Gender Equality/ (Feminism)


For my semester project I will create a comic relief illustration that reflects on gender equality and feminism. It will demonstrate how women are seen as the weaker gender and later on leads to an accomplishment by one of the characters that proves the fact that the female gender is the superior gender. The story behind the comic will be mainly about my mother and sister who is currently in boot camp. It will start off with my mother giving birth to myself and 2 younger sisters showing a powerful moment that will also include the discrimination of the female gender. My father will also be included in some skits showing how much of a horrible father he was and representing how weak the male gender is. Since my mother is the one who raised my sisters and I, while her being the role model that she was/is, this will show how important a female really is in the values of parent hood. After a few skits, the story will lead into my sister's journey and how she left for boot camp. Since my whole family did not support her decision because of the fear of her being a female and attending what is know as a "Male's Job" it will show everyone that women are as capable of completing extremely hard obstacles/journeys just as much as men can and even better. Attached with this journey will be a few skits of her in boot camp and surpassing the other males who are currently attending as well (according to her letters). Leading up to her return and graduation where we will see her again, the comic will end with a brand new women standing in front of all are eyes and can finally be seen as the superior gender and a true badass. I will also personally interview her after her graduation on her experiences as a woman attending boot camp.

A long with the comic illustration I will create a tumbler page with artwork from artists involved in the feminism art movement. Speaking on their behalf of feminism and telling the stories behind their art work. I will try to include videos, poems, illustrations, posters, and anything interesting that relates to the project. Aside from the artist and their art work I will include features on women who serve in the military like their stories/experiences behind it including the one from my own sister. The main topic of my project is "Gender Equality/Feminism". Gender equality is the state in which access to rights or opportunities is unaffected by gender and feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. Both topics are smilier to each other and that is why I am choosing both, but mainly focusing on gender equality. Patriarchy will also be included in the comic illustration itself.

The reason I chose this topic is because I believe it is important to show all individuals that everyone is equal instead of believing that one gender is superior than the other. Men tend to see women as objects and do not worship them for what they are truly capable of. Even at a young age, little boys are shown to have more respect towards other kids of their own gender then to the average little girl. The main audience that this project will focus on is the male gender. Yes, the project will have a lot of women artists and topics about women included in it, but this will be the key to showing the dominance of the female gender and the equality between a male and female. I chose 5 artist who were mainly apart of the feminism art movement or resembled towards it. Judy Chicago, Roy Lichtenstein, Marc Chagall, Barbara Kruger and of course the Guerrilla Girls are the 5 artist that will influence my entire project based on their styles and art movements.
Judy Chicago "Birth Trinity" (1985)




Barbara Kruger "Untitled (You are seduced)" (1982)




Barbara Kruger "Untitled (Your body is a battleground)" (1989)



Marc Chagall "Lovers in Green" (1917)


Roy Lichtenstein "Drowning Girl" (1963)


These 5 art pieces are examples of what will be included in the tumblr page. A few of the pieces symbolize the comic illustration that I will be creating since there is a cartoony feeling towards some of them. I will speak more on the artwork I selected on the day of the presentation and explaining why I chose these and other pieces.

In order to reach an audience and demonstrate my art work, I was planning on emailing my old high school art teacher to possibly allow my piece to be showcased at the annual art show at the public library in Plainfield, NJ. It is a very popular show as I participated in the very first one and as the years went by more people, even some smaller named artist arrived to view our pieces. This can be a good way to start showing the message of gender equality between the people of my town as they begin to engage in the art work. Another excellent way to reach an audience can be with the help of social media. Posting the image of the piece with a statement explaining the meaning behind it can catch many followers and friend's attention when scrolling through their timelines. The more likes, retweets, and screenshots that occur, the more popular the piece becomes and spreading the word on gender equality will start to become easier.

This project can fit into my professional aspiration pretty well. I have lived my whole life with my mother and 2 younger sisters since my father is not really around. Not many people can agree with me (mainly men) that a woman is truly the superior gender, that coming from a male himself. Watching my mother care for my sisters and I while being the role model that she is/was is the reason I strive to be successful in life. This project will help allow me show other people that women are just as good as men and maybe if they can understand it to the point where I do, they will see that the female is the superior gender if not equal to a male. As this project fitting into my portfolio I am not too sure how it can since I want to become and accountant, but I did find some interesting information. There are more female accountants then there are male accountants in the United States. It is a 60/40 split. This could be good information to know when going into the interview process for any accountant position and a good way to bring up a discussion on gender equality and speaking on behalf of this project.

List of Resources

(Websistes)

Contemporary Women's Issues (NJCU Database)
EBSCOhost (NJCU Database)
fortune.com
indentifythisart.com
Infobase (NJCU Database)
infoplease.com/arts-entertainment
Nytimes.com
theartstory.org
wikiart.org

(Books and Readings)  'so far'

"Confession of the Guerrilla Girls" - The Guerrilla Girls
"Understanding Patriarchy" - Bell Hooks