Identify and discuss some of the ways gender is brought to the fore by two visual artists of the early second wave period. Your answer should also consider the criticism and debates surrounding their work.
Introduction
Feminism refers to the advocacy for women. This is comprised of a wide-ranging anthology of social theories, moral philosophies and political movements drawing motivation from the political, economic and social experiences of women. Concurrently, as social movement, feminism revolves around the advocacy of women’s rights. As a theoretical perspective, feminism covers diverse views and opinions. Some feminist activists focus on the documentation of cases of gender inequality, other focus on the gender roles and relations proliferating in different social contexts, while others criticize the gender oppressive representation of women in various media such as music, literature and the arts. However, regardless of the different focus on feminist activism, all these are geared towards the advocacy of women’s rights implying the need for change, ranging from reformism to radicalism. (2003)
Feminist theory has evolved through the past century through the three waves of feminism. First wave feminism refers to the specific advocacy for women’s suffrage in the early 19th century. Second-wave feminism during the 1960s focused on gender equality requiring greater political action for the improvement of women’s rights covering the acquiescence of lesbian women inside the movement. The second wave is associated with radical feminist theory. Third wave feminism which begun in the 1990s focused on expanding perceptions of sexuality and gender and the advocacy for the inclusion of women in areas traditionally dominated by men. (2003)
Gender, Visual Artists & Feminist Criticism in the Early Second Wave Period
Second wave feminist theories focused on the advocacy and activism towards economic equality of the genders, particularly the consideration and respect of the rights of women as and in minority groups. Theories during the second wave are relatively radical compared to the previous wave of feminist theories.
is an emerging artist during the start of the second wave period and has incorporated symbolisms of feminism into her work. (2002) Her gender advocacy through art traverse the spectrum ranging from her inclusion of feminine content into her work and evolved into more obvious gender representations. Although her consideration of gender in her art was different prior to her feminist phase, there was still the effort to incorporate feminism into her work. In Pasadena Lifesavers-Red Series number 4 in 1969 to 1970, the visual image portrays torus-like figures comprised of octagonal outer form and circular inner borders with the circular borders evenly divided into 8 segments and the entire visual image painted in pastel tones. This work was intended to represent vaginal openings. Through the flower in 1973, visually presented through a circle painted in a dark color to represent a hole and the area surrounding the circle painted in reddish hues, was also intended to symbolize the female gender. In her other works, there was the representation of more obvious gender representations such as the There You Stand like a Palm and Erotic Cookies in 1967 showing the female and male figure engaged in intimate sexual visualizations. ( 2002)
Despite her intentions to contribute to the feminist movement through art during the early second wave period, her artistic representation of gender has not been spared from criticism. One of the stark criticisms of her work is the representation of women through their genital organs. Some of her work has been criticized as narrowly depicting gender, particularly the feminine. represented women through their gender identities, allegorically as flowers and sunbursts such as in The Dinner Party while men are represented as human figures having bodies and faces such as in The Powerplay Series. The criticism stems from the difference in representation, where women are depicted through their sexual organ and men as whole humans with bodies and faces alike and not through the male sexual organ. (1996)
This branches into two issues; one is the minimization of the female gender to representations of the female sexual organ. answered this issue by pointing out that her specific formulation of feminist art is not only limited to the vulva since her feminist philosophy considers the feminine in the metaphysical sphere, as active influences to society and not just passive observers of history.
The other issue is her representation of men. The male gender is represented as humans with bodies and distinct facial features and not through their sexual organs. However, their depiction was as the embodiment of both aggression and vulnerability. She used physiognomy to portray the emotions felt by the male gender, that of triumph, hatred, anger and fear. Apart from the difference in the representation of the genders, a criticism against some of her work is the limited constitution of the male psyche. (1996)
Despite the criticisms over the credibility of representation of gender in her work, it was apparent that the artist created art based on the core of the female experiences. The criticism over the representation of women through their sexual organ and men through physiognomy does not necessarily reflect upon her feminist artistic integrity. The portrayal of women through the female sexual organ reflects the emancipation of women from the bondage of inequalities imposed by the male dominated society. The representation of men through physiognomy is used to reflect the common human characteristics of both male and female of being open to a range of emotions.
is an artist using various media whose work takes root from her philosophical links to feminism. Her art also passed through stages concurrent with her definition and redefinition of feminist art. Her work portrays gender by using the female body as the canvas in rewriting female identity together with an offensively bold stand towards the truths of the male dominated society (2001). Due to her preoccupation with rituals (1993), her earlier work coinciding with early second wave feminism, her work during this period revolved around mythic art and the supporting perspective that addressing patriarchy lies in the development of a space centered on women.
Staying true to mythic artistic visualization, played with this notion in her work. Her altered photographs in the 1970s showed a collage of her naked body in black-and-white arranged to show different ritual poses. In one pose, her photograph is reincarnated into Wonder Woman, a symbol of female strength and heroism. Through different strokes, her body changed into an animal or metamorphosed into an animal-headed goddess. In particular, she was transformed into Baubo, the pre-Greco affiliate of Demeter and into a Sheela-na-gig, carving of the female body with an emphasized vulva, transformations portraying irreverence and playfulness that were denied to women. transcends the visualization of the female nude body as a sexual object of gratification in the male perspective. Moreover, her work explores the probable sources of feminine power contained in matriarchal history. (2001)
work during the early second wave feminist period was also subject to criticism by feminist theory. Her preoccupation with mythic representations was criticized as romantic and reductive. Romantic referred to her portrayal of the female gender and women in fantastic, adventurous or picturesque ways, far from the social reality of women. Her engagement into the mythic instead of the realist consideration of the feminine was seen by feminists as a deviation from real gender issues. Reductive pertained to her diminution or curtailment of gender issues by proposing the creation of a mythic woman-centered world as a solution to gender inequalities. (1997;1998) Although, the extreme view of shifting society towards a more matriarchal world fits the radical feminist theories during this time, her utilization of myth to represent the matriarchal world did not positively fit into the context and reality based approach of the feminist movement during this time.
Although her artistic visualization of feminism may have faced criticisms by radical feminist during the early second feminist wave period, it cannot be denied that has contributed to the clarification of gender issues through her redefinition of the feminine through the power that women could hold in the matriarchal society. Had these hopes been linked and explored in the context of the social realities of women, then her artistic expression of the feminist could have attracted greater acceptability from radical feminism.
Conclusion
Feminist theory has evolved since its development and recognition as the foundation of the feminist movement starting more than a century ago. The early second wave feminist movement constituted the height of the sensitivities towards gender definitions and perspectives. It was during this time that the resistance to the patriarchal society was gaining intensity and the feminist movement was weary of misleading or reductive perspectives that could hamper the furtherance of the movement. Due to this atmosphere, various forms of feminist advocacy became subject to criticism, including feminist art.
and are two artists whose work has been subject to criticism during the early second feminist wave period. Chicago’s work was criticized as diminutive of the female gender through her symbolism of women as the female genital organ as flowers or sunbursts while ’s mythic perspective was criticized as deviating from social reality. Nevertheless, these artists contributed to the feminist movement by raising consciousness towards the need to redefine the genders in the context of social reality.
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