Monday, April 24, 2017

Same Difference


S A M E   D I F F E R E N C E

Women's Right Movement, 1/21/2017
Women have always struggled to find their place in the world – politically, economically and artistic world. In order to gain equality, we’ve had to continuously revolutionize the way we fought for equal rights. The true testament to equality was achieved in 1920 after the Suffrage Movement, where women gained the right to vote. Overall, the journey to equality has been a slow coming, after years of political movement. In 2016, the presidential election left millions of people appalled and deeply disturbed as Donald J. Trump took office on January 20th, 2017. President Trump’s comments about women and his overall attitude in terms of political agenda for the country left millions in despair. How can a man that calls his opponent, Hillary Clinton, a “nasty woman” or openly criticizes the news anchor of a famous channel and deemed her “a pig” or blame a woman’s aggressive questions to her “time of the month” be the president of the United States of America? The outcome of such an election is a revolutionary new movement that is called “Women’s March on Washington.” What began as a mere social media gathering grew to a population of 500,000 women only in Washington D.C, spiraled nationwide in different cities and states. Teresa Shook - a woman disturbed by the Trump Administration began a Facebook post that offered to set forward a movement to oppose the administration but gained much support from women nationwide leading to the Women’s March on Washington.
Liza Donovan, "Hear Our Voice," 2017
 The Women’s March on Washington - a march of thousands of women and men that supported the movement- was an exceptional turnout. “Reflect and Resist” became the official symbol for the movement. The turnout included mixture of people, including men, children, trans-women, trans-men, celebrities. It began as with the march towards Washington with signs that raised awareness to the political turmoil that the US will suffer. The founder’s purpose was not just to “simply to protest against the atrocities put forward by the current POTUS, but how the future of America is comprised by the stance of women’s rights by the government. Protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families – recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country,” (Women’s March Website). Some of the co-founders are Tamika D. Mallory, a woman that worked with the Obama Administration to make a stance for women around the world and Linda Sarsour, a “Brooklyn-born Palestinian-American-Muslim” woman who has been fighting for social justice reform nationally. The Women’s March has plenty of other founders that began this movement as a direct result to President Trump’s comments on women. It began as a social movement that soon became politically charged. It slowly began to grow into a global movement. The global stance remains to empower women worldwide to stand up for rights. The entire movement is based on working towards equality. This movement inspired women worldwide with “sister marches,” visible on their website. They have the 100 days mission to work toward a cause to make the world a better place for women and children.

 The Women’s March on Washington was underway when social media accounts such as Instagram and Twitter exploded with the #Resist.  #Resist became a popular tag line for everyone commenting on the movement. There was twitter uproar with one user commenting “MotherOfPartyGoblins: I’m marching with #Women’s March today because all women should have the freedom to decide what to do with their bodies and lives.” While another user Laurie Brookins, “#WhyIMarch: Because I cannot stand the thought of four years of an administration that will NEVER tell us the truth, #WomensMarch.” However, there were women that have argued against the inclusion of all women in the march. Furthermore, there was an absence of “intersectional feminism,” which is the understanding of how women’s “overlapping identities — including race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation — impact the way they experience oppression and discrimination,” (Vox Website). While many women have seen the positive aspect of the movement, there are women that have argued against the controversial movement for its lack of inclusion. Ijeoma Oluo,a famous Seattle-based publisher, who viewed the movement as empowering to white women, leaving out some of the brutalities faced by colored women due to the patriarchal society and role of women in African American men's’ lives. There were many issues that were overlooked according to Oluo - who decided NOT to participate in the movement. Similarly, another writer named Ree Walker argued that white women were focused on feminist issues, while black women were “centered on plight of the black males.” Walker argued that there was no mention of issues surrounding “rape, sexual molestation, child molestation, child support, etc.” (Walker, “Daily Kos” Website). Overall, there was a mixture of emotions that sprung forward. While the movement gained traction, there was a revolutionary art presentation by phenomenal artists.

Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party,1974-1979
 “#Resist” has hundreds of art pieces that have been created in support for women. Women such as Jessica Sabogal, created piece such as “Women are Perfect.” Kate Deciccio created “Embracing Each Other” that highlights the equality our body, our minds, our power. There are plenty of other artists involved in the movement that highlighted the importance of equality and women’s rights. These art pieces support the recent cause of such a political movement, however, there have been women in the past that have created masterpieces that support women's rights as well.  Judy Chicago, for instance, created a phenomenal masterpiece called “The Dinner Party” that displayed the most influential women artists that had to fight their own political causes to be considered equals. In the art world, the designs created by women were sacrificed to give recognition to the male artists. "The Dinner Party" highlights women such as Artemesia Gentileschi - who was a strong, courageous woman. Her work is an intricate design that highlights women and their art pieces. The masterpiece is designed as a triangle in which hundreds of women are honored. These women fought the political movement and equality for years. Similarly, the fight has been visible in performance pieces in the past. In 1964, a woman named Yoko Ono did a performance piece named “Cut Piece.” The purpose of “Cut Piece” was to allow the audience to interact with her while performing. They were allowed to cut pieces of her clothing off her body. However, she noticed that people were cutting pieces off her bra, and eventually made her almost naked. The moral of the story became that women are immediately turned into objects if given the chance. The political fight continues with artists such as Barbara Kruger that push forward a political agenda. Her artwork focuses on consumerism and how it values women. Although most of the advertisements for commerical products are targeted to women, they are not considered equals. Kruger expresses the disconcert inequality through her artpieces.She creates art with pieces cut from different magazines that present a political agenda. For instance, her “The War for Me to Become You,” or “I Shop, Therefore I am.” The political agendas are further demonstrated by a group of feminist activists called "The Guerrilla Girls." The Guerilla Girls are an anonymous group of women that are focused on political movements throughout the years. The approach used by the Guerrilla Girls is a gathering of over 55 women that fight against anti-feminist ideologies through anonymous, humorous and outrageous means. The election of Donald Trump has also led to a mockery of his election. The projects involved creating a calendar that mocks all the outrageous things that the current POTUS has promised within the 100 days of his election. These women have used their artistic talents to push forth for a stronger, more prominent agenda: equality. These art pieces and performances not only speak to the women, but to the society that we live in. The recent presidential election represents how our society is still incompetent in picking leaders that will further the cause of equality. There’s a direct correlation to the women that have made these art pieces to women that have stood long and tall against the tyrannies demonstrated by the current president.
The Guerilla Girls, 2016
Barbara Kruger, Untitled, 1987














Is there a difference between men and women? YES! Men have always been privileged in political terms, in art terms, in wage, property ownership, and almost every other factor of life that drives this capitalistic society. No matter the race, the culture, men have overstepped and consistently been given the stance as a superior gender. “Same Difference” speaks on a sentimental level. Yes, there’s a difference between the strengths of men and women, but we are all the same. We can accomplish everything in equivalence to men. It’s the 21st century, and yet, there needs to be a movement to demonstrate the strength, resilience and power of women. In almost every occupation, there’s been a competition for women to prove themselves. Why is that? We are all the same; we are all capable of greatness. Yet our gender, a small difference, causes a rift between what we as a society can accomplish. Art is a form of expression - a style of greatness that is only visible if the rift between men and women can be diminished. Women in Art made me realize that protest doesn’t need to be through political agendas only; they can be through our freedom of expression.


Works Cited

Desmond-Harris, Jenee. "To Understand the Women's March on Washington, You Need to Understand Intersectional Feminism." Vox. Vox, 17 Jan. 2017. Web.
"The Black Woman's "Women's March" Problem: It Ain't Just White Folks." Daily Kos. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.
Sanchez, Allison. "Take A Look At The Art Powering The Women's March On Washington." UPROXX. UPROXX, 19 Jan. 2017. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.
"Women's March on Washington." Women's March on Washington. Web.
"Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece explained | Art | Agenda | Phaidon." Home | Phaidon. Phaidon, Web.
"Barbara Kruger - 37 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy." Artsy - Discover, Research, and Collect the World's Best Art Online.
"Judy Chicago Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story." The Art Story: Modern Art Movements, Artists, Ideas and Topics. Web.
OUR STORY — Guerrilla Girls. Guerilla Girls, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2017. 

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