POST 3

Living in a world where equality between genders is advertised throughout many circumstances can be a difficult task for women. The reason for this is women are seen as the weaker gender by multiple individuals, mainly the male gender. A select of men believe women are only meant for certain tasks and cannot produce the same outcome as them. When in fact, they are wrong. Women are capable of almost anything a man can do and even better. There are many reasons to believe this statement, but there will always be a few stubborn individuals who will never fully accept it for their own personal reasons. One of the ways that helps introduce the beginning to equality between all genders is in the messages from the art work presented by artists. Either it being from the past or present time, artists are known for creating art work that help establish a message and possibly change the attitude of all those individuals who are anti-feminist and do not believe in equality between genders.

I have selected a few art pieces that introduce the idea of gender equality and feminism. A few of the pieces are a part of the feminist art movement. For my project I related all these ideas and issues explained above and connected the art work seen below to my own create a comic illustration on the story of my sister and her boot camp experience. It starts off a with a few scenes of my mother while her being an independent and strong women who was always there for my sisters and I. Also having my father in it, showing how weak the male gender can be when it comes to parenthood. Then leads to my sister graduating high school and announcing her decision to joining the army. Family members including my self did not believe in her at first because of the fact she was a woman trying to do what is known as a "male's job". She then goes to prove all of us wrong and accomplishes an extraordinary goal in her life. She is now seen as the hero of our family and proved to everyone that women are capable of doing anything that men can do.

Roy Linchensten "Drowning Girl" (1963)
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/lichtenstein-drowning-girl-1963 (Website for story behind "Drowning Girl")

Roy Lichensten created "Drowning Girl" as a piece to symbolize the power and pride of a woman. This piece and many of his other work are an imagery based on other comics. He takes part of the entire comic illustration skit and recreates it in his own version using oil paint to create a beautiful painting. Roy was apart of the pop art and postmodernism art movement. As you can see Roy uses the style of comic illustration as I currently did for my project. In my version I showed how strong and prideful my sister was in the comic. It has its similarities and I wanted to connect it in a way. There is powerful scene in my comic that will show a similarity towards this piece. Like stated before we live in a world were men believe they over power women and feel the need to always do the heavy lifting and manual labor for them. There are some women who take advantage of men because of this, but there are also multiple women who are too prideful to receive help from a man. In the novel Seeing Power Art and Activism in the 21st Century written by Nato Thompson, he states, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." In other words, if women wants to be seen equal to a man in performing certain tasks like for instance, heaving lifting and manual labor; they should stop allowing men to perform these tasks for them and take it upon themselves to prove to the men that they are just capable of the same performance. I am not saying for men to completely stop trying to help a woman and not be a gentlemen, but instead allow them to spread their wings and at least give them the opportunity to perform a specific task.

Barbara Kruger "Untitled (Your body is a battleground)" (1989)
https://www.thebroad.org/art/barbara-kruger/untitled-your-body-battleground (Story behind "Untitled (Your body is a battleground)"

Barbara Kruger created the piece "Untitled (Your body is a battleground)" to address media and politics. Originally produced for the Women's March on Washington in support of reproductive freedom in the year 1989. Kruger is a graphic designer and photographer who was apart of the postmodernism and feminist art movement. This piece is connected to the struggles that feminist occurred in that era by allowing to contribute their achievements and passion in the women's march that took place. Till this day, women's marches are still taking place due to many political issues. As Donald Trump took office back in 2016, multiple women's marches began to take place all over the United States. Because of this women and even men came together to fight for women's rights. Having multiple posters and signs similar to Kruger's artwork to represent a strong message to all of the people watching, including the President himself. In chapter 6, Nato Thompson addresses, "We are influence more by the people around us and the spaces we circulate though than we might have ever imagined." In other words, if people see multiple individuals marching for the rights of women all over our country, that will inspire them to join because they begin to think about the females in their lives and that is enough motivation for a person to join the battle. The summer of 2016, I experienced a women's march in the town of Westfield, New Jersey. Honestly, I did not care for the issue until I saw the signs that children, husbands, brothers, and multiple men held in the air for the women in their lives. That instantly triggered my reaction towards the march. A few weeks after that, my hometown of Plainfield held a similar event that my mother and sisters were going to attend and because of me being influenced by others in the original march in Westfield, I joined the women in my life and marched along with them for their rights. 

J. Howard Miller "We Can Do It!" (1942)

J. Howard Miller originally created "We Can Do It!" for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. During the years of WWII women were allowed to enlist for the military and this art work became an official poster for advertising and persuading women to join. Women were looked on as patriotic for the time being, but once the war ended their positions in the military were relinquished to the returning male veterans. This was not right, women dedicated their time and left their families to help serve in special jobs for the military and were even mistreated by the men for sexual harassment. It may have token a while for these rules to change, but in the present time of veterans serving in the military, either a woman or man; it does not matter what gender you are anymore. They are all treated equal and have the same rights. It has definitely come a long way compared to what it used to be. In the book, "Confession of the Guerrilla Girls" the author states, "Not all parts are created equal." Relating this quote to the text above, we can restate it as 'Not all individuals are created equal'. Just because a woman serves in the military and is now seen as a veteran of the United States with the most respect from all individuals does not erase the fact that women who do no serve in the military are still seen as less then a man. It is a sad fact, but in order for a women to be seen as equal to a man or superior they must prove themselves in a certain way. Before my sister attended boot camp she was just seen a young girl who could not fend for herself and not accomplish what is known as a "man's job" according to several of my family members. After her completion of the basic training and officially becoming a veteran of the United States, she earned the respect from all the people who doubted her and is now seen as the hero of our family. It is crazy how such a dramatic experience or accomplishment in life is the only way that will fully change the attitudes and perception of people in the world.

Work Cited

“Barbara Kruger Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artistkruger-barbara-artworks.htm#pnt_2.

“MoMA Learning.” MoMA | Roy Lichtenstein. Drowning Girl. 1963, www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/lichtenstein-drowning-girl-1963.

“Roy Lichtenstein Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-lichtenstein-roy.htm.

The Broad, www.thebroad.org/art/barbara-kruger/untitled-your-body-battleground.

“"We Can Do It!".” National Museum of American History, americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_538122.