Feminism

3rd wave Feminist theories on critiquing and deconstructing authority,

institutions, and ideologies that treat women unfairly

An Investigation into its role in art for AS 3.4

Artwork: Allegiance by Barbara Kruger (Detail)

The Main Principles

1.Body

2.Religion

3.Sex

4.Knowledge

That the above are used/abused by men to treat women unfairly and immorally. In art they are all addressed as the main areas of anti-woman oppression.

BODY• That women should have more power of their own

bodies in issues like legal abortion and contraception.• Cases of domestic violence must be taken more

seriously, abuse of your wife should be the same as abuse of anyone else.

• It was not until 1972 that women were given the right to use contraception outside marriage.

• The case ‘Roe v. Wade’ made abortion legal for the first time in some US states in 1973.

From- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_theory#Bodies

RELIGION• That the main religious institutions of the western world

aim to re-establish women’s role as subordinate to men. • “Religion has been used since time immemorial to justify

genocide, bigotry, thievery. It's being used right now in the United States to restore the white man to his traditional position as unchallenged head of business and home.”1

Or “that man is dominant party in marriage by God’s Will”2

1-Lilith Adler, Cited from http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/contemporary/LilithAdler-ArtistsStatements.html.

2- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_theory#Epistemologies

Hatred by Lilith Adler 1998

• Shown in feminist art by Christian icons, proportional sizes (With men larger than women) or text related to religion.

SEX

1- Lilith Adler cited http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/contemporary/LilithAdler-ArtistsStatements.html.

Enforcement by Lilith Adler 1996

• Depiction of women as pure and virginal (with white clothing, blonde hair, and carefully groomed) and men as strong and protective (hard bone structure and dark colours). Relates to men seeing women as helpless and needing protection, and also the male desire for sex with virgins.

• Male society make women dress in ways that sexualise them. This is shown in art by exaggeration of the ‘S’ curve in the spine (reminiscent of mammalian lordosis- a sexual response of spine arching) and by tight fitting clothing like the pencil skirt that accentuates curves.

• That men use sex to “maintain the social hierarchy within a relationship”, that women who have their own agenda merely have not yet found a man “dominant enough to master her”1. This is perceived as immoral and unfair.

• That the female is rendered in art with her body as an object of beauty and lust. She has no mind of her own, no brain. This has been used as an excuse for trading women as commodities and treating them as objects.

KNOWLEDGE

• “Those who have privileges inevitably hold on to them, and hold tight, no matter how marginal the advantage involved, until compelled to bow to superior power of one sort or another.” “As far as scholarship is concerned, how many men would be willing to change their jobs as teachers and researchers for those of unpaid, part-time research assistants and typists as well as full-time nannies and domestic workers?”1

1- from ‘Why Have There Been No Great Woman Artists’ by Linda Nochlin

That knowledge and power is kept from women by a male society that keeps its accrued positions.

Untitled Poster by the Guerrilla Girls 1990

Barbara Kruger ‘Untitled’ 1989

In this artwork we see some key features that significant to the feminist principles I have outlined.•The model of whom the picture is taken is classically beautiful, white, and plain. This is important because it reflects how men make women an object of beauty.•The person has been cleaned up and prepared for the photo. Her hair is pulled back cleanly, her eyebrows are perfectly plucked, her lipstick applied skilfully. This is evidence of men making women dress a certain way.•The vertical division of the picture by the negative and positive sides is bilateral symmetry, a hallmark of patriarchal beauty imposition. As is the division in thirds of the picture by the three text blocks.•The negative and positive halves are symbolic of the battle between women’s rights activists and anti-abortion, anti-contraception conservatives.•The text itself is a message of the activist’s call for control over her own body in relation to abortion and contraception.

1- http://www.artandculture.com/users/63-barbara-kruger

Barbara Kruger ‘Untitled’ 1989

This artwork deals with the contentious issue of a woman’s right to her body. The slogan “Your Body is a Battleground” refers to the battle being held in the United States (and worldwide) between anti-abortion, anti-contraception conservatives and the women’s rights activists. The divisions in half by the negative and in thirds by the text are a critique on the established concept that beauty is defined by bilateral symmetry and perfect thirds. This perfectly primmed up woman is saying that women are not really like this, that this is a perversion (hence the negative half, the dark the evil). “Her art uses our willingness to receive media’s messages against us in order to alert us to our collusion in cultural group think”1

This artwork most strongly relates to the principles of feminism I defined as ‘Body’ and ‘Sex’. It deals with the abortion and contraception ideas in ‘Body’, and the perception of female beauty in ‘Sex’. The message of this work is one of protest and one of rallying. This work confronts the ‘morally righteous’ white upper class with the loud and intelligent female voice of independence that they have tried to ignore. It demands a woman’s right to control over her body and it demands change in how women are seen as objects of beauty. However this work is also addressed at the women of the world. It rallies women to stand up for themselves. It says “This is not the perfect women” and it asks them “Why do you need to look like this?”. The strong look of the woman in the image tells activists to be hard and unrelenting until fairness is gained.

Lilith Adler ‘Worship’ 1996

Adler’s work contains a number of features that are important to the feminist art theory.•The man in the inset image is in black, the women are in white. This establishes the man as the strong protective figure, and the women as helpless, mindless, and virginal.•The man is physically bigger than the women in the image, this makes him seem the dominant party – the more important person.•The women have an ‘S’ shaped curve and drape their arms around the man. They are therefore sexualised and directing that sexuality at the man (rather than empowering themselves). •The orange text contrasts the blue image. While the first impression is the inset image, the message of it is subverted by the contrasting text that confronts men with the uncomfortable truth.•The man stares at us while the women stare at him. The viewer is only on equal level with the man because he looks at us, the women are only involved with the man in the image. This related to man being dominant and superior (according to God’s will).•The thirds created by the text and the grey on cream background relate to the classical design concept of the rule of thirds. This is a ironic usage, critiquing the standard of beauty perpetuated by media and advertising.

Lilith Adler ‘Worship’ 1996

This artwork by Lilith Adler combines a pithy slogan with an image of a man being doted on by two pretty women. He stares directly at us, proud and strong, while the women are only interested in him. The blue tone of the inset image is complementary to the bright orange writing, making it stand out but seem connected. The statement ‘Her worship is the foundation of your manhood’ is directed at the viewer, though is referential to the man in the image. It asserts that men measure their self worth by the adoration of women, it confronts men with the concept that if their woman did not love them they would be nothing. However it also illustrates how men only see women as objects of lust, and not as full human beings. These relate to the principles of ‘Sex’ in that the man maintains his position in this relationship by making the woman pay him more attentions than he does her (intercourse is implied). This in turn relates to the ‘Religion’ concept that man is the dominant party by God’s will. A concept also reflected in the proportional size of the man greater than the women, the man as the protector with strong cheek bones and a brave face, and the women in white clothing like maidens in distress.

Additional Images for Task 5

Rationalisation 1996 – Lilith Adler

Help 1992 –Barbara Kruger

Hatred by Lilith Adler 1998

Enforcement by Lilith Adler 1996

Man in a Polyester Suit 1990 – Robert Mapplethorpe

Questions 1991 Barbara Kruger

Additional Images for Task 5

The Dinner Party 1979 Judy Chicago. Below- Detail

Untitled Poster 1989 – The Guerrilla Girls

‘Everyone I Have Every Slept With 1963-1995’ 1995 – Tracey Emin.

‘I Wanted You’ 2009 – Tracey Emin ‘Bunny Gets Snookered’ 1997- Sarah Lucas

Additional Images for Task 5

‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’ 2000 – Sarah Lucas