4) Discuss the implications of the following image for cultural studies and the process of signification (semiotics): https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmMvO-Rs6070cyhR_SyEYuAFh3Wcsly1L7FOey1ITJFn10xZlvHpxxcsRZMedibDFjCo9d0IbnI8EhLtDj5_PWvDpCD0zs1DsEu_Wkp9pLsdZjcqSoFhWkbeySqxyORBtLe27Unbar4ZY/s320/fs_Magritte_Pipe.jpg (50-75 words)
The picture above is of René Magritte’s Pipe reading “This is not a pipe” underneath the picture in French. This painting is making a statement about the signifiers of masculinity. The process of signification, or semiotics, is the study of the signifier to what is signified (i.e., the denotation versus the connotation). Semiotics looks at what a word implies rather than what it actually means. With Magritte’s Pipe, he is questioning the pipe’s connotation of masculinity, asking “do you need to smoke a pipe in order to be a man?” This type of myth construction isn’t just unique to men though. Women have their own signifiers of femininity like dresses or aprons.
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