El cine de Pedro Almodóvar: de óptico a háptico, de gay a ‘new queer’

This essay addresses the shift in Pedro Almodóvar’s cinema from an attempt in his early films to deconstruct the hegemonic cinematic gaze through an inversion of traditional gender roles, to an effort to reproduce a tactile visuality that characterizes his later works. Both the destruction of scopophilia in his first (pink) pe­riod, and the hapticity of his blue period, correspond to two different moments of resistance in the hegemony of the heterosexual male gaze. This evolution parallels an epistemological shift towards a new reconfigura­tion of sexual identities. By abandoning his early essentialist discourse, which was based on playfully rigid gender categories (i.e. homosexuality vs. heterosexuality) and which sought to subvert the heteronormative status quo, Almodóvar embraces a new antiessentialism that points towards a more complex destabilization of identities. He overcomes gender binarism through his “pan-sexualization”: the crossing of gender divi­sions and the positioning of sexual identities within ambivalent contexts, moving toward the indeterminacy of the new queer.Este artículo estudia el desplazamiento en el cine de Pedro Almodóvar desde un intento de deconstruc­ción de la mirada cinematográfica hegemónica, por medio de unas inversiones en la asignación de los papeles de género tradicionales en sus primeras películas, hacia un intento de reproducción de una vi­sualidad táctil que caracteriza sus últimos trabajos. En ambos casos, tanto la destrucción de la escopofilia propuesta por Mulvey, como la visualidad táctil estudiada por Marks, constituyen en el cine de Almodó­var dos formas diferentes de resistencia a la hegemonía de la mirada heterosexual masculina. Más aún, esta evolución corresponde a un cambio epistemológico hacia una nueva reconfiguración de las identi­dades sexuales. Desde un discurso esencialista basado en categorías genéricas lúdicamente rígidas, que pretendía transgredir y subvertir el statu quo heteronormativo en las primeras películas, Almodóvar pasa a un antiesencialismo que apunta a una más compleja desestabilización identitaria, que supera binaris­mos genéricos dentro de su «pan-sexualization»: el cruzar las barreras de género, posicionando la identi­dad sexual en contextos a menudo movedizos y ambivalentes, hacia la indeterminación de la categoría queer

Technologies of Age: The Intersection of Feminist Film Theory and Aging Studies

Aging studies is a relatively new discipline, and its intersection with feminist film theory can lead to fundamental methodological and theoretical rethinking, in particular, the notion of cinema as a powerful technology of age. This essay provides an account of the ageism that permeates Western societies vis-à-vis the place of aging and gender in visual culture. In light of contemporary feminist conceptualizations of aging and aging narratives, this essay aims to propose possible new directions that cinema and feminist film theory can take as part of a new epistemological framework. It also explores new theoretical paradigms from an intersectional perspective aimed at deconstructing ageism in the film industry. Finally, by focusing on female aging narratives in several non-mainstream film productions, this essay advocates moving away from the binary approach of aging as either decline or success, and it suggests new, affirmative ways of looking at aging bodies, and of understanding old age

An accented video way of thinking: Becoming videoessay

“An accented video way of thinking: Becoming videoessay” explores the videoessay as a conceivably “accented” form. (I prefer the spelling “videoessay” —a sort of accented choice, given that it echoes the Spanish “videoensayo”— to better convey a sense of seamless integration between video and essay.) In Thinking with an Accent, Pooja Rangan et al. (2023) argue that the accent should be understood not as a way of speaking but as a mode of thought. Two decades earlier, in Accented Cinema, Hamid Naficy used the term “accented” to describe a mode of film production that shapes filmmakers’ “feelings as thought” into an alternative “accented style” (2001, 26). Expanding on these ideas, I propose to consider the position of the videoessay in relation to traditional (i.e. accent-less) scholarship, its imperfect mode of production, and the affective engagement of the “cinephiliac” videoessayist with the media object (Keathley 2000, Grant 2014, 2016). By foregrounding the accented nature of the videoessay form, I suggest that the videoessay represents not only a “video way of thinking”, as Spatz (2018) has indicated, but an accented video way of thinking. In Deleuzian terms, I propose that the videoessay, as an accented practice and epistemology, uses the transforming force of “becoming” (devenir) (1994a, 1994b) to redefine the boundaries and the discourses of the supposedly “accentless” film and media scholarship, thus “deterritorializing” it to make it accented. Through three different segments, not meant to be watched in any specific order, I explore the accented dimensions of the videoessay’s sound (the echo, the stutter, the index of unbelonging, the simulacrum), surface (the haptic shudder, the textural affect-driven style), and thought (the becoming minoritarian, the shifting of the maker) toward a counter-hegemonic onto-epistemology of videographic criticism

La desapropiación de la escritora. De la angelización a la ginofagia

Este artículo muestra las diferentes etapas por las que pasaron las mujeres y las protagonistas en la imaginación literaria masculina durante los últimos dos siglos, y cómo las escritoras españolas han intentado deconstruir estos estereotipos. Los autores masculinos, obsesionados con el "riesgo de la sexualidad femenina”, representaron sus personajes femeninos primero como seres asexuales, angélicos, más tarde como adúlteras, y finalmente como femmes fatales. Denegaron a las mujeres escritoras un lugar dentro del canon literario hasta que, paradójicamente, cobraron cierta importancia en la época franquista

Crosslinked Poly(Methyl Vinyl Ether-Co-Maleic Anhydride) as Topical Vehicles for Hydrophilic and Lipophilic Drugs

Poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) crosslinked with ethylene glycol (GZ-ET), 1,4-butanediol (GZ-BUT), 1,6-exandiol (GZ-EX), 1,8-octanediol (GZ-OCT), 1,10-decanediol (GZ-DEC) or 1,12-dodecanediol (GZ-DOD) was prepared and employed as a supporting material for aqueous topical gels containing pyridoxine hydrochloride (PYCL) chosen as a hydrophilic model molecule or for O/A emulsion containing beta-carotene chosen as a hydrophobic model molecule. We analyzed the effect of the nature of the crosslinker on the permeation of hydrophilic and lipophilic vitamins through porcine skin by in vitro permeation studies. The vehicles formed by crosslinked poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) showed enhanced vitamins permeation with respect to the same vehicles formed by noncrosslinked poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) (GZ). The decrease in the crosslinker acyl chain length provides vehicles accelerating the drug permeability through the skin

Poly(Vinylalcohol-Co-Vinyloleate) for the Preparation of Micelles Enhancing Retinyl Palmitate Transcutaneous Permeation

The amphiphilic properties of poly(vinylalcohol) substituted with oleic acid was evaluated to assess the possibility to prepare polymeric micelles in an aqueous phase containing a hydrophobic core able to host lipophilic drugs such as retinyl palmitate and thereby enhance its transcutaneous absorption in the stratum corneum. The effect of the increased drug absorption suggests the possibility of interaction between the substituted polymer and the components present in the intercorneocyte spaces. Correlations between the drug concentration in the preparative mixture, micelle size, and drug permeation were evaluated to establish the best functional properties of the micellar systems enhancing retinyl palmitate absorption. Transcutaneous absorption increased with decreasing micelle size, and micelle size decreased on decreasing the drug concentration in the preparative mixture

Sample preparation strategy for the detection of steroid-like compounds using MALDI mass spectrometry imaging: pulmonary distribution of budesonide as a case study

10openInternationalItalian coauthor/editorCorticosteroids as budesonide can be effective in reducing topic inflammation processes in different organs. Therapeutic use of budesonide in respiratory diseases, like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and allergic rhinitis is well known. However, the pulmonary distribution of budesonide is not well understood, mainly due to the difficulties in tracing the molecule in lung samples without the addition of a label. In this paper, we present a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging protocol that can be used to visualize the pulmonary distribution of budesonide administered to a surfactant-depleted adult rabbit. Considering that budesonide is not easily ionized by MALDI, we developed an on-tissue derivatization method with Girard’s reagent P followed by ferulic acid deposition as MALDI matrix. Interestingly, this sample preparation protocol results as a very effective strategy to raise the sensitivity towards not only budesonide but also other corticosteroids, allowing us to track its distribution and quantify the drug inside lung samples.openZecchi, Riccardo; Franceschi, Pietro; Tigli, Laura; Amidani, Davide; Catozzi, Chiara; Ricci, Francesca; Salomone, Fabrizio; Pieraccini, Giuseppe; Pioselli, Barbara; Mileo, ValentinaZecchi, R.; Franceschi, P.; Tigli, L.; Amidani, D.; Catozzi, C.; Ricci, F.; Salomone, F.; Pieraccini, G.; Pioselli, B.; Mileo, V

Surfactant-assisted distal pulmonary distribution of Budesonide revealed by mass spectrometry imaging

13openInternationalBothDirect lung administration of budesonide in combination with surfactant reduces the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Although the therapy is currently undergoing clinical development, the lung distribution of budesonide throughout the premature neonatal lung has not yet been investigated. Here, we applied mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) to investigate the surfactant-assisted distal lung distribution of budesonide. Unlabeled budesonide was either delivered using saline as a vehicle (n = 5) or in combination with a standard dose of the porcine surfactant Poractant alfa (n = 5). These lambs were ventilated for one minute, and then the lungs were extracted for MSI analysis. Another group of lambs (n = 5) received the combination of budesonide and Poractant alfa, followed by two hours of mechanical ventilation. MSI enabled the label-free detection and visualization of both budesonide and the essential constituent of Poractant alfa, the porcine surfactant protein C (SP-C). 2D ion intensity images revealed a non-uniform distribution of budesonide with saline, which appeared clustered in clumps. In contrast, the combination therapy showed a more homogeneous distribution of budesonide throughout the sample, with more budesonide distributed towards the lung periphery. We found similar distribution patterns for the SP-C and budesonide in consecutive lung tissue sections, indicating that budesonide was transported across the lungs associated with the exogenous surfactant. After two hours of mechanical ventilation, the budesonide intensity signal in the 2D ion intensity maps dropped dramatically, suggesting a rapid lung clearance and highlighting the relevance of achieving a uniform surfactant-assisted lung distribution of budesonide early after delivery to maximize the anti-inflammatory and maturational effects throughout the lungopenZecchi, Riccardo; Franceschi, Pietro; Tigli, Laura; Pioselli, Barbara; Mileo, Valentina; Murgia, Xabier; Salomone, Fabrizio; Pieraccini, Giuseppe; Usada, Haruo; Schmidt, Augusto F; Hillman, Noah H.; Kemp, Matthew W.; Jobe, Alan H.Zecchi, R.; Franceschi, P.; Tigli, L.; Pioselli, B.; Mileo, V.; Murgia, X.; Salomone, F.; Pieraccini, G.; Usada, H.; Schmidt, A.F.; Hillman, N.H.; Kemp, M.W.; Jobe, A.H