Joe Carter, over at First Things, blogs about an interesting trend in current book cover design—pictures of women with the eyes cut off.
In spite of one commenter who thinks it’s just a way to focus on… a different feature, I think there’s something more complex going on here.
Mystery is a very compelling quality, in men and women. I think there are still mystery men in our cultural world, but the mystery woman seems to have pretty much disappeared. Any woman who isn’t “in your face,” “letting it all hang out” is looked on as some kind of throwback to the Victorian era. Female movie stars used to keep their private lives private (the studios often made up entirely fictional biographies for them). They never showed up in public without make-up, and dressed to the nines. The mystery, the “glamor” (which comes from an Irish word meaning “a magical power to deceive”) was a major part of their allure. For most female stars today, a nude scene is a rite of passage, and their affairs and break-ups are conducted in front of a battery of cameras.
Where are the women on the book covers looking? Are their expressions quizzical, or frightened, or knowing, or arrogant? The mystery is intriguing. It draws you in. I’d be willing to wager psychologists suggested this design element, to get readers to think, unconsciously, “There’s mystery here. I must buy this book to find out what it is.”
I wonder if eye contact means as much to normal people as it does to me. Because of my shyness disorder, making eye contact is very difficult for me. I avoid it. (I expect some people think me dishonest because of it, which I regret.) I have to make a distinct effort to make eye contact. When I meet someone’s gaze, I feel almost as if I’d been shocked, as if a spark has been struck. And I feel vulnerable, as if I’d opened my door to a stranger. Even if the person is someone I know and have no reason to distrust.
The up side is, I live a life full of mystery.
I think you’re on to something. As a designer, the reason I may not want a woman’s face on the cover is because the more of her face you see, the more you are able to recognize or read into. Without her face, particularly the eyes, she can be more than one person–something of a mystery. If her whole face is visible, you can see that you don’t know that person or that she looks like someone you do know. That changes how you see the book cover.
This has been a trend in Romance covers for a while. Though, I noticed that it was the guys who were getting the severe haircuts. I first noticed the trend with Mr Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange. She’s an Austen-based writer who has done the diaries of several of the Austen heroes. For some unknown reason, Darcy is the only one who received the lop.
It’s an odd thing to do to the hero of a romance since women almost universally say it’s the eyes of a man that intrigue them most.
I really don’t like this cover. I assume her face wraps to the back cover, and I don’t like it.
life of mystery: ho ho ho. That’s one way to describe those for whom eye gaze stimulates the amygdala instead of the limbic system in the brain. It took a few decades, but I desensitized myself, and now I have to work on not staring.
Congratulations on that, Lelia. Amygdala and limbic system, huh?
It seems to me, having the eyes cut off allows a woman to put herself more readily in the role of the female character. If the eyes are revealed – if I see the entire face – clearly it’s not my face. But without the eyes, I can picture myself dressed as she is, poised as she is. She becomes me. Or I become her. The cover is promising both the mystery and private escape that motivate me to buy the book.
A very intriguing theory.
I realize this is a bit late in bringing this post back to the fore…. but, it was so obvious! Kinda hidden in plane sight!….I couldn’t just keep it to myself any longer!!
The reason none of the women on the covers of these books have their eyes not showing is as plain as the nose on your face!
None of these women have eyes!!! Call it a fluke of nature or something but…
It might have taken a while for me to figure this one out, but, by golly, the old investigator still has it!
Thanks so much, John. I think that will go down as one of the more bizarre non-spam comments we’ve ever gotten.
Aahhhh…. Lars, ya gotta use what the Good Lord has given you…..