Updated Proposal Post

There's been so much controversy for decades about how tattoos affect peoples lives not simply by placing ink on the body but also how it could change how people look at you for situations such as job hiring. It isn't uncommon for those who have visible tattoos on their body to be seen in a different way than someone who doesn't and the main question for some is why? Do tattoos show your education level and how well you can perform your duties for the job? Or are they just a form of self expression through a needle and some ink? What makes other artistic forms different from tattooing and why are those considered art but not tattoos. In my project I will be discussing both sides of the controversy about tattoos and how some people consider it an art form while others can barely stand the look of them. Assessing the origin that tattoos have come from and at what point did they became something discriminatory rather than viewed as art. I've always wondered whats wrong with having something you're proud of on your body for the rest of your life so this gave me the opportunity to do research on the issue. I will provide a couple answers to some of these questions that I've had and which some other people who also believe tattooing is an art form might as well. 

I will also shed some light on tattoos becoming a legal issue in the recent years. I am not going to tell everyone why tattoos are good or why they are bad. Neither will i be biased towards certain peoples beliefs against them but through research and current news articles i will provide information from both sides while still including commentary and opinions such as the Guerrilla Girls have done. As a person who has tattoos myself i find this topic very interesting as i enter the job world after college and want this work to reflect how much interest i have in them while also reviewing others opinions on the opposition of them in the work place. Mostly, i will be speaking about the transformation and progression tattoos are having in the world as they are starting to be considered as a "fine arts". Also, if this progression continues what will it do in terms of job hirings. The idea of body image, something extremely important in art, comes into play for some people when deciding to get tattoos. There are tons of reasons why people choose to get tattoos and yet there are also reasons why people do not. All of this will be discussed along with photos and examples through actual people's experiences with it. The audience i wish to reach with this piece is obviously tattoo appreciators but also anyone who want to be knowledgable about different aspects of tattoo and how they affect peoples lives. I personally want to show some, preferably those employers who hire others, my work that explains work that dates back to ancient times where tattoos were used as self expression culturally, spiritually, and even medically. The idea of self expression through tattoos should not be a weighed factor when hiring someone or even personally making opinions of someone. Im not telling people how they should feel towards tattoos but simply giving insight into the tattoo world as just another form of art. I've always been told by my mom that i shouldn't get tattoos because people aren't going to hire me if i have them. Honestly that doesn't suffice as an option for me so this piece will also give me some background on tattoos and if i ever needed to speak about them in a job interview I've got plenty of information that i can share with them. 

Links Below of my previous research:

http://www.timescolonist.com/tattoo-artist-inks-over-the-bad-times-1.2218478

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&sid=9936ffe3-bc1e-410e-86e1-a1cc97dea05a%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4208

http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/idea53&div=6&?&collection=journals

Updated Proposal Post

  My semester project is on the objectification of females in advertisements and the work of photographer Ellen von Unwerth. Von Unwerth’s work centers on erotic femininity. Her photographs appear in advertisements and editorials - some photographs tend to be suggestive and sensual in nature. I will parallel the advertisements in magazines that are clear examples of the objectification of women with some of Von Unwerth’s which, although intended to be pro-feminist, promote the objectification of women.
     
        Von Unwerth is often praised for her photographs empowering women and promoting feminism and yet the apparent passiveness of some of her works perpetuate the male gaze as it is clear they assume the spectator is male.

   
        The medium of my project will be a collage of both advertisements in magazines and von Unwerth’s photographs that I will display or post on tumblr. The collage will be similar to a triptych: the left panel will be advertisements that objectify women, the right panel will be von Unwerth’s photographs that inadvertently objectify women, and the central panel will be von Unwerth’s photographs that are pro-feminist and are not inviting the male gaze as pronouncedly as others. I am currently compiling everything I am using in my project.
     
        I will incorporate inspiration from Jean Kilbourne’s documentary, Killing Us Softly (2010) which heightens on the influence advertisements have on women as well as Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth which details the correlation between a woman’s beauty and her identity. Other resources include von Unwerth’s photographs and her book, Snaps.
     
        I am making this project because I find von Unwerth’s work intriguing and realize it parallels well with John Berger’s concept of the male gaze from Ways of Seeing. My audience is anyone familiar with the objectification of women. My message involves the ubiquitousness of the male gaze as well as the presence of feminist advertisements. I am not quite sure how this fits into my professional aspirations but it fits into my portfolio as the first piece I am making that incorporates another artist.

• Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly (2010)
• Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth
• Ellen von Unwerth's Snaps

Project Proposal Post

My semester project is a feminist blog that focus on various subjects like movies, tv, music, media and more and I will be tying these subjects in with the ideas and topics we learned in class. I am making this blog because I love to write especially about feminist issues. I want my blog posts to be similar to blog like articles that you can find at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/women/ My audience will be anyone, the website will be published so anyone can find it. Feminists and entertainment lovers can be considered my audience. My message would be the unfairness and.or injustice that women face in all aspects - film, TV, music, media, art and more. I am a MIS major and I have a heavy passion for social media, creating a blog is great for my portfolio and this project could definitely benefit me. 

This is what I have done so far: http://thequietfeminist.wix.com/blog I have the Home page done to invite readers to the blog and give them a taste of what it is about. The blog itself is what I still have to work on. Some of my ideas include:

• Connecting this Indian commercial to the Male Gaze
• Getting people I know to try to name as many male and female artists in 5 minutes - goes back to what we did the first day of class
• Getting myself to name as many male and female Movie directors and writers as I can in five minutes, doing the same for television creators, directors, and executive producers, and again with music producers excluding as many musicians as possible
• "Reception" by Vadis Turner, who I found on the Brooklyn Museum website and my take on Indian weddings
• Body Image and "All About That Bass"
• Catcalling & Actress Rowan Blanchard's experience of being catcalled at 12
• Selfie Culture
• Rape Culture - Artemisia Gentileschi 
•  Bell Hooks "Patriarchy" and music videos
• Bieber's naked picture vs. Demi Lovato's picture (she has clothes on) & the reactions on social media of both http://www.buzzfeed.com/rossalynwarren/people-are-comparing-justin-biebers-instagram-comments-to-on#.egXwbNqPg8
• Addressing this comic created by a woman on the struggles of being a woman

UPDATE 04/08 - If you go to http://thequietfeminist.wix.com/blog I published the titles of the blogs I will be doing, it's about 6 and they're on The Male Gaze, The Gurerilla Girls, Selfie Culture, Catcalling & More. 

Semester Project proposal update

For my semester project, I am currently doing research and gathering quotes, art, images, and personal stories of how Muslim women are portrayed in art and in the media. I will present my project on public Instagram and Twitter accounts.  And create a PowerPoint presentation to discuss with the class the meaning behind the project, what it means to me, and how I will use Instagram and Twitter to make a difference.  I chose this topic as my semester project because it is always something I have been interested in.  Why do westerners see Muslim women as oppressed by their men and their religion when women are given more rights than men in Islam?  Why do ‘white feminists’ believe we need to be “saved” by their white men?  How does being Muslim automatically imply you are a feminist? I will discuss through art and media, how these western beliefs oppress Muslim women and damage Islam’s reputation.  My main audience is young millennials, specifically Muslim men and women.  I want Muslim women to understand their honor in their religion and westerners to give Muslim women their own voice instead of sending their men to ‘save’ them by killing their husbands, fathers, and brothers. I will create hashtags and use other social media platforms to advertise the main accounts.  I hope to get a little more specific once I begin posting!

#artandwomen #muslimwomen 

-Sara Kittaneh 

Updated Proposal Post

For my semester project, I am currently gathering all the information I need such as pictures that I will be using as examples and putting my information together with the use of multiple sources from the internet. My semester project will focus on why is it that women get plastic surgery done and how this relates to the male gaze. My aim is not to criticize the women that do this to their bodies because women have the right to present themselves in the way they choose but, I focus more on how women construct their identities today and the things that have influenced them in society to construct her identity. One of my sources include an article found on motto.time.com where a feminist activist named Micol Hebron discusses the issue with Kim Kardashian and her nude selfies. I will be using her opinions as inspiration for my project. The things she discussed in the article go hand in hand with exactly what I want to further research on and present to the world. I will be presenting my project by creating a new Instagram account for it. I chose Instagram as my source to "sell" my project since in today's society this is considered to be one of the most popular social networks to get information from next to twitter and Facebook. 

I am making this project because I believe that so many young girls today have been influenced by these celebrities and women who get these surgeries done to their body. These negative influences play a large part in the way our society today is constructed and how people only view women as objects. I believe it is important for people to understand the underlying issues of women exposing themselves and further presenting themselves as nothing more but objects. This is why so many women are being stigmatized. They are and always have been put on the back burner compared to men and are not seen as just important as them. These women get surgery done and show them off to the world only to display a message that is seen as sexual. This relates to my professional aspirations of being a social worker because it is important for every individual to be seen worthy of and of great value. I want to put a focus on the gender inequality happening in our society and address it. 

Post 3: Can You Name 5 Women Artists?

The Dinner Party // Judy Chicago

Can I name five women artists? I can! After researching the Brooklyn Museum website I am definitely angry that I was not able to make to the Museum myself with the rest of the class or even on my own but after preparing for this post, I definitely will try my best to visit, hopefully this summer. I came across five women artists who grabbed my attention on https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/eascfa. These five women are: Judy Chicago, Mary Coble, Bailey Doogan, Laurie Simmons, and Vadis Turner. All these women have something to express through their art. Each of these women express an issue whether social or political. Some attacked gender, sexual orientation, and political injustice.

The Dinner Part // Judy Chicago

Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" can be found at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. This piece is obviously about gender. "The Dinner Party" largely represents women, the piece features the name of many women, like Angelica Kauffman which you can see the picture below. "Each of the settings represents one of thirty-nine historically significant women. The table sits on a floor of 2304 porcelain triangular tiles (in 129 units) inscribed with the names of 999 significant women" (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5167/The_Dinner_Party) From what we have seen in class, this piece is very controversial as the plates depict female genitalia. In the video we watched in class, the men in the video were trying to suggest that Chicago's artwork was not art at all. I strongly disagree with these men, what Chicago did with "The Dinner Party" was incredible and is, in fact, art. If it was not art, then people would have no opinion about it, if it wasn't art then people would not have a reaction to it. Anyone who looks at the large masterpiece would most certainly have a opinion and would react to it. I know I do and I have not gotten the chance to see it in person. What Chicago was able to do by creating this was to give women recognition. She was able to show us that there are great female artists out there and there have always been whether or not we paid attention.  

Angelica Kauffmann's name in the bottom right corner

 Laurie Simmons is another artist that I saw on the Brooklyn Museum website, and she too also depicts the issue of gender roles. Below is one of her pieces named "Kitchen" and that title tells you enough about the issue she is trying to bring light to. Gender roles seems to be an issue that Simmons feels strongly about. Simmons is showing a woman in her "natural habitat," society always places women in the kitchen. Society sees women as beings that are to learn to cook and have hot meals on the table for a husband and children. She is showing us that a woman's place in society is supposed to be in a kitchen but she is obviously not in support of this view. The woman seen in her piece seems like she is over it, she does not want to be in that kitchen any more. All the ingredients are out on the table and she is standing over it but the woman does not look like she is about to do anything with what is in front of her.

Laurie Simmons // Kitchen

Vadis Turner's "Reception" is a very interesting piece part of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center. Her artwork is also quite feminist and I love that she used things like tampons and birth control pills in her contemporary piece. In the video below, Turner tells us a little bit about what she is trying to tell us through the "Reception." She calls it a "dowry" piece where it shows how women, when they are getting married are basically giving themselves value. She says, "...a lot of my work obviously has to do with gender roles and how we measure our worth as women" (Turner, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vqvgnwt2yQ) This piece also represents the societal problems that women face. As females, when we get married we are "given away," as if we are some object that you can just get rid of whenever you want. It seems like most of the things I saw on the Brooklyn Museum website that really caught my eye were those that had to do with gender roles.

 

Video of Vidas Turner talking about the "Reception"

Maria Maria Acha Kutscher // http://www.acha-kutscher.com/mujerestrabajando/indignadas/indignadasglobal1.html

There is more to be depicted in art created by brilliant women other than gender roles. For example, I was intrigued when seeing Mary Coble's, "Unitled 2 (from Note to Self)" Before seeing the picture up close, it reminded me of something I have seen by Maria Maria Acha Kutscher which can be seen below on the left side. Coble's work of art attacks society and politics with her statement about hate crimes against the LGBTQ community. "In 2005, Mary Coble staged a twelve-hour endurance performance titled Note to Self, in which she had the first names of 438 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims of hate-crime murders tattooed over her entire body without ink. Vivid evidence of Coble’s harrowing artistic process appears in this photograph" (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5047/Untitled_2_from_Note_to_Self). Sexual orientation has been a controversial topic for many years, we have just recently made it legal for same-sex couples to marry. Coble created this in 2005 and the hate crimes against the lgbtq still exist today despite the walls we have broken down. Coble took what was going on in the world, saw the injustice, and then brought us her art. I think the idea of writing the names of those who were murdered for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans, is powerful. I look forward to seeing more of Coble's projects. Her work is something that I could definitely get behind, even just based on what is written on her website, "Embracing unpredictability, messiness and failure Coble aims to manifest problems of bodily, societal and symbolic navigation particularly focusing on issues of injustice and normative boundaries. Recurrent themes in Coble’s work revolve around queer politics, poetics and histories often working site-specifically, research-based and - from time to time - collectively/participatory" (http://www.marycoble.com/). 

Mary Coble // Untiled 2 (from Note to Self)

Bailey Doogan is another very political artist that I saw under the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center For Feminist Art collection on the Brooklyn Museum website. I was drawn to her piece, "The Hard Place," I was curious to see what the words said on the canvas. "The ghostly text in the upper right—“Your mind is your strongest weapon because they can’t control your mind they can’t get inside and that’s their failure” (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5030/The_Hard_Place_For_Mairead_Farrell). I could not agree more with these words, which actually are not Doogan's but are the words of Mairead Freeman, a prisoner that was shot to death. "This is a monumental elegy for the Irish Republican Army member and long-term prisoner Mairead Farrell, who, along with two unarmed male companions, was shot to death at close range in 1988, in Gibraltar, by the British Security Service" (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5030/The_Hard_Place_For_Mairead_Farrell). Doogan's "The Hard Place" is clearly political in nature. Doogan is expressing her feelings of sorrow towards the unjust death of Freeman and is blaming the British Security Service for it. I think it is always a great idea for all people, not only women artists, to share their thoughts about what is going on in the world. Whether it be highly political, like it is in this case, or more of attacking society for their norms. 

Bailey Doogan // The Hard Place (For Mairead Farrell)

It doesn't and shouldn't matter when these artists try and depict these thoughts and feelings. The idea that there are no great women artists goes back to the beginning of time and even today no one can name a female artist besides Frida Kahlo at most. Chicago's "The Dinner Party" in all of its ceramic, triangular glory proves all those people wrong. Simmons doesn't use paint or flat surfaces to show that gender roles are stupid, that a woman in a kitchen and that being the place where she belongs is dated. Turner's "Reception" was created in 2009 but dowries are an old tradition, but the idea that a woman's worth can be given monetary value still exists today. Weddings in some cases today are still seen as when a daughter is being given away to a husband. Whether the issue is old or new, it is important that the artist express their creative freedoms. Hate crimes and the history of the lgbt community can be dated back to ancient times (seriously, I took LGBT History a few semesters ago). Doogan's "The Hard Place (For Mairead Farrell)" was completed in 1990 while the shooting occurred in 1988. These are five amazing women artists who have important messages to send about gender, race, sexuality, politics, and much more and they do a wonderful job.

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5167/The_Dinner_Party

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5047/Untitled_2_from_Note_to_Self

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/5030/The_Hard_Place_For_Mairead_Farrell

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/216226/Kitchen

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/188232/Reception

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/207864

http://www.acha-kutscher.com/mujerestrabajando/indignadas/indignadasglobal1.html

http://www.marycoble.com/

Semester Project Proposal

     My semester project will focus on ten female artists, half from Cuba and half from Pakistan. This is representative of my culture. I think this is an important project to do because so far in class all we have learned about is white female artists, expect for a handful of black artists. By now, it has become clear that women have been cast aside in the art world. Minority female artists have it worse. It is important that books like Women and Art attempt to incorporate more hispanic and asian artists. My audience will be people who are interested in finding out about artists who are not white. In a way, it could be said that I am trying to advocate for the women that get left out of books like Art and Women. As a social work major, this projects fits in with my professional aspirations and portfolio because of its nature. Social workers, above all else, are advocates of their clients. Proving that I am capable and willing to advocate for others is important to future employers and for graduate school.  
     I am still in the process of deciding what artists to use for my project. Tumblr will definitely be my platform. Advertising for my idea will be done on both Twitter and Facebook. I have to figure out how to properly advertise for this. Adding hashtags will make it easier for people to find my blog and posts, but I am not sure what to say exactly. I'll have pictures of the artwork done by my artists then talk about the artist and her art. I don't have any references that i am using to base my project on yet, because I am stuck. I'm not sure how to go about writing about artwork. I feel like my idea is a bit bland. I am also having a lot of trouble figuring out what to say when I advertise this project on other social media websites. If I could just figure out exactly how to go about my project then I would have a ton of resources.