Thursday, May 3, 2012

Final Exam- Gender Roles in Society


Both feminist artists, Judy Chicago and Lorna Simpson, have taken on the image of the woman’s vulnerability in different ways.  The role of women within society is a very objectified one; her role is traditionally to back up the man and these two artists display this idea and argue against this tradition. 

The photography of Lorna Simpson, particularly in the piece, You’re Fine, explores that role of women in society.  She has removed her from the home, a gender role greatly assumed of women; however, the woman is still figured as below the man. Taken in 1988, this picture is of a vulnerable woman’s silhouette laid out on what looks like a medical exam table.  This piece is powerful in how it speaks to the greatly diminished role of women in society.  Even though they were becoming more prominent in the work place at this time, it was still in secretarial positions, and this artwork makes one question what women are hired for, their brains or their bodies?  “While the numbers of employed women and women in active public life have increased, many spatial stereotypes and patterns of behavior remain” (Hayden, 226).  Simpson’s piece invokes social commentary and angers the viewer in the realization of how society thinks.
  You're Fine, 1988, Lorna Simpson

Women in terms of urban society are much more accepted today; however, there is still a stigma associated with women in positions over men.  “The working woman was no one urban man’s property (her father or husband had failed to keep her at home)” (Hayden, 226).  The role of women in urban society is a complex one. Professionals try and equate themselves with men, whereas others use their sex to their advantage, creating a double standard.  In order to overcome this double standard, “gender stereotypes must be eliminated form architecture, urban design, and graphic design in public space” (Hayden, 228).  One can see the gender stereotypes and difficulty to overcome them in Hyde’s, Running the Gauntlet.
      Running the Gauntlet, 1874, J.N. Hyde


Place setting of Georgia O'Keeffe in
Judy Chicago's, The Dinner Party
The Dinner Party, 1974-1979,
Judy Chicago
On the other hand the artist Judy Chicago also explores the vulnerability of the woman but in a very different way in her artwork, The Dinner Party, which was created between 1974 and 1979.  This complex piece speaks to the strength of women but also to their defenselessness and their traditional roles in the home.  She presents to the viewer a “dinner table,” with a different setting for thirty-nine women of importance throughout history.  Each setting is made up of a chalice, utensils, a tablecloth with their name, and most importantly, a plate, each bearing the artistic form of a vagina.  These plates display exposure in their naked form but then strength in that  too.  By displaying historically prominent women, does the opposite  from Simpson’s piece.  She shows the woman in a full and open way, not hiding her.  The strength of women, as displayed by Chicago, is also greatly seen in active protests during the feminist movement.  “The Women’s Strike for Equality… nationwide demonstrations were the largest since the suffrage movement.  Fifty thousand marchers moved down Fifth Avenue in New York City, demanding day care, abortion rights, equal jobs, and equal access to education” (Hayden, 243).  The unity and strength of women is displayed below in a photograph from the August 1971, Women’s March for Equality.

                                             Picture captured at Women's March for Equality, 1971

Both Loran Simpson and Judy Chicago create great social commentary in relation to the gender roles created in society by making the woman vulnerable and in the case of Chicago also making her strong.  Both of these works challenge the roles of women within society. “No country has yet created an urban fabric and an urban culture to support men and women on equal terms as citizens and workers” (Hayden, 245).  The below video captures the strength of women in the navy, but at no time are they seen with men and the advertisement is constantly aiming to feminize this profession.  This leaves to question the ability of society to overcome the double standards present.



Works Cited 
The Dinner Table. N.d. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://autostraddle.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/‌wp-content/‌uploads/‌2012/‌01/‌JudyChicagoTheDinnerParty-708371.jpeg>.
The Dinner Table- Georgia O’Keeffe. N.d. The Brooklyn Museum, New York. Brooklyn Museum. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/‌eascfa/‌dinner_party/‌wiki/‌images/‌39.718.jpg>.
Hayden, Dolores. Redesigning The American Dream. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002. Print.
Hyde, J N. Running the Gauntlet. 1874. The Lost Museum. The Lost Museum. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.lostmuseum.cuny.edu/‌images/‌gauntlet.gif>.
Simpson, Lorna. You’re Fine. 1988. Lorna Simpson Studio, New York. Lorna Simpson Studio. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://lsimpsonstudio.com/‌photographicworks03.html>.
United States Navy. Women (re)defined- Megan, Erica, and Jessica. YouTube. N.p., 2010. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/‌user/‌UnitedStatesNavy?v=aGcthQE4lR4&lr=1>.
Woman Power- Women’s March for Equality. N.d. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2012. <http://www.vfa.us/‌NY%20MARCH%2008%2026%201971.jpg>.



No comments: