Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Construction of Gender In the Arts (Yayoi Kusama ("Kusama’s myriad…

- - - - "With a keen eye for color, pattern, and light, Simmons created tableaux that evoke American domestic scenes from the 1950s. Some are devoid of characters. Others, like Blonde/Red Dress/Kitchen, feature a lone female doll who appears to be a housewife in the middle of preparing a meal or fixing a bath, or, as if taking a break from her housework, sitting in the living room with the television or newspaper nearby. These images simultaneously evoke an idealized vision of the 1950s American home and present a critical look at the confining role that women were expected to fill in making this home possible. As Simmons put it, the images are “a generalized memory of something that seemed sweet and terrifying and abstract and whitewashed.” https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/laurie-simmons-blondered-dresskitchen-from-the-series-interiors-1978/
        
        This work of art displays the ideas of women that were widely expected. Women seemed the "live" in the kitchen.
        
        Laurie Simmons (American, born 1949)
        Blonde/Red Dress/ Kitchen from the series "Interiors"
    - - "Her masculine haircut and garments contrast with her delicate, dangling earrings and petite high-heeled shoes. Kahlo holds a pair of scissors in one hand and a lock of hair in the other, and her shorn tresses seem to slither and writhe around her. Above the scene, accompanied by a sequence of musical notes, are lyrics from a Mexican folk song that, when translated, read: “Look, if I loved you it was because of your hair. Now that you are without hair, I don’t love you anymore.” https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/frida-kahlo-self-portrait-with-cropped-hair-1940/
      - long hair, heels, makeup, certain colors, characteristics such as: gentleness, empathy, sensitivity, caring, sweetness, compassion, tolerance, nurturance, deference, and succorance are traits that have traditionally been cited as feminine.
        
        Traits traditionally viewed as masculine in Western society include strength, courage, independence, leadership, and assertiveness.
- - - - "She staged the first gay marriage in the United States in 1968 as part of a performance piece held at the Church of Self-obliteration on Walker Street, Manhattan" https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3me78/yayoi-kusama-infinity-rooms-documentary-review
        
        This work was a direct expression of gender norms that were present in the world. Gay couples were taboo, and still are today to some. But most importantly, gay marriage was not legal until May 2004.
        
        She created homosexual performance works, photography, and references in her art as expressions to her views of social justice
      - Despite the unfairness women experienced with recognition in the art world, Yayoi Kusama Didnt lose hope. She moved to New York in the 80's where her work began to take a different turn. Her work was focused on social justices. She realized that male artists were re-creating her work.
- - - - The idea that if we dont fit into gender characteristics we could be called "gay" "weak" "lesbian" and more, has always bothered me deeply. My sister is lesbian and she has long hair, wears makeup, and wears both traditional feminine and masculine clothing. She has been told that she doesn't "look or seem gay" before. Society has made us believe in certain looks for gender, sexuality, and femininity/masculinity.
- - - - "Due to these concerns about fluctuating gender roles, much wartime propaganda would portray women who ended up assuming nontraditional roles in the workforce as attractive, white, feminine and middle-class workers" .https://qz.com/work/1292626/how-the-famous-rosie-the-riveter-poster-became-a-symbol-of-female-empowerment/
        
        Rosie The Riveter was more masculine than the majority of the propaganda in this time of war. Making a woman the center of a propaganda poster was already risky business, but to make a woman with both traditional feminine and masculine characteristics was very bold. Especially of this time,
        "Of course, once the war concluded, women were forced out of these roles, and Rosie was largely forgotten during the baby boom years from 1946 to 1964."
        https://qz.com/work/1292626/how-the-famous-rosie-the-riveter-poster-became-a-symbol-of-female-empowerment/
        
        although women were able to work in this time, they typically only earned 50 percent of male wages.
      - "Between 1940 and 1945, the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home."
        https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/rosie-the-riveter
        This broke many of the stereotypes and gender roles that were placed on women, and linked with femininity
    - - "World War II changed the lives of women and men in many ways. Wartime needs increased labor demands for both male and female workers, heightened domestic hardships and responsibilities, and intensified pressures for Americans to conform to social and cultural norms. All of these changes led Americans to rethink their ideas about gender, about how women and men should behave and look, what qualities they should exhibit, and what roles they should assume in their families and communities." https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/gender-home-front
        This campaign poster is a visual example of these changes in gender roles that were emerging. Women were now in the work force, being viewed as strong, capable, and not in their typical or ideal environments or looks.