Waves of Feminism

I bought this book in a charity shop the other day, and have found it very useful.

I just wanted to write a little more about feminism, and talk about what change it promoted. I will then go on to analyse issues regarding how women are represented in contemporary media.

What is feminism?

'Women demanding their full rights as human beings!'
(Watkins, et. al, 1992)

Splitting feminism up into 3 different stages helps to understand the development of the movement, that is inevitably continual. First wave feminism came into existence in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Women were men's property and it was common knowledge that they experienced rape and physical abuse within marriage. Women were expected to ''obey'' and were considered intellectually inferior, physically weak and dependant on men. There was always an ideal beauty. In relation to the representation of women at this time, they were seen objects own, and be used only for sex, childbearing and unpaid household work. There was always an ideal beauty, and at this time, it was women with tiny waists but voluptuous bodies. 'Women's clothing symbolised their constricted lives' (Wojtczak, H). In relation to the media, which was the newspaper at this time, women fought for coverage.

Second wave feminism dramatically came to attention in 1960/1970's. Between the very first realisations and now, there had been two world wars, which gave women significant empowerment whilst men fought overseas. They took on 'masculine' job roles and were expected to return to their domestic lifestyles afterwards, or which some rebelled. In the 60/70's some changes had already been made, but women were still believed to be emotional, irrational, weak and expected to 'serve' their husbands. Now that women were able to be employed, they fought for more equal job opportunities and equal pay.

In relation to my project, feminist artists critiqued the position of women artists. They questioned what was considered women's art, and how 'feminine' arts/crafts were considered unimportant, whilst focus was on the paintings and sculptures of male artists. They identified this exclusion and fought against it. Women were restricted from becoming artists, and those that had been, were typically ignored by the patiarchal society. This made it hard to convince society that women could be successful artists, as the male dominated industry simply did not believe it was possible/should be possible for women to do so.

At this time, women were also analysing and raising awareness of how sexist the media is toward females. Second wave feminism challenged women being forced to adhere to unrealistic beauty ideals. Feminists critiqued the 'male gaze'.
'Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at'
(Berger, J. 1972).
Women were objectified and used for their visual value throughout all kinds of media. Their bodies disembodied and used to sell products. Usually, as women were only really beginning to make their way into the creative industries, the advertising agencies were predominately male employers/employees. This had a dramatic influence on how women were represented in the mass media.

Second wave feminism is one of the most renowned points in the revolution when it comes to art. Artists I have researched throughout this blog, from this period, include Judy Chicago, Georgia O'keeffe, Barbara Kruger and Yoko Ono. Judy Chicago's, The Dinner Party, 1974-1979, is a world famous piece of feminist art and one of the most important of this time.



The Guerrilla Girls, who formed in 1985, made protest art against the dramatic inequality in the art world. Their posters used humour but made strong statements about the position of women artists at that time. A well known poster states ''Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?'', whilst another says ''When racism and sexism are no longer fashionable, what will your art collection be worth?''.

Third wave feminism is thought to have started in the 1980's and continues up to present date. Although women have come a long way, for example women can now vote, there is a better legal system protecting women's rights, marriage is not forced and women are working successfully in previously male-dominated jobs, Third wave feminism deals with many issues that are familiar to the previous stages of the revolution. This includes fighting for equal pay, equal opportunities (in and out of employment), equal coverage in the media and equal civil and political rights. Feminists also fight for more inclusion and equal opportunities of black, lesbian and bisexual women. After 1980's feminist brought forward the realisation that it wasn't only women that were disregarded in the art world. It was also women of different ethnicity's and different sexual orientations.

In relation to my project, third wave feminism is also concerned with how women are represented in the mass media. Women are still treated as objects, used for their visual value. The male gaze is still extremely relevant in regards to women and women still have a huge pressure to adhere to unrealistic beauty ideals portrayed in the media. I will continue to analyse contemporary issues relative to this.

Katie Miller

I was looking up artists with autism (as I seem to do in my spare time!) and I came across Katie Miller. She is based in Maryland, and makes extremely impressive artwork. A recent series of hers, 'The fancy of BABES', is a range of paintings of young children, deliberately sexualized, with fake tan, belly button rings, make-up, revealing clothing etc. She is interested in the rapidly marketed children's toys that promote this early obsession with image and the forced adult beauty that saturates children. She exaggerates this in her paintings, through 'artistic characterizations of the consumer-driven hype that fuels the commercial sexualization of children' (Smith, J. L., 20011). Miller uses a realist approach, borderline with hyper-realism, but with odd features that definitely keep the viewer intrigued.

Gnaw

As part of my studio work, I am thinking about using lard (big deal for someone who is vegan) with my barbie dolls to create something that looks quite disgusting. I have found this piece very interesting - Janine Antoni created this feminist sculpture by biting into 600lbs of chocolate and 600lbs of lard. 1992.

Exterior

Our image is determined by who we are,
but our image can be detached from ourselves

Our image is something we can use to express,
or something we use to hide behind

Our is image is something to love and care for,
or something we hate and ignore

Our image is the visual interpretation
of our body

Our body is the physical representation
of our form

Our form encases ourselves

Our thoughts, feelings, aspirations, insecurities
live within our image

Our image is external
Our image does not determine who we are

Poem: Louiza Hamidi

Photograph: Self Portrait

Portrayal of women in TV advertising

I am reading essays from 'Mediated Women, Representations in Popular Culture', another book I have borrowed from the library.

The first essay that caught my eye, was one entitled 'The Portrayal of women in television advertising', written by Carolyn Lin. She analysed studies of gender role portrayals of women in TV commercials. She write about how women are frequently shown as 'stay at home mothers' and usually come across as incapable of making a decision without a man. Women are put down or 'kept in their place', and are presented as primarily concerned with raising a family.

I have learnt that there are 'levels of media sexism' (Pingree et al, 1976) which separate the different roles that women play in advertisements and other forms of media. Level 1 is when the model is nothing more than a sex-symbol or a decorative item in the ad. She is only apparent for her visual value, and this is usually to sell a product. This kind of media sexism, usually involves the disembodiment of the female body. The woman is objectified and is almost sold with the product.

Level 2 is when women are portrayed in 'strickty traditional' roles, the stereotypical female 'home-maker'. This can be any kind of household task - cleaning, cooking, laundry etc. It also includes all women portrayed as 'stay at home' mothers. This traditional stereotype sees women as primarily responsible for bringing children up and depending on a man to go out to work to financially support her and the family. It gives the impression that women don't have the ability to work full-time jobs and that they don't have other concerns or aspirations outside of raising children.

Level 3 caters for women who are seen in a profession, but their first place is at home. This was named 'chiefly traditions' (Pingree et al). This level includes adverts that portray women as working and having a more equal role in society to their male counterparts, but having to come home to cook the dinner and complete other household tasks. This kind of media sexism allows for women to have more independence and control over their own lives, but on top of that, has the responsibility of traditional tasks in the home.

Level 4 treats women as equal to men, with no gender-roles present. These kind of advertisements include those which present both a woman and a man making a joint decision about something. It includes no sex-specific stereotypes and the message that is sent presents equality between both male and female counterparts.

A point that Lin makes is a finding from a previous study.
 "Reid and Soley (1983) also found that interest in the product type is more influential in getting males to read ad copy, than the presence of an attention-getting, decorative female model in the ad"
(Carolin Lyn, Meyers, M)

This evaluation of a study gives such an insight into how advertisements work, and if presenting a women, half naked or in a sexual manner does not effect the product sales, then I don't understand why this still takes place in the media industry so much. It is doing nothing more than damaging the self esteem of many women and allowing men to have less respect for women who don't offer themselves as visual value. Children who are exposed to these images and messages in the media, grow up believing this is what it is to be a woman, and that this is what is expected them from society and even from their male counterparts.

I have learnt a lot from this essay and I am now understanding how this subject is huge, and how my research project will easily become too broad if I don't specify what I want to look at. From Lin's essay, I have learnt that women have been objectified for decades and decades into the past, and that this is an ongoing theme in media sexism. I didn't realise so many studies were completed throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's, analysing how women are represented in TV advertising. It is quite surprising to see that this much work and effort has been poured into gender equality in TV commercials, and still women are used as a decorative component or presented only in a traditional way.

What is Feminism?

'Feminism is not a singular approach but a broad umbrella term for a diverse number of positions and strategies amongst women involved in the production, distribution and consumption of art. The contributors include critics, curators, academics and artsits. Each explores a different aspect of women's art practice, feminist art criticism and women's role in the art world in the late 1980's and early 1990's.'
(Deepwell, K., New Feminist Art Criticism)

This quote explores the idea that feminism cannot simply be defined from one point of view, or one position in society. Feminism is such a large revolution, that encompasses all aspects of our culture. In terms of a revolution, feminism is based on social, political and economical equality for women. Women fight for gender equality and for their contributions to be valued. Feminism rejects the boundaries associated with, and discrimination against gender, sexual orientation and marital status. It is a movement, which means that it is working towards specific goals.

Feminism can be supported by women, men, girls and boys. It is not only women who wish to be treated better, who are feminists. Anyone in society can promote the values and beliefs that feminism highlights. Feminists have worked towards improving employment opportunities, education opportunities, the right to vote, equal pay etc. More specific to my project, feminism has also fought for equal opportunities in the creative arts industries (including employment and education), equal pay for women's art, equal coverage in the media, a more realistic representation of women, the rejection of objectification of women in advertising and the rejection of disembodiment of women's bodies.

My Photography

I made some photographs that presented manipulating text that I had found from the media. The text was used to sell products, and more importantly, to sell the illusion of perfection, and what that supposedly will bring us. I thought that taking the text away from the advertisement that it was originally collaborating with, and presenting it on its own, would make viewers focus solely on the words. I wanted people to see how damaging and horrific the messages that we see can be. Reading them as they stand alone made me realise how we may not consciously be aware of what we are being told, but sub-consciously, all of these messages can have dramatic effects to our minds. The images I made were deliberately simple. I wanted the viewer to fully focus on the text, and not have their eye drawn to an area of the photo that may be attention seeking. I hoped that these image could create a conversation with the viewer.

I then decided to put the phrases back into some form of context. I thought about places in our day-to-day lives where are conscious mind might prescribe us with emotions linked to these messages. I wanted to use the words in places where we usually would not see them, but places where we may have related thoughts. I want to present the idea that these damaging messages that society pushes and pushes on us, do not only effect us during the few minutes of adverts between TV shows, the moments that a billboard is within our view, or the second we flick the magazine page... They can effect us all day, everyday. They pollute our minds with forced concepts of viewing ourselves and others. They work their magic when we don't even realise - when we step into the bath, when we open the fridge. Creating these messages in relation to my own personal space has been quite a therapeutic activity. I understand that when these messages become so deeply ingrained into the mind, people can find it so hard to detach themselves from them. This is unhealthy, and is exactly what mass media wants.

Lose to Win

You can never be too Thin

It's all about Starvation

Nothing tastes as good as Skinny feels

The more you Subtract, The more you Add

Eat paper Lose weight

It's hard to be a Little girl, if you're not

I have edited the light and colour balance of my photographs.

My artwork

In the studio, I am currently exploring ideas and making work about the illusion of perfection of women's bodies in the media. Bit of a mouthful, but basically how the images and messages we are exposed to everyday, constantly tell us what we should consider beautiful and what should be considered as 'imperfect'. The bodies that we see are a false perception of females - the majority have been dramatically photoshopped and they continue to only use one body type. That body type is said to only count for about 5% of women, excluding the other 95% of us. We are told that we are not good enough, through masses of pictures and text. We are made to feel that our image is supposed to be the most important thing, and that achieving the 'perfect' appearance criteria will bring us everything we desire... happiness, success, sexuality, etc.

It's damaging in so many ways to women, both consciously and subconsciously, but also it effects men. They can be manipulated into believing that only women of a certain look are attractive, and it can make them look at females for only their visual value. Men lose respect for women and women lose respect for themselves. I hate that our society is brainwashed with this whole idea of 'perfection'.

Photograph: Self Portrait

Photograph: Self Portrait

Oil pastel: Self Portrait

Cut Piece

Yoko Ono's Cut Piece, was a piece of performance art, performed July 20th 1964. Yoko Ono knelt on stage for a period of time, and asked members of the audience to come up one by one, and cut off a piece of her dress. At first people were quite intimidated by the idea, cutting only small amounts from around the sleeves, but after people lost some of their inhibitions, larger pieces were cut.
Yoko Ono's piece explores crossing boundaries, and questions what those boundaries are and why they are there. The performance piece is one of many that can also be interpreted to respond to ideas about violence against women. 1964 was around the start of the second-wave feminism revolution.