Sunday, March 22, 2009

Responses for March 27

















Whitney Chadwick, “Gender, Race, and Modernism after the Second World War,” Chapter 11, Women, Art, and Society, 4th ed. (New York: Thames and Hudson, 2007), pp. 316-354.

Helen Gurley Brown, excerpts from Sex and the Single Girl (New York: Random House, 1962).

Betty Friedan, “The Problem that Has No Name,” Chapter 1, and “The Sexual Solipsism of Sigmund Freud,” Chapter 5, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W. W. Norton, 1963).

Art History Essays (in anthologies):
Barbara Buhler Lynes, “Georgia O’Keeffe and Feminism: A Problem of Position,” in The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History, eds. Norma Broude and Mary Garrard (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992), pp. 436-449.

Anne M. Wagner, “Lee Krasner as L.K.,” in The Expanding Discourse: Feminism and Art History, eds. Norma Broude and Mary Garrard (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992), pp. 424-435.

Lisa Salzman, “Reconsidering the Stain: On Gender and the Body in Helen Frankenthaler’s Painting,” in Reclaiming Female Agency: Feminist Art History After Postmodernism, eds. Norma Broude and Mary Garrard (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), pp. 372-383.

Julie Nicoletta, “Louise Bourgeois’s Femmes-Maisons, “ in Reclaiming Female Agency: Feminist Art History After Postmodernism, eds. Norma Broude and Mary Garrard (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), pp. 360-371.

12 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed the article about O'Keeffee and Feminism and her outlook my favorite quote which stuck out:

    "Well--I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower--and I don't"

    I like how she separated the idea of woman and the idea of artist not specifically as one entity and she challenged that idea because yes she knows she is a woman and that is her emphasis but she is not solely a "woman artist".

    ReplyDelete
  2. The O'Keeffe article really captured my interest. In knowing just a little bit about her work it was really interesting to learn what she really thought about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I. LOVE. HELEN GURLEY BROWN.

    I read the sex and the single girl article on a train, coincidentally while a hysterical- HYSTERICAL- woman was screaming on the phone to her partner about how she refused to let him leave her, how she gave her life to him, and how she WAS going to have his baby no matter what. I just thought, "Oh sweetie! You need this article more than I do!"

    Anyway, when Gurley Brown talks about how to go about having an affair, she mentions that the man should pay for all the tips, most restaurant tabs, and the liquor. She adds: "That's simply good affair etiquette!" I almost died laughing. One part I did not necessarily care for was the description of the 'Affair Aids': A reliable man is "better than a girl friend in many ways- more constructive, shrewd, and realistic" I know this article is based off this woman's opinion- but I think she's a little too quick to jump to these conclusions. I know many decent men and woman who act just alike and share the same qualities as a human being, like those mentioned above. I hate the trial attributes we give to males and females to separate them, it should all be about equalnesssssss. Ok, alright, sure men and woman may think a bit differently, but that's something I cannot argue because I have no idea about that. I'd rather focus more on the things that make us more alike than different- wouldn't anyone who is all for equal rights??

    ReplyDelete
  4. the article on O'Keeffe was eye-opening for me. as a man i always presumed her paintings of flowers were a psychoanalytical interpretation of her sexuality...or something to that effect. i now know that she painted these images for the sole love and enjoyment of flora. i found it interesting as well how when she first became well known in the 1910s-20s, she was a member of the National Women's Party and considered a feminist by critics of her work and her affiliation with the party. the labeling of her as a feminist, regardless whether or not she was, seemed to me to be a power move by the still male-dominated art world. in 1977, when she refused to help Harris or Nochlin with their exhibition, she did so since she didnt want to be considered a feminist. why was this? did she not agree with the mentality or motives of radical feminism of the 60s-70s and where it was heading? or was it because she simply didn't approve of the actions of feminist artists and art historians as the article mentioned?

    i think the most important quote for the class though is "Write about women. Or write about artists. I don't see how they're connected."

    ReplyDelete
  5. No one has mentioned the article on Helen Frankenthaler. I would like to ask if anyone else wondered why, instead of treating her 'stains' as menustration indicating an empty womb, critics didn't call her a castrating female trying to assume the male persona as ejaculator?

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Suppose You Like Girls

    You've already worked out a way of life for yourself to which I could contribute no helpful advice. I'm sure your problems are many. I don't know about your pleasures. At any rate, it's your business and I think it's a shame you have to be so surreptitious about your choice of a way of life."

    -Nothing Earth shattering here, I just found it amusing to read something so seemingly progressive that contained some examples of archaic thinking (e.g. "your CHOICE of a way of life.") There's a few others, but they don't quite stand out like this one. I'm fully aware that this was written over 50 years ago but It reminded me of our discussion about Freud - Radically Progressive for the time, yet riddled with political incorrectness by today's standards.

    Betty Friedan kinda looks like Helen Thomas.

    I couldn't help but think of this great Peggy Lee song called "Is that All there is?" when reading "The Problem that has no Name" - My wife wants that song played at her funeral and it's become even more poignant.




    IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
    Peggy Lee

    SPOKEN:
    I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire.
    I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up
    in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
    I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.
    And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"

    SUNG:
    Is that all there is, is that all there is
    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
    Let's break out the booze and have a ball
    If that's all there is

    SPOKEN:
    And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to a circus, the greatest show on earth.
    There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears.
    And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads.
    And so I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle.
    I had the feeling that something was missing.
    I don't know what, but when it was over,
    I said to myself, "is that all there is to a circus?

    SUNG:
    Is that all there is, is that all there is
    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
    Let's break out the booze and have a ball
    If that's all there is

    SPOKEN:
    Then I fell in love, head over heels in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world.
    We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes.
    We were so very much in love.
    Then one day he went away and I thought I'd die, but I didn't,
    and when I didn't I said to myself, "is that all there is to love?"

    SUNG:
    Is that all there is, is that all there is
    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing

    SPOKEN:
    I know what you must be saying to yourselves,
    if that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
    Oh, no, not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment,
    for I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
    when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself

    SUNG:
    Is that all there is, is that all there is
    If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
    Let's break out the booze and have a ball
    If that's all there is

    ReplyDelete
  7. I thought the Sex and the Single Girl article was very interesting. It was like a handbook for single women. It seemed to validate (I want to say 'loose' women, but I feel like that's too judgmental) single women for not only staying single, but seducing men for their pleasure. I felt like these women were like Sirens, using their good looks to get any man they wanted so they could get free food, trips, and gifts. She mentions falling in love, but it felt like that was a cover up. Honestly, any time women purposely use their looks to get what they want it disgusts me. This has happened for so long, and it still goes on today. This kind of behavior is why women have a bad reputation I think. How can we expect to be taken seriously, when so many women shallowly exploit their physical appearance?

    I can rant about this for awhile, so I'll stop now.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It was really strange reading the articles"Sex and the Single Girl"(Helen Gurley Brown) and "The Feminine Mystique"(Betty Friedman) back to back. Both were equally interesting, although I had trouble pin-pointing exactly what "the problem" was. At first I was for sure I knew, but I was sort of afraid that I was thinking to simply. Mostly because she kept identifying it as "the problem" and not really stating exactly what it was.

    I think that "the problem" of women wanting something more than their husband and children and home I guess is largely desired, but I think it's not so much about wanting these things or wanting a career. It seems more about having the choice, the freedom to choose between the two or even better, to interchange them at will.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I read through reconsidering the stain and femmes-maisons and they both focus in on language a great deal. It seems like with femmes-maisons there are a lot of unresolved issues with Bourgeois's work and how women are labeled and the labeling of women's art. (Her work though takes me back to the idea of the angel of the hearth with the homes she places on top of her female figure and that this is a woman's place. ) Reconsidering the stain really touches upon language though gendering the techniques of Frankenthaler's painting.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I often felt a bit torn by some of the things mentioned in the Sex and the Single Girl piece. A lot of the ideas she mentioned were interesting thought for the time, such as single women being independent and themselves, but the parts about women who liked other women and where men are mentioned to be designed and destined to cheat, were stereotypical. It did also seem to make marriage out to be a bad choice occasionally, but it did mention in the beginning a statement I liked that expressed both sides: "Frankly, I wouldn't want to make the choice between a married hell or a single hell. They're both hell."

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree with a lot that was said about the Sex and the Single Girl piece. I suppose it was pretty progressive at the time but now I find it laughable and even kind of disgusting. At first I thought it was a satire.
    I enjoyed the O'Keefe essay. I had always been told that her flowers were vaginas.I always wondered what was up with that. Anyway, I was glad to get to know more about her, with her words, and the quote someone mentioned above about writing about women or writing about artists, was definitely my favorite. I think she would have been an interesting person to meet.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "I think that "the problem" of women wanting something more than their husband and children and home I guess is largely desired, but I think it's not so much about wanting these things or wanting a career. It seems more about having the choice, the freedom to choose between the two or even better, to interchange them at will."

    Siphne, yes. She did a good job of proposing ways approaches to take in order to live a life you get the most out of. I'm glad we were able to get that out of this article.

    ReplyDelete