#Just that it's important to acknowledge that the patriarchy does bias them against a more feminist view

[varsiathederg]

There's an interesting little bit of internal misogyny that actually goes at play when it comes to this:

When it's a man doing it to another man, that's banter - you're doing a bit, a lot of masculine friendship is built upon being kinda mean to each other. But when it's a woman doing it to a man, it gets reframed - it's no longer banter, it's an attack. These men are a lot more hostile to critique from women just as a whole, so when one side is positioned as the 'criticising men from the feminine lens' side and the other is '(manly perfect) men are great as said by men', men will tend to gravitate towards the 'manly men are great' side. Even if they aren't themselves manly, they still have that sense of masculinity, however fragile it may be.

None of this is inherent, mind, a lot of the misogyny that pushes this bias is a result of the patriarchy. It can be changed given time, care and exposure to opposing views. However, given the bias is against this, it means there's something of an uphill battle where one side can get away with saying heinous shit because it's 'self help' or 'banter' or 'a joke' while the other side is generally treated as 'the other' and as such getting people to move over takes a lot more care than most would like to admit.

“Men go down the alt right pipeline because women/feminists are too mean to them”

have you seen the way alt right men talk to each other? They are so fucking mean to each other. If someone being mean is what’s causing people to shift away from an ideology then more men should be shifting towards being a feminist. Maybe men are going down the alt right pipeline because they hate women. Crazy idea I know.

[harrypotterfuryroad]

ok a couple of things. i'll start with the end and work upwards.

if you believe that men can stop benefiting from male privilege by declaring themselves women then you don’t believe in male privilege

uh. what.

how are trans women benefitting from male privilege? in any way??

i'm sorry, but no matter how you slice this it doesn't make sense to me. regardless of whether you consider a trans woman a "real woman" or not based on their biology, biology isn't the reason why male privilege exists.

male privilege is a social phenomenon. if it wasn't, it would be impossible to get rid of, and the various social reforms which have given women more rights over the years could not have existed.

and if you believe that, from a social standpoint, trans women receive the same treatment as cis men, you are wrong.

i have an acute distaste for any movement systematically attempting to roll back women’s rights and gay rights

good. same here. but how do movements which support trans people systematically attempt to roll back women's rights and gay rights? the "t" in lgbt stands for transgender, after all. and i feel like the framing that empowering trans people MUST be rolling back women's rights only makes sense if you pit the two movements against each other. they can coexist.

actually, speaking of movements systematically attempting to roll back women's rights and gay rights, what about right-wing movements which are doing just that?

this one is closer to support, but it’s still unequivocally critical of him

this was the one i was referring to, and in all honesty, i should have done more research into rowling's tweets here. i don't want to discredit the nuance. but this interaction with walsh does lead me to what i think is a really important question:

does fighting against transgender rights truly support women?

i don't think so. all it does is give people one more group to discriminate against. if anything, it gives those on the alt-right, like walsh, more legitimacy. and i don't think that you, me, or rowling agree with any of the other ideas he's spewing out.

how are trans women benefitting from male privilege? in any way??

okay let me get you with the most common parallel used here: does rachel dolezal benefit from white privilege? she's not a black woman, but she said she was, and are you really going to invalidate someone's identity?

granted, this isn't the best parallel, but only because ethnicity is so much less rigidly observable than sex

biology isn't the reason why male privilege exists. male privilege is a social phenomenon.

you're sorta right but this is an incomplete thought. patriarchy/male privilege/sexism/misogyny aren't inevitable results of sex differences, but those sex differences are what those structures were built around. it's not sexist to say that males on average are taller than females, but it is sexist to say that males are better than females as a result of their height. ignoring sex differences won't fix anything though - they influence our lives in actual material ways so we can acknowledge them without ascribing moral value to them. this is the same kind of logic i was talking about with equality vs liberation - blindly saying "oh it's ok men and women are the same" without accounting for the actual differences people have to deal with doesn't really help anyone

and if you believe that, from a social standpoint, trans women receive the same treatment as cis men, you are wrong.

well they're certainly not receiving the same treatment as cis women

if anything the way trans women are treated is closer to the way gay men are treated - both are lumped together as like "doing Man wrong" or however you want to phrase it, but this is a combination of gender roles and heteronormativity, not any bias against someone's internal gender essence

but how do movements which support trans people systematically attempt to roll back women's rights and gay rights?

are you familiar with the phrase "unlearn your genital preference" or the surge in sexual assaults in women's prisons after admitting self-identified trans women or government seats designated for women going to trans women or the persistent and rampant misogyny and homophobia in trans spaces

(before you say "oh well what about the transphobia in your spaces" - the misogyny and homophobia usually takes the form of "i hate women and gays" while the "transphobia" usually takes the form of "i wish trans people would stop being so misogynistic and homophobic." there are some legitimately shitty people that i don't want to make excuses for, more on that later)

and like you can deny that it's there but that means that either you haven't run into it yet (bless your heart if that's the case) or it's so persistent that you just don't notice it anymore. it got to be too much for me to stomach, that's why i got out, and lots of people will tell you the same

the "t" in lgbt stands for transgender, after all

because somebody decided the t was there. there's no law of nature that inextricably links l g b and t. and when the t was added in 1988 it was commonly understood that the group was overwhelmingly made up of people who would otherwise fall elsewhere in lgb. gay history goes back a lot further than obergefell v hodges but you'd never know that from the way tumblr talks about it

(stonewall has been so mythologized at this point that it barely counts)

does fighting against transgender rights truly support women?

so again you're doing this thing where whether you realize it or not you're kinda framing things in a dishonest perspective. you won't be able to point to a single thing that jk rowling has said or done that constitutes "fighting against transgender rights." the word "rights" has had its definition stretched beyond usefulness - when people say "trans rights" they aren't really talking about rights in the sense of inalienable and equally distributed human rights, they just mean that trans people get what they want in some sense. the whole thing is a riff off of people similarly diluting the phrase "gay rights" back in like 2012, except that was primarily about an actual right (marriage equality). when the word gay got swapped for trans it kinda became an empty catchphrase. like, i totally agree, trans people deserve human rights, but the focus is always on using the proper pronouns and much less about like, housing and employment discrimination and stuff. with healthcare access it gets a little closer, but again the focus always pivots towards cosmetic procedures instead of access to necessary care

all it does is give people one more group to discriminate against. if anything, it gives those on the alt-right, like walsh, more legitimacy.

you're right and this is a huge problem i have with some pockets of this space. especially on twitter there's this huge contingent of people that claim to be like champions for feminism and gay rights or whatever but it's obvious that they're just there to dunk on whatever easy target comes out of trans twitter next. like yeah the ontario shop teacher was ridiculous but that's not going to be like The issue that solves this whole thing, and all it really accomplished was getting a bunch of gen x checkmarks to call each other groomers nonstop for a week. the alt-right types and their enablers always hyperfocus on individuals instead of looking at the broader trends and issues because they know their viewpoints sound bad when spelled out that way, and as long as people don't try to take in the whole picture they'll keep falling for the ragebait

[eyreguide]

A recap of the Brontë2020 Virtual Conference

On Friday the very first virtual Brontë conference was held and included a program of various talks and presentations by people knowledgeable on many different aspects of the Brontës. And reader, I had a wonderful time.  

This post is just a brief overview of the event, with some commentary on the different topics and comments that were discussed and that I found interesting. This conference was held as a way to help support the amazing Brontë Parsonage in Haworth as they are going through a difficult time with the impact of Covid-19. If you are able, please donate whatever you can to the Parsonage by visiting this site. Help them reach their goal!

I live in the United States so I wasn’t able to attend all the panels - I decided to make my first one the discussion with Sandy Welch (screenwriter of the 2006 Jane Eyre adaptation) which was 5 am my time! I was so excited to hear what Sandy had to say about writing Jane Eyre that I was wide awake by the time her panel started.

Special Guest: Sandy Welch

First off, I didn’t realize Welch had also written the screenplay for North and South (one of my absolute favorite period dramas!) so I was pretty much in awe of her talent, even though the 2006 Jane Eyre isn’t exactly my favorite. If you read through my reviews of all the adaptations here. I have a few issues with the scenes after the failed wedding where Jane and Rochester are on her bed. And also I felt like the dialogue and added scenes did not always feel true to the novel. But Welch talked about her approach to adapting Jane Eyre and I agreed with all of her comments. Jane is a modern woman in that she is making her own way in the world, and that her thoughts and prose in the book are direct and clear to the reader. And Welch was glad to give more time to the conversations between Jane and Rochester so that the humor and intelligence that connects them shines through. The emotions were allowed to develop and we can see how Rochester changes with Jane.  

There was some discussion about the character of Rochester and how the audience needs to see that they deserve each other and are equals. So you see more of Rochester’s vulnerabilities and emotions in this adaptation. It’s important to remember too that Charlotte made Bertha irredeemable so that Rochester could not make his situation better, but he tried his best to take care of her.  

A question from the audience did bring up that scene where Jane must say goodbye to Rochester and they end up on her bed - I was very keen to know what Welch would say. She acknowledged that it was a bold choice, but there is that sensuality in the book, and Rochester wants to “impress” himself on Jane, and throughout the novel, Jane is very passionate. It seemed natural to Welch to have that shown on screen. It’s a bit of artistic license that still doesn’t sit easily with me, but I am glad to know the thought process was grounded in trying to take a realistic approach to how that scene would develop.

Another question also asked about the addition of the twins and the doubles theme in the adaptation. Welch included that to give Jane an opportunity to participate in the conversation around her since she is intelligent and able to hold her own. And to show that not all of the people in Rochester’s party are horrible. It also gives a little foreshadowing to the call across the moors between Jane and Rochester near the end.

The last topic I want to mention is when someone asked what the difference was between approaching Margaret Hale’s character (from North and South) and Jane Eyre. Welch worked to make Margaret more sympathetic and Thornton a little less so, so that they were equals in the story - much like Jane and Rochester already are.

A Day in the Life of the Parsonage

I was very excited about this next panel, where Ann Dindsdale, the collections manager of the Parsonage, and Rebecca Yorke, the communications manager, talk about what it is like to manage the Parsonage day to day. It made me long to be able to work there myself! Just think how lovely it would be to be up early in the morning at the house, preparing for the visitors that day.

On my last visit to the Parsonage, I was able to take the VIP tour (which I talked about here) and I have to say seeing a glimpse of the place behind the scenes and led by a knowledgeable docent was amazing. They do wonderful work there!

The two talked about the work that goes into maintaining the house - especially during the month-long closure in January where they clean every book and check every piece of furniture! When asked how they decide what to display, Ann said she puts out “what she likes” (lucky!) but it was also good to rotate everything regularly.  

The Parsonage feels it is important for guests to “engage with the Parsonage” - a wonderful way to describe how the guests are made to feel when they visit - as a part of the experience. And with social distancing right now due to the pandemic, visiting the Parsonage couldn’t be a more personal and intimate experience. I so wish I could make the trip across the pond right now and visit!

Author Roundtable: The Brontës, the 21st Century and Us

This was a fascinating panel with talented authors. I’ve read some of their books so I’ll link to my review of their work when possible. The panel was moderated by Rowan Coleman (The Vanished Bride) and included Finola Austin (Brontës’ Mistress), Syrie James (The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë), Sarah Shoemaker (Mr. Rochester), Julie Cohen (Spirited), Lucy Powrie (The Paper Hearts Society) and Nikita Gil (a well-known poet, although unfortunately I am unfamiliar with her work.  

The conversation was dense and thought-provoking. The authors touched on many topics and ideas beginning with how each author felt about the Brontës’ work. Their books are about identity and who we are as people - we can live by their ideals, said Lucy. Sarah said that women are still not equal to men in how they are treated today and she loves how Jane does not hesitate to tell Rochester that she does not think him handsome - it’s an unconventional answer, the unexpected one, and it shows how they are opening up to each other and on their way to being equals. Syrie is fascinated by the almost mythical story they lived in their little place in the world. And how you can feel their rage against patriarchal societies in their work. Nikita pointed out that patriarchy erases the role of women, but the Brontës have endured in spite of that.

In their approach to writing stories that revolve around the Brontës and their work, they try to be as reverential as possible and stick to the facts because so much of their lives are known, and their stories can be very autobiographical.  

Julie talked about how we read the Brontës to find out about ourselves. With Villette especially there is a sense with Lucy Snowe that she is hiding a part of herself from the reader and people can relate to that.

The talk ended with thoughts on publishing bias - how women may not need to publish under pseudonyms today, but there is still a bias against what a woman writes and against race, sexuality, and many other things. We as readers need to show that we are interested in reading about a variety of lives and experiences.

In Conversation with Adam Nagaitis

Adam Nagaitis played Branwell Brontë in the film To Walk Invisible and talked with the organizers about his role. They opened by asking him trivia questions about Branwell to see how much he remembered from his research. Adam mentioned that he is still in touch with the actresses who played his sisters which I think is wonderful. They seem to all have gotten along very well.  

Adam read all the classic works on Branwell to prepare, but he also dived into documentaries on alcoholism and it’s gruesome realities to understand Branwell better. Branwell wasn’t mature enough to deal with the vicissitudes in his life - with his relationship with Lydia he was excessive and consumed. He thought that turned her off from him, and that started a cycle where he blamed himself for the failed relationship and his failures in his art.  

Because he was always surrounded by the people who knew him best, he was always reminded of his failure. Adam’s approach was very sympathetic to Branwell and tried to understand him mentally. Adam also talked about how he felt Branwell was never free as an artist. He always needed to work for the family or money but he could have been a brilliant newspaper satirist - something that might have been more along with his interests since he made wonderful biting cartoons.

In Conversation with Sally Wainwright

The last panel of the conference was a talk with Sally Wainwright - the writer and director of the superb Brontë biopic To Walk Invisible. Sally was approached to write this back in 2010 but she didn’t have time until 2016 which coincided with Charlotte’s bicentenary. It was a tough shoot for her as she felt she didn’t get all the shots she wanted, but the set was fantastic. They recreated the Parsonage as accurately as they could, resulting in a place that is bleaker and more isolated than the actual Parsonage today.  

Sally also mentioned something that I found interesting - that she felt like the “Victorian” speak that people use today in period dramas probably didn’t really exist. We have constructed people in our period drama adaptations to speak in a particular way. And that the inclusion of curse words in her program showed that the characters were very like us - of course Branwell would curse and say the F-word.  

Her approach to adapting the story was always to show it as realistically as possible and she wanted to show how the family was an interdependent team. For people who felt that Branwell was featured too much in the story - it’s important to remember that he was the leader of their gang as children and that when they were older, living with an addict affected their work as can be seen in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Wuthering Heights.  

And speaking of Tenant of Wildfell Hall, apparently, Sally is working on a screenplay for the story, although it is on the backburner at the moment. She is having a hard time empathizing with Helen - especially because it is difficult today to empathize with a character who behaves in a certain way solely because of their religious beliefs. I do hope we get to see her adaptation of Anne’s work someday soon though!

[maya-spirit1]

​ ​The Only Way To End “Rape Culture,” Is To Spiritually Awaken

When problems are not acknowledged, they don’t go away. Our society has a long history of denying difficult realities such as, poverty, wars, discrimnation, abuse,climate change, gender inequality, and many more. It’s a human response to want to avoid painful and difficult emotions or situations, yet ignoring them only makes things worse in the long run. For example, denying the fact climate change is getting worse, does not lead to less flooding, earthquakes, fires, or pollution. On the contrary, it only increases the severity of all of these problems until they reach a point in which they can no longer be ignored. When it comes to the issue of “rape culture,” the fact humanity has pushed away this “behavioral pandemic,” of sexual abuse/assault, incest, date-rape, spousal rape, sexual harrasement, and stalking, has only led to the majority of people, especially women, getting hurt. If more people had the confidence to admit they have survived some sort of sexual violence, you might discover that almost anyone who is around you is a survivor. When the MeToo movement sparked momentum in 2017, I was incredibly surprised to have discovered so many people in my community of friends are survivors. However, the movement is slowly weakening because the nature of humans’ need for denial of bad things, which can be compared to the current Covid19 pandemic, as some people claim is a hoax despite the much clear evidence proving it’s real- the only reason these people deny it, is because they don’t want to deal with it.

Denial hurts all who are involved because we are all spiritually connected, when I deny your pain, I also deny my pain. Even after the progress the MeToo movement has brought by raising awareness, and leading public conversation about sexual violence, it is still a subject most wish to avoid, and not enough is being done to improve the way survivors are treated by the judical, medical, and mental health systems. Most people have no idea how abusive these systems can be towards survivors worldwide. The judicial system harshly judges survivors and blames them for the assault even in cases where there is a significant amount of evidence in support of the survivor’s report. Yet, statistically 97 % of rapists don’t even spend one night in jail or get any kind of punishment, every 73 seconds and American is assaulted, 1-6 women is a survivor of rape or assault - according to Rainn organization, which works hard to overturn these devastating statistics. Sadly, the judicial system is not the only one that is failing survivors, the medical and mental health system express a lot of bias against survivors as well, and unfortunately many times they do more harm than good. Those bias opinions are part of victim blaming - every time a doctor or a mental health professional judges a survivor based on the fact they have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and as a result decides to not take their medical concerns seriously; thinking that whatever pain and imbalance is just anxiety, they fail survivors who actually have real medical conditions that are being neglected and can put their life in danger.Nonetheless, most survivors are at risk for heart, and lung disease, as well as autoimmune disease as a result of the long term trauma. Medical and mental health professionals also hurt survivors by being insensitive when examining them - truly all doctors must be trauma trained so they treat all patients as full human beings, as opposed to just items on their schedule. Of course they are many great medical and mental health professionals, however there are many that are brutal.

My friend Anna who was raped had told me that after her assault cops showed up on her door, not to help her, but to arrest her. Her rapist; ex-boyfriend, had told the police that she was suicidal. The cops with no further notice had taken her in with no questions, and without any attempt to investigate her rape elagations. Due to the psych depratment being full the police kept her in the precinct for a night until they had committed her to the psych deperatment against her will, while still refusing to take her rape elegations seriously. Meanwhile as you can imagine rape evidence have been destroyed since Anna has been locked up in the psych deprtement for two weeks where she was emotionally abused, neglected and ridiculed. The justice system, the police, and hospital not only failed her, but traumatized and hurt her even more. All they had to do was listen to her, and file her rape elegation report.

Hospitals in general are very oppressive and abusive toward women, especially young women, and women of color. I once had a kidney infection, I was in immense pain, I was crying in agony. The doctors at the hospital wanted me to do a pelvic exam - I refused to do so due to my traumas, they tried to force me, and said if I don’t do a pelvic, they won’t check me at all. I stayed with much pain, all the staff was abusive to me, treating me like a criminal even though I am one of the most gentle people I know. After a night of humiliation, neglect, and threats by doctors that were supposed to help me. I took a cab back home, and contacted my GYN, she immediately figured out what was going on and sent me antibiotics - I was fine the next day and led a meditation group in the park. I was treated like a mentally ill criminal just because I was a woman with reported PTSD, while I had an acute kidney infection that was causing so much pain it went down to my legs because it was spreading. Without my GYN wise and quick decision, my life could have been in danger. The bias and insensitivity towards survivors must stop! When a rape survivor arrives at the hospital or at a doctor soon after attack, or years later, she must get most compassionate care because how she is treated by the people that are menat to help her has role in how fast she will heal - gentle support is essential - tough love is not love. To end “rape culture” we must raise our boys to be more gentle, instead of telling our girls they need to be tougher. Girls are tough - they are managing in a society that constantly judges them, undermines them, insults them, and disrespects them since the beginning of time.

This terrible reality can only change with education, and awareness. Most people have no idea how badly survivors are treated by the systems. Also, because of victim blaming within and outside the systems, survivors are reluctant to report sexual crimes for fear they will not be believed as often happens. No matter what a woman was wearing, drinking, or saying before, if she said no, it means no. With lack of trust in the systems, the statistics for sexual assault, rape and abuse are much higher than studies show. If we consciously start to spread the message to stop victim blaming, and if we truly tap into our soul and imagine how it might feel for a survivor who is being hurt twice, by the perpetrator, and by society, maybe they will think twice before they question a survivor, what she wore, or how if she fought. Awakening means becoming aware, and we need to inform and educate doctors, nurses, lawyers, cops, detectives, teachers, and common people about the facts of sexual assault and abuse; a dark alley it’s not the common place where these crimes happen, it is more common within one’s family or community, it doesn’t matter what the survivor wore, sexual violence survivors have broken memories as a normal brain response to an abnormal circumstances,discrepancies don’t mean a survivor is lying - it means they are traumatized. All that and more are the truth most people ignore.

Another element that must happen in order to awaken humanity towards reality is gentle discussions about acceptance. As long as our society refuses to accept that true evil exists, nothing can change. This denial is what is preventing the healing, which is why I offer gentle discussions about our own private fears to confront our own demons, so we may accept the fact all humans have demons, and some can have very dark ones. By demons I obviously don’t mean real demons, I refer to what they represent: fears, illusions, and emotions like greed, jealousy, lust, or vengeance. These emotions don’t have to be destructive, but they can’t be if we ignore them until we can no longer contain them. Sometimes people blame survivors just because they were not able to get justice for themselves, or because the truth about how evil this world can be, breaks their bubble, and they rather attack others than to accept reality. If we gently start discussions and support each other in confronting our own demons, I truly believe we will become a more compassionate, and powerful society that can put an end to rape culture, and patriarchy, but the work of the whole start within. As we heal ourselves, we energetically raise the consciousness that allows others to heal and awaken as well. Mindfulness and meditations is a tool to connect with source, discover our strengths and weaknesses, and grow.

As I mentioned in other posts, everything starts with education, and awakening in its most basic form means, “soul learning.” My wish is for humanity to learn the truth about what this life really means, and how we can live it better, how we can love ourselves, and others better, how we can accept our journey more as we accept the journey of others, and most important accept each other’s experience and pain - when we can do that we could stop victim blaming, and end rape culture.

.

[paige-s-pages]

Considering the Nude in Feminist Art

Throughout the history of visual art, representations of women have been skewed for the viewing pleasure of men. “We can begin to make a break by examining patriarchy with the tools it provides,” wrote British feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, in which she introduced the idea of “the male gaze” to describe mainstream representations of women, created by and for heteronormative cis men.

Images of women still hold a central place in contemporary digital culture today, and discussion about the subjective female experience is still rooted in the body – and in objectification. Nowadays, however, women are not only image-objects, but prolific image-makers, too. “When I started there were almost no female photographers,” artist, curator, and director of Untitled Space New York, Indira Cesarine says. “I was determined to make an impact with my work, presenting a female voice against the masses of male domination in the photo industry.” True to her word, Cesarine has curated an exhibition of 20 female artists preoccupied with the female nude in different visual media, from painting and video to sculpture and photography, alongside fellow artist Coco Dolle. The gallery follows in the footsteps of NYC’s historic A.I.R. gallery, dedicating its programme to feminist art.

The show, entitled In the Raw: The Female Gaze on the Nude, features women working with the female nude with very different political and aesthetic positions, but all involved are united by their female experience. “We intentionally chose works from a variety of genres, practices and personalities,” Dolle explains. “I believe that bridging feminist communities is an essential component in the process of exploring the body via the female gaze. We need all voices together, although we are limited by the geography of the gallery space.”

“Through this exhibit I hope to share the female perspective and its own unique power,” Cesarine adds. “These female artists share their personal experiences and views not just on the nude, but on humanity through their work.” All-female art shows have become a trend across museums and blue-chip in the last year, particularly in the US, with a women-led programme at the New Museum and Hauser, Wirth & Schimmel’s exclusively women sculptor exhibit to name a few. “I think that addressing the way the nude is depicted in art by female artists brings to light some important issues that are very current,” she continues. “I’m inspired by the idea of creating more balance in how women perceive themselves. Women are so used to seeing themselves via the eyes of men, due to the fact that men have dominated the visual spectrum of the arts and media for so long. When you look at the history of art, television, advertising, and media in general – the image of women has always been how men wanted them to look, versus how women do look and feel. It is important to present the alternative.” Below, the curatorial duo discuss the exhibit and its influences in greater detail.

On women in the art world… India Cesarine: “I think that there has definitely been a shift, and women are starting to be more recognised in the art world, but are they fairly represented in the art world? No. Statistically only 5% of work shown in galleries and museums today is by female artists, while women represent 51% of today’s visual artists. I don’t think that anyone could say that is being ‘fairly represented’. Through my own personal experiences as an artist and photographer, I have seen first-hand how limited the access female artists often have for exposure is. Recent reports from some of the big art fairs, including the Armory Show, among others, have indicated strong sales of works by female artists at the fairs, and I do think there is a lot more acknowledgement out there in the art community at large that women deserve a bigger piece of the pie than what they have been getting historically.

There is a lot of attention right now on this subject, and galleries and institutions are finally not only acknowledging the situation but actively curating in more women than ever before. It will take a long time for there to be any sort of real balance. Male artists have dominated the history of art for thousands of years, and, until very recently, there has just been such a small ratio of female artists to male artists. Women weren’t acknowledged really in the arts, except in the last few decades. The collective of our history is by male artists. I think when it comes to contemporary art, we are slowly seeing a shift for more inclusion, and feminist art activists such as the Guerrilla Girls are to be thanked for shedding light on the massive gender imbalances in the art world.”

On why now presents an important moment for women artists… IC: “In the last several years we have seen an explosion of activity by young female artists addressing this topic, and I think that a lot of this is due to the increased visibility of female artists who are using the Internet to promote their work online and via social media. Ten years ago this just didn’t exist on the same level. Social media has had such an incredible impact, and gives artists the ability to expose their work online to a massive community, and to gain an overnight following. Instagram and Tumblr only launched five, six years ago, and the amount of young artists who have become discovered through platforms like this is incredible. I think the censorship of some of these platforms has also amplified the situation, and female artists are fighting harder than ever to gain exposure for their work, with websites, blogs and videos. There have always been a lot of female artists out there working on this subject, but they weren’t getting the exposure that you can get now through these online outlets. It has allowed a community to grow and flourish and along with it, a following of collectors and art critics who have an active interest in the subject. I also think the impact of fourth wave feminism is very strong in New York, and these women are connecting and exploring their work more than ever as artists.”

On the way women depict women in art… IC: “When you look at the work of the artists in In The Raw: The Female Gaze on the Nude, it is clear their work is coming from a very different place than when you see nudes of women by male artists. A woman’s point of view is drawn from personal experience. Each artist in the exhibit has a different point of view on the subject, but what is apparent when viewing the collective of work is that these female artists address topics that often have been considered taboo. Challenging notions of beauty and body image inspires their visual narratives. They explore female rites of passage and sexual desires. They are challenging the status quo with their work, which fearlessly embraces imagery that is empowering for women, and sheds light on the reality of being a woman today. There is a personal and intimate emotion in the work that is brought out through her own understanding of being a woman herself. The ‘male gaze’ on the nude generally presents women as an ‘object of desire’ for the pleasure of a male viewer. Women as artists today often bring a very different frame of reference on the subject. Feminist artists in particular have a very different voice. The nudes become an examination of what being a woman means to them, channeled through their own personal experiences and perceptions, rather than that of the opposite sex.  

What is interesting about the ‘female gaze’, in my opinion, is that while the creator must be a woman, it does not necessarily relate or appeal only to a female audience. The work women create appeals to humanity in general, speaking not just specifically about women or women’s issues, but the human condition at large. I don’t necessarily think that all female artists have a feminist perspective on the nude. Many women only see themselves the way men perceive women, as that narrative has dominated our visual landscape for so long. There are female artists who have a ‘male gaze’, so to speak, on women. And then you have the women who are challenging that notion with work that is more deeply personal or introspective, which is what we tried to present in the exhibit.”

On navigating the visibility bias of female bodies… IC: “While curating the show I felt it was crucial to include works that addressed this. I felt in order for the exhibit to be powerful, it was important to present works not just with the point of view of one female artist, but of many, each with their own set of personal experiences and history. The selection of artists in the show has a very international range, with artists from Russia, Chile, France, Poland, the US and Canada. I also felt strongly about it being a multi-generational exhibit, featuring works by younger female artists as well as more mature female artists with their own perspective and experiences. Several of the artists align themselves with the LGBT community. Many of the artists were also inspired by ethnically diverse subjects in their works: artist Sophia Wallace, for example, features Jiz Lee, a gender queer porn star, in one of her pieces, while in another, from her series Truer, she presents a portrait of herself with her lover, who is wearing boxer shorts and a breast binder. Definitely not the average nude, or traditional female body type one might be used to seeing. In her photograph Keep Your Fat Under The Table, artist Lynn Bianchi presents a parody on the obsession in our culture with staying skinny. Many of the other works in the show explore different body types, ethnicities, and challenge taboos of our culture with regards to the body and functionalities of being a woman.”

Coco Dolle: “Our western standards of beauty have indeed been conditioned by thousands of years of art history, books and media. Now we are further challenged by our pervasive and prevailing digital culture; it is unlikely that we are done with re-defining how the body ought to be seen. We might still be governed by the mass media, although I believe that thanks to the Internet, there is a growing, consciously collateral movement that is ready for more divergent thinking. It won’t develop into the mainstream within our lifetime, yet it is working its way into larger communities. Therefore, it is important we continue to raise our voices. We, as the new generation of feminist artists, need to keep being visible, using all the digital tools to make these works available to a wider audience for the next generations to come, and on an international level. The white, normative, slim hierarchies of the body are still prevailing, although there is a strong determination to change these views within our capitalist world; even the fashion industries understand the shift by advertising their brands with plus-size models. There are many talents and curators addressing these issues today. In our group exhibition we offered that potential by selecting a variety of female artists from intergenerational, international and intersectional perspectives.”

In The Raw: The Female Gaze on the Nude runs from May 3 – 21, 2016 at Untitled Space, New York.

Jansen, Charlotte. “Considering the Nude in Feminist Art.” AnOther, May 12, 2016. https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/8667/considering-the-nude-in-feminist-art.