One task, many interpretations

The Doing the Dishes series addresses a specific domestic task from many different perspectives. Some are my own, some are confused with outside expectations. I look at the parts of this series as ways to satirize my own roles in a domestic setting. Although I'd like to consider these roles to be self-determined internally defined, I still question where these definitions originate. 

I approach the task of doing the dishes and somewhere in the act, things get slightly confused, taking on another context.  Becoming the image of a woman allows me to ask, "What would she do?” “How would she approach this differently from me?” Midway through the action, something snaps and it becomes inappropriate in some way.

Chocolate Dishes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byXaM6BwlEc&feature=youtu.be

what femininity isn't

 

The choices a woman makes in life seem to carry a lot of connotations. If we are well behaved, we are, perhaps, too passive. If we refuse to settle, we are bitches, or hard to please. If we decide to have children, we are submissive. If we decide not to raise children, we are selfish. If we strive for career success, we are overzealous, overworked and, married to our jobs. If we forego a career for the sake of raising a family, we are passé, or underachievers. Looking at these stereotypes, it seems that what the gender should strive for is a kind of middle ground, but its own baggage, no doubt, would accompany this ground. Why do  these choices seem to fall under such scrutiny, and where or from who do these implications originate from?

What does it mean to embrace our femininity? Is there really such a thing, or such a mindset? Should we all dress up like Stevie Nicks or Sarah Palin? Or should we just show up to our lunch dates in the nude?

The media displays the ideal. The ideal is a sexually open powerful woman; in charge of her own sexuality and the urge and ability to shout it from the rooftops, no apologies, and no fear of judgment. This is the image society is eating up through tv, movies, magazine ads and the like, however, this image is only acceptable though these outlets. It is becoming a stand-in for reality. What happens when this idea of femininity steps out of the TV and into the regular public- out of the living room and into reality? Will the public react the same way, accepting that this is the perpetuated norm of femininity? Or will they view it as inappropriate, unneeded and unwelcome. The more society consumes this image, the more it will become the norm within the designated outlets, however, if you step outside of these outlets, the idea of woman as product of entertainment seems foreign, aggressive and unwelcome. This supports the idea that woman as product is even more widespread today than ever, but more than ever, this product is far removed from the experience of real women.

            Media is the wedge that is so effectively driven between the experience of the woman and society’s experience of the woman. The two are never expected, nor is it desired that they ever cross paths. The two are forever parallel.  So what is this wedge? Why is it so easy for people to see and accept these things in within the provided outlets, but makes it unable to swallow in a real scenario?

The answer is the public’s the ability to consume.  The image of the woman is a constructed women, who can be consumed and subsequently discarded. Her feelings are portrayed in such a way, through these outlets, that consumption and discardement is welcome, and acceptable. This type of construct does is not compatible with society outside of the appropriate outlets. Therefore, the more outrageous and complex the constructed woman becomes, the more alienated the real woman is from that construction. The more an individual aspires to the construct, the more removed they are from self-definition. 

Sinkbath

                                               

 

 

 

 

How do you view your roles? Do they define you? Have you ever though about where they come from? Do you see it as a deeply symbolic aspect of your personality? Do you see it as a role that has stood the test of time (mother, wife) or one that is completely unique to you (vegetarian soup kitchen volunteer girlfriend who teaches at a youth facility on the weekends, professional dominatrix who experiments with molecular gastronomy). Who really has the power to define these roles? Do you feel empty or lacking when you cannot fulfill one of these roles? Could this be because of outer forces, and not inner needs? Are you simply suffering from some kind of role anxiety? Why are some roles seen as empowering and others are seen as subservient. It seems like the idea of empowerment has been skewed a great deal in today's society.

looking for me in all the wrong places

it's pore time!

The ability of a woman to see herself is aided by this amazing apparatus: the super magnified mirror. With the invention of this cosmetic aid, the woman can view the rocky surface of her face, it's craters, valleys, ridge lines, and chasms. Watch your face age before your eyes, as every detail of your surface is enhanced in a horrifying way. This will provide you with hours of primping and perfecting your surfaces, while your inner self slowly drifts away.

Steeping myself in the loose leaves of hot rhetoric

Let's think about this for a second.....how does a person inform their own identity? Could it be that it is all wrapped up in gender definitions? This seems limiting and does not take into account other inner and outer influences that determine identity. Are the feminists right or is it just a matter of he said she said? Still, the struggles of the female gender are ubiquitous. Every personal definition of identity has to be filtered through the social web of indoctrination. So, although I am researching and applying feminist rhetoric to my work and my thesis, I am careful not to put all my theoretical eggs in the feminist basket.

stuff I am thinking about


the enigmatic female form
the mystery of femininity
the feminine disposition
the Venus, woman as symbolic artifact, woman as sexual organ, woman as vessel


opening dialogues with strangers asking them to make choices about me based on how they perceive me. By exposing the perceptions of strangers, through their choices, reactions, and words, I am able to form a surrogate definition of myself through these outside perceptions.

The beginning of the end....

Soon starts the first semester of my last year of school. I can't begin to name all the ways in which my work has changed, or all the flurries of ideas in my mind. What I can say is that the experience, so far, has been comparable to nothing else.

The beginning of the end....

quote of the day

"The tendency in Western European culture and in the United States, notably in religion, philosophy, and depth psychology, has been to identify the female with body, with base matter, and by extension, with evil (201)."

CAROL SCHRIER RUPPRECHT

"Feminist Archetypal Theory: Interdisciplinary Re-visions of Jungian Thought"

woman is illusion

Working with many different designs, I am using the ritual of makeup to expose the illusion of an ideal. The lined eye, plump lip and blushing cheek of beauty is achieved now, as it has in the past, through purchases at the makeup counter, or the plastic surgeon. Feeling comfortable in one's own skin is replaced by the second skin.

lately..

Lately my work has revolved around the rituals and rites of becoming. A woman must work at becoming feminine, or arriving at beauty. It doesn't just happen overnight. That is the idea that we are sold everyday, where ever we look. It hurts to be beautiful. The pain is worth it. Sound familiar?

Brainwash

untitled