"Playing Possum" was Carly Simon's fifth album which was released in 1975. It reached the top ten of the best selling album charts that year, and the album still remains a favorite of many of Simon's fans today. What was so groundbreaking about "Playing Possum" was not it's success, but it's cover art, taken by photographer Norman Seeff. Pictured is a profile view of Carly Simon dacing on her knees, wearing only a lacy black teddy and knee-high black boots. Her fists are clenched by her sides and her hair is left loose, flowing down her back. The top part of her head is cropped off so her eyes are not visible.
When it was released in April 1975, "Playing Possum" caused lots of controversy. At that time, it was the most explicitly sexual photograph ever chosen for the cover art of any woman's album. Many people found it offensive; Sears Roebuck (a discount department store) banned the album, strangers would go up to Carly and tell her that she was obscene and disgusting. What many of these people overlooked though, was the true message that this picture sent. It was a bluntly erotic image of a woman asserting her own carnality, not being treated like a piece of meat. It was an image that defied the norm of women being the object, by making Simon the subject. Simon was proud of the image and told "Rolling Stone" magazine that "being attractive sexually is not something which I feel guilty about or embarrassed by in any way. I feel that it's great. I feel sexy when I wrote most of the songs on the album". The photograph asserted the idea of women taking charge and it was recieved both negatively and positively. Simon's album art served as an icon during the feminist movement of women taking control of their own sexuality.
Although this album could be seen as offensive or innappropriate it certainly does make a statement. It's interesting that she was portraying the stereotypical woman acting as a piece of meat or inferior to men, because that is not at all what I saw when I first saw the picture. Your use of quotes was really good, it showed how comfortable Carly Simon was with the album cover. You may want to include how this picture relates to the current music industry. In comparison to certain album covers today, this coverr could be seen as rather innocent. You may want to expand on the overreaction of companies given the time period, and how this would be seen as normal, or even expected from musicians.
ReplyDeleteAnna, this is great. Not only have you found a great image, but I think you'll be able to use most of this post in your final paper. I very clearly see how this might support your argument.
ReplyDeleteI like Aishling's suggestion about relating this to the contemporary music scene. Perhaps this is something you might do in your conclusion.