Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: In this contribution, I explore the affordances of videographic criticism for feminist activism by dissecting a specific incident of power imbalance and toxic entitlement: the non-consensual kiss that the president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, inflicted upon player Jenni Hermoso during the official ceremony for Spain’s victory in the Women’s Soccer World Cup in August 2023. Through a supercut set to the romantic song ‘As Time Goes By’ from Casablanca, mimicking the fanvid format, the video essay—”A Kiss is Not Just a Kiss” ( https://vimeo.com/908473856 )—juxtaposes footage of Rubiales’ kiss with representations of non-consensual kisses in mainstream films, where the woman reciprocates the kiss after a brief resistance. Slow-motion, zooming-in and repetition of the same narrative disrupt and challenge the normalization of sexual aggression. By selecting films, including animation features, that span seven decades (from 1937 to 2007), I aim to highlight the persistent nature of the issue. The superimposition of Jenni Hermoso’s voice interrupts the kisses, and a glitch with the text ‘System error’ obscures the action, arguing that the incident is part of a broader systemic problem of entrenched naturalization of sexual violence.
Author: Barbara Zecchi
Institution: University of Massachusetts Amherst
Language: English
Topic: Gender, Feminism, and Media
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
Award: G5805502524
OpenAlex ID: W4402733237