Essentialism

Based on your recent readings, what, according to Judy Chicago, is “central core imagery”?

“Central core imagery” is defined in the article The Feminist Art Programs at Fresno and CalArts, 1970-75, written by Faith Wilding, as the tendency of female artists to create art focused on a sexual core, or vagina. Another term for the “central core imagery” is “cunt art.” Cunt art was an attempt by female artists to represent their sexuality in a more assertive way. They accomplished representing their sexuality in a more assertive way by creating images of bleeding female sex organs. This artwork made the female artists more conscious about their bodies and their sexuality.

What is the critique of essentialismoften applied to 1970s feminist artists? (Briefly summarize the problem of “essentialism”)

Feminist artists of the 1970s shaped a female experience and made this experience universal. It was a switching of private and public. This combination faced a problem when critics deemed the art created as essentialist. This classification as essentialist meant that the art did not represent all women. The creators of the artwork never even claimed that their art was representative of all women and yet the artists were being criticized for it. The critique of essentialism is that there was a lack between the relationship of the affective force of experience and the capacity of language to express that experience. Critics saw the artwork that represented the female sex organs as problematic because they thought it would confine women to their biological identities. The artists, however, saw this art as freeing themselves from the negative connotations about the female anatomy. Their artwork also attempted to free themselves from the gender roles and gender values of the corrupt, patriarchic society in which they lived in.
Labeling feminist art as essentialist was an insult to the art because the art was much more complex and meaningful than the critiques gave credit for. They believed that art from a woman was ultimately “simple” and “naïve” and therefore labeled the artwork as essentialist.

According to Norma Broude and Mary Garrard’s introductory chapter in The Power of Feminist Art (p.10-29), it is important to differentiate between biological essentialism, cultural essentialism, and political essentialism. Why? How can this help expand our appreciation of feminist artists? To illustrate the answer, choose one piece of well-known Seventies Feminist Art and apply three different readings: biologically-essentialist, culturally-essentialist, and politically-essentialist.

It is important to differentiate between biological essentialism, cultural essentialism, and political essentialism because they all have different meanings. Biological essentialism entails that women are able to assert the power to represent their own sexuality under their own terms, not under the terms of the male driven society. Cultural essentialism is the ability for women to have their own self-image and experience, regardless of what the society dictates. Lastly, political essentialism attempted to create a balance of gender values so that items in the women’s world (such as vaginas and lipstick) could be created into art. Even though all three of these terms have the last word in common, there are crucial differences that make each one of these terms unique and important. This can expand our appreciation of feminist art by truly understanding the hardships of women attempting to create art that shows the woman’s experience.

The Little Woman At Home, created by Margaret Harrison, was made in 1971 and amalgamates all the essentialist ideas in one image. This painting represents biological essentialism by Margaret Harrison depicting the sexual organs of women. She does this by showing the vagina and breasts of the woman in this painting. However, she is depicting the male stereotype of women. Cultural essentialism is shown by the ironic, stereotypical, imagery of what men see women as. She shows that in the eyes of men, women are these bionic creatures (complete with lingerie, Brillo pads, and tampons), regardless of the fact that women are able to have their own self-image. Lastly, the image depicts political essentialism just by the fact that Margaret Harrison created this art piece. She shows that the items women use and the women themselves can be created into art.

Drawing from “The Feminist Art Programs at Fresno and CalArts, 1970-1975” by Faith Wilding (PFA, 32-47) and “Womanhouse” by Arlene Raven (PFA , 48-65), discuss Womanhouse (what/when/where/who/why)? What methods were utilized to generate content for Womanhouse? Choose 3 works from Womanhouse, 3 different artists. For each, address: How is the work “feminist”? How offering a critique of ambient sexist culture? What is the specific subject of critique? How different from other representations of women?

The creation of Womanhouse was intended to address the myths of male genius, the lack of ambitions for women, and the art school teachings that devalued the skills women have been trained in. Womanhouse was a large art project, created in 1971, with the intention to show the gendered experiences of women in the house. Womanhouse was created in Valencia, California. The leaders of Womanhouse were Judy Chicago and Miriam Shapiro; they were in charge of the program and of the CalArts women and the Fresno students. There were two methods used to create the art featured in Womanhouse: 1. Critiquing of male authority and 2. Formulating fair authority structures which would not destroy the female creativity.

This first picture featured that I chose from Womanhouse is called Kitchen, by Robin Welsch. The work is feminist because Welsch placed a female breast in the background and the breast has great symbolism on how women are perceived in our patriarchic society. The picture represents our ambient sexist culture by showing that a woman is literally part of the kitchen, and nothing more. The specific subject of the picture is that the breast in out of focus in the background. The object that is being focused on is the dish tray. This shows that a woman is an object and is as important as a dish tray. This representation of women shows the male, sexist perspective. The first step to fixing a problem is addressing it, and this photo does just that.

Menstruation Bathroom, created by Judy Chicago, is feminist artwork because it depicts a natural event in the lives of women. Even though it is an event that people would not like to talk about, let alone see, it is good that Chicago brought this common occurrence in women’s lives forward. The fact that we rarely see art like this shows the sexism in our society. Men can talk about their problems, but when it comes to women problems such as menstruation, it suddenly becomes a problem. The subject of critique is the fact that this is a common occurrence for women, yet none of the women have yet to express this. Judy Chicago is not sugarcoating anything in this artwork. The representation of women has traditionally been sexy, or beautiful. However, now we get a look at the reality of women. This is why it is truly feminist art.

Waiting, created by Faith Wilding, is feminist artwork because it shows the struggle of women. It also deals with the lack of fulfillment in the lives of women. They have to deal with several insecurities they have to deal with the fact that they have to wait to receive alleviation form these insecurities. It faces the sexist culture by showing that there is more to life than just getting married and caring for a family. Women are capable of so much more, but the sexist society tries to repress these ideas. The subject of critique in this performance is the sexist society dictating that women are fulfilled by getting married and having children. There is more to life than what has just been listed. Women have been waiting for a change to this preconceived idea. Other depictions of women show women that are happy simply being married and having children. Society dictates that a woman should be happy if they accomplish this. However, this performance differs by stating the important question: is that it?