’s issues and events. Through Cobb’s work she brings together the best of all worlds, and accompanies her work with written pieces by others who share the same mission. To make people aware, and to ultimately make people take action against these injustices.

My personal feelings and thoughts of Jodi Cobb and her presentation of photographs and life experiences were overwhelmingly positive. I entered into this experience thinking that I knew a great deal about women’s issues and various cultures, but Cobb brought that to an even deeper level, as well as making the experience visually pleasing. The way she views her life and the world is amazing, and it’s hard to believe that any one person could experience so much in one lifetime. She truly has a passion for photography and journalism, and shares her talents with others to enjoy, and I am very pleased she did. Jodi Cobb was so engaging and showed the audience that you can pursue your passion while also helping others and being active in global issues, which is something my generation is greatly in need of.

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To be acknoledged:

Goldberg, Eleanor. "Super Bowl Is Single Largest Human Trafficking Incident In U.S.: Attorney General." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.

"The Body Project: Body & Beauty Standards." Bradley University. Bradley University, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.