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What is the importance of gender identity
What is the importance of gender identity
Culture impact on gender identity
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This essay will discuss the notion of identity and will preserve a focus on the politics of race, gender, and sexuality as detailed in postmodern approaches and how identity became a core issue in relation to postmodernism.
Postmodernism is a late twentieth century movement in the arts, architecture, and criticism that was a departure from modernism . It was an era set free from the past, it is distinguished by a general wariness of ideologies as well as a rather ' strenuous' relationship with what constitutes as art. This lead to new types of art such as instillation and performance.
The conception of identity in art came from significant political change. The notion of identity was expressed in many different ways during postmodernism, for example: gender, sexual and cultural identities. They were all treated differently by different artists. This notion of identity in art was born from identity politics, which was a set of arguments during the latter part of the twentieth century, with the intention to empower those who feel oppressed and to vocalise their felt oppression in terms of their own experience. This form of art was also used to educate the audience of the oppression that was felt. For example feminist art dealt with many themes of how society views women, while art based on the racial identity of the artists dealt with the discrimination the artist has felt due to his or hers ethnic identity. Works of art that deal with the notion of identity are therefore a postmodern critique of identity, identity politics, and notions of the artist’s experience and visibility in the world.
For example let’s take Barbara Kruger’s work. Barbara Kruger is a North American conceptual artists wh...
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...ve identities to show their personal experience despite the various identities among the audience viewing the art works. Whether they sympathised or empathised there was a measurable reaction to the art of that period that educated the audience about the experiences of women, sexual and racial minorities.
“Over the same period there appears to have been a substantial if by no means sensational gain in the representation of women and of racial and sexual minorities in the making of art and of artistic theory.” -Art in Theory: Ideas of the Postmodern
Issues of identity are crucial to postmodernism as they were the basis for some of the most famous and controversial works of that period. Even though a limited number of examples are shown here , they successfully commented on the subject of identity and how it became an important common denominator in the art world.
Artists communicate their identity through their work in different ways. Identity can be influenced by culture, community, and diversity, it can be represented and communicated in many different ways as well. The two artists I will be comparing are Ah Xian and Kerry James Marshall. Both artists represent culture identity in their works but in different ways as well as have different views on the subject of cultural identities.
Prior to the 20th century, female artists were the minority members of the art world (Montfort). They lacked formal training and therefore were not taken seriously. If they did paint, it was generally assumed they had a relative who was a relatively well known male painter. Women usually worked with still lifes and miniatures which were the “lowest” in the hierarchy of genres, bible scenes, history, and mythological paintings being at the top (Montfort). To be able to paint the more respected genres, one had to have experience studying anatomy and drawing the male nude, both activities considered t...
Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.
Though people can look into color and composition, others can still even look into the source of the art itself. Cole goes deeper, delving into the source of the art, looking in particular into the idea of cultural appropriation and the view a person can give others. Though it is good for people to be exposed to different opinions of a group or an object, sometimes people can find it difficult to tell the difference between the reality and the art itself. Sometimes art can be so powerful that its message stays and impacts its audience to the point where the viewer’s image of the subject of the art changes entirely. Cole brings up an important question about art, however. Art has become some kind of media for spreading awareness and even wisdom at times, but in reality, “there is also the question of what the photograph is for, what role it plays within the economic circulation of images” (973). Cole might even be implying that Nussbaum’s advertisement can sometimes be the point of some media, and that sometimes the different genres of art can just be to make someone with a particular interest happy. One more point that Cole makes is that “[a]rt is always difficult, but it is especially difficult when it comes to telling other people’s stories.” (974) Truthfully, awareness and other like-concepts are difficult to keep going when a person or a group is not directly involved.
The identities have tended to be divided into some different categories, such as gender, race, and class, and these sources have been judged in the different ways. In other words, the different determinant factors of the individuality have been considered separately, and these components have been regarded as a unrelated simple category. Under these points of view, however, it is hard to recognize the problems of interrelated individual component of the identity. Thus, to solve the disregarding crossover point, the new theory of the “intersectionality” are essential. This essay explores the key definition of the “intersectionality” from the viewpoint of gender studies, and how the concept is connected with the social system and individual identity
This investigation will examine a few key works by the anonymous female artist group know in popular culture as the Guerrilla Girls. In this essay it will reveal several prominent themes within the groups works that uncover the racial and gender inequalities in politics, art and pop culture with the use of humor. These collaborating artists work and operate with a variety of mediums, their works display a strong message concerned with activism connected by humor allowing the Guerrilla Girls to communicate and resonate a more powerful message to the viewer. The ways in which this collaborating group has employed many questions and facts against the hierarchy and historical ideologies which have exploited women and their roles in art. This investigation will allow the reader to identify three areas in which the Guerrilla Girls apply a certain forms of humor to transform society’s view on the prominent issue of gender in the art world. These specific ploys that are performed by the Guerrilla Girls are in the way they dress, the masks they wear, pseudonymous names of dead women artists and the witty factual evidence in their works. These are all examples to evoke audiences in challenging not only the art society which dictates the value and worth of women in art but also to confront yourself and your own beliefs in a way that makes audiences rethink these growing issues.
In the sixties and seventies, the feminist art movement emerged that began to challenge the inequalities that faced women artists. This movement coincided with the feminist movement as a whole, that women across the country were taking part in. Many female artists including Judy Chicago, Hannah Wilke, Eva Hesse and others began to rethink art making and attempted to raise consciousness regarding womenís issues. Many of these women began to focus on their work on sexuality and acknowledging the fact that they were women and artists. This forceful and radical approach was instrumental in gaining the acceptance of females in the...
In summary, I have presented a theory for the formation and definition of racial identity, providing an example which proves it true in American Society. Yet, this does not leave me with a sense of satisfaction, rather it leaves me with great disappointment. What does this say for the society we live in; a society which is supposed to be based on the American Creed? My arguments have only proved that we are not truly individuals; the American Creed is not something America lives by. Rather we are identified as groups and not seen on a personal level…a very disturbing realization.
... (e.g. Nakkula, Toshalis, 2006). The research regarding hipster culture compounds many of Erikson’s theories about identity development, which continue to evolve and mature throughout the course of life, but also emphasizes the importance on an adolescent formation of identity development (during the primary years of an student artist’s most intense training). Overall, the research confirms the belief that creative adolescents develop identities based on their specific choices, and who they choose to be. Although genetic factors play some role in artfulness, creativity is a skilled that is continually honed and refined — much like any other ability in life. The artistic identity is one that is carefully composed and considered, and continually cultivated throughout the course of a lifetime, though this identity formation takes place from a young age in adolescence.
Abstract Expressionism is making its comeback within the art world. Coined as an artist movement in the 1940’s and 1950’s, at the New York School, American Abstract Expressionist began to express many ideas relevant to humanity and the world around human civilization. However, the subject matters, contributing to artists, were not meant to represent the ever-changing world around them. Rather, how the world around them affected the artist themselves. The works swayed by such worldly influences, become an important article within the artists’ pieces. Subjectively, looking inward to express the artist psyche, artists within the Abstract Expressionism movement became a part of their paintings. Making the paintings more of a representation of one’s self.
The view of identity seems to be defined by facial features and social constructed views. Depending on the recent look of someone it may just be more then just color but also background. In this essay I will explain how I relate to some recent views based on philosophers I may agree and disagree with in order to describe my identity. Identity is much more then just being labeled as a race, it can be based on much more.
These cultural strictures come in a number of forms. First, the artist attacks intellectual conformity, choosing art over all other means of self-expression even though it is not widespread in his or her society. Though it is not explicitly stated - and is perhaps even subconscious - the artist chooses art over either academe or high society. The artist questions society's customs, making this choice explicit in their daily actions. The artist rejects ostentatious displays of wealth and the cultural emphasis on money, replacing it with a frugal simplicity more conducive to authentic experience. Finally, the artist calls into question the cultural construct most important to any understanding of human interaction - the binary conception of gender.
What is identity? Identity is an unbound formation which is created by racial construction and gender construction within an individual’s society even though it is often seen as a controlled piece of oneself. In Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’, Tatum asserts that identity is formed by “individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts” (Tatum 105). Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’” creates a better understanding of how major obstacles such as racism and sexism shape our self identity.
When analyzing artwork, in any form, there are often times social contexts in which can be interpreted. Not always does the history behind the painting need to be revealed to fully understand the concept of the artwork, yet it is helpful in determining if the artwork is truthful in its representation. Although in analyzing artwork it is likely that there are drawbacks to considering the social context. To illustrate this point, I'm going to use the visual arts as my medium of choice. Understanding the social context can be an important tool. An advantage of knowing the history of the painting or sculpture can really enrich our knowledge, being in the 21st century, about some of the social periods from previous times. It can demonstrate how traditions were carried out, how they had an impact on the different social classes. It's a visual teaching aid of a sort. Even in the time period of which the artwork was created can be used as a tool to show how the life was in different parts of the world. It was also used as a hammer in the realist movement to show the upper classes that life for the poor was horrible. The visual arts is the only medium in which the pictorial image creates a universal language in which anyone, regardless of nationality or social class can interpret. The text which is created by this language often creates a context which is left open to interpretation. Contexts are created by the artist, critics, judges, the public, essentially, any one who views the work and forms an opinion relating to it. The contexts stem from subject or content of an artwork, and are usually facts regarding the content. Yet, the contexts almost always have backgrounds themselves, therefore making the original contexts, texts. This will be more clearly illustrated later. The chain is seeming to be a never ending process. There are always more conditions to the previous ones. All context, therefore, is in itself, textual. This concept of all context in itself textual is a post-structuralist strategy. A man named Derrida is a man who has developed this idea that the post-structuralist concept of every statement made, can be interpreted in infinite ways, with each interpretation triggering a range of subjective associations. Every statement has an association, therefore it's a sort of domino effect.
Throughout this essay I hope to illustrate how the development of Feminism was shown through art into Post Feminism and how feminism not only gave rights to women but to other 'Minorities ', I also plan on showing how strong Political influence is involved in art and feminism.