How the Feminist Movement has Influenced Female Artists Working with Technology - Essay Example

How the feminist movement has influenced female artists working with technology Feminist movement has been a significant subject in the society, ever since it was started in the 19th Century. It has attempted to call together social justice for female artists and women in general including shading light in the role of women in the society. It is apparent that women have been looked down upon and left out in significant activities in the society, such as, participating in art, science and technology activities. In this regard, the feminist movements have attempted to create a significant impact in the world, in the past and in the present, such as, boosting gender equality in the society. This paper presents how feminist movement has influenced female artists working with technology. It also presents a brief overview of what feminism used to look like in art, in addition to, the historical sense of the feminist movement in terms of art. Additionally, it presents what the feminist movement looks like today for female artists, especially, for those working with technology, such as, female video game designers, engineers or computer specialists. Finally, this paper presents a conclusion of the findings and analysis of literature on the subject of feminist movements. A brief overview of what feminism used to look like in art The main question that comes to the mind of many when the feminist movement is raised is what feminist art stands for. Arts analysts and historical researchers have, ever since, argued over the subject of feminist art. They try to establish whether it was a period in the history of art, a lobby group or a complete makeover of how things should be carried out on the subject of female contributions. According to Motta, Flesher, Eschle and Laurence (2012), a number of researchers have judged feminist movements against surrealism. In this regard, many people consider feminist art not as an art technique, but to a certain extent, a process of creating gender sensitive art or integrate women in art galleries and exhibitions. Feminist art has spurred debate also on the subject of post-modernism. Feminist art entails the creation of value and meaning in art while integrating women in the modern forms of art techniques (Redfern and Aune 7). According to Motta et al. (2012), feminist art also provoked debate on whether the historical western art was a global representation of art regardless of men dominating in most spheres. It is therefore, possible to establish that feminist art entails artists working with the thoughts of gender, personality and outward appearance. Feminist art entails the use of performance art, such as, videos and additional art presentations which created a significant impact in the postmodern world. However, it is apparent that the value of the feminist art had not been seen by many during the traditional times. According to Motta et al. (2012), the feminist art attempts to create a link between art and gender sensitivity, which leads to the integration of women in the creation and presentation of artworks. Most of all, it helps in bringing together the male and female arts more willingly than presenting them disjointedly. Conversely, feminism appears to be intricately debated considering that significant aspects of the feminist movement has been institutionalized and professionalized. This includes in studies and in its background activities. In this regard, significant questions are raised about how best women can stand up for neo-liberalization. In addition, another question is raised about their position in the fight for post neo-liberalism, on one end, and integrated with inventive aspects of re-politicization on the other end (Redfern and Aune 11). It is apparent that women will keep resisting in established and innovative ways in an effort to re-delineate the attributes of feminism and politics. Most of all, they will attempt to contend with the patriarchal and neo-liberal accepted views of the society. Historical sense of the feminist movement in terms of art The creation of feminist art started in the year 1960 at the time of the 2nd wave of feminism in America and England. This was subsequent to the prolonged historical sense of the feminist movement. According to Motta et al. (2012), “…this movement is often described as one of the first of the “new” social movements to emerge in that period…” (154). The 1st wave of feminism took place in the mid 19th century with the feminist movements proceeding until when the women’s voice was heard through the vote, slightly before the World War I was terminated. During the 19th century, no female art was created and by the time of activism, women still did not have any of their art works presented (Motta et al. 156) However, it was apparent that women were creating a strong foundation for a significant change in the view of their role in the field of art. By the year 1920 and during the 1960s, the feminist art movements come to an end. However, the subject of women participation in the societal world still stood. According to Motta et al. (2012), many artists presented this aspect in some of their artworks and, in this regard, they were established as proto-feminist. In particular, artists who presented artworks that carried themes and descriptions of the female body, individual experiences and thoughts of domesticity, had their work published (Scanlon 131). This included artists who presented work that highlighted the female bodies irrespective of or without the feminist themes. Female subjects in the art creation were, in a while, embraced by the feminist art movement that started generating work at the revival of the female art movements in the late 1960s, also known as, the 2nd wave of feminism (Woodward and Woodward 32). The feminist artists belonging to the 2nd wave worked on themes and ideas of the proto-feminist artists by using their own artworks to push for gender parity and integrating a significant visual aspect to boost their main objectives and agendas. It is apparent that before feminist movements came into the picture, many female artists were locked out from the major art galleries and exhibitions as a result of their gender. According to Motta et al. (2012), feminist art movements began with an aim of not only pushing for the integration of female art and representation, but also to foster the creation of optional platforms for female representation. Additionally, it entailed shaping institutional policies that would help support female artists and their participation in the art industry. On the other hand, female artists always supported optional mediums that entailed integration of fabric, fiber, performances and videos. According to Motta et al. (2012), this was considering that these elements were not historically dominated by the male artists. Men were known to control the painting and sculpturing art industry. By integrating the non-traditional mediums, women embarked on expanding the real classification of fine arts leading to the inclusion of an extensive multiplicity of mediums and art outlooks (Walter 45). The sexual theme of women in the production of artworks was a destructive factor on the subject of feminist movements. According to Motta et al. (2012), presenting women on the subject of feminist themes, lead to the presentation of vivid feminist images and thoughts which went beyond protecting the value of women and their roles in the society. In this regard, the feminist activism/movement took a different direction (Scharff 13). In particular, this movement began addressing individualised goals, such as, leadership issues, rather than meeting the immediate needs of the women, which include addressing their roles, participation, skills and talents in the society. It is clear that everyone who took part in the feminist campaigns and activism ended up with political knowledge over the social spheres. According to Motta et al. (2012), the role of women in the society took the shape of a political push. Therefore, more political roles were created, whereas significant roles of women in the immediate society were left out. Women began focusing on the political gaps, for the benefit of, balancing the gender in the society and forgetting about empowering internal issues affecting women. Finally, the needs of the women ended up unaddressed. The same women, who were pushing for gender balance, embarked on contending the pressure from the public on the subject of sexism and extreme exposure of sex on the media and the larger society (Walter 47). They developed a feminism reaction/resistance campaign that targeted the free thinking members of the public, who disputed their sex vested actions and participation in the art and presentation industry (Dean 17). What the feminist movement looks like today for female artists The entire world witnessed the 1st wave feminist activism and the 2nd wave female activism. Over and above, there was a significant concern on the subject of women presenting sexist themes in their feminist art movements. According to Dean (2010), it is apparent that there were other women who saw the extent that the feminist campaigns had gone to, revealing the sexist themes of fellow women. Many women, similar to a majority of men rejected the feminist movements (Dean 56). Particularly, the 2nd feminist movement artists attempted to appear like their predecessors, but their theme was farfetched. This led to the significant downfall of the feminist movement and a cut short of the path to attainment of the female objectives and goals, on the subject of, achieving gender parity. In the present day, women have attempted to reinvent the theme of feminist movement, with an aim of getting closer to the set goals and objectives of the preceding movements. However, regardless of their efforts and significant endorsements from the public’s and the male fraternity, still their efforts seem not to work. Motta et al. (2012), state that it is evident that feminine themes are still established in their work and much more attacked. It is possible to note that the long established feminist art movement ought to have brought significant benefits to the women (McRobbie 65). However, it is clear that a handful of women have benefited so far, leaving the deserving ones out of the picture. Many people have forgotten the activities that women have engaged in from historical accounts, and thinking about their entry into the field of art, science and technology, is viewed as a completely fresh observable fact. According to McRobbie (2009), it is true that as the field of art, science and technology has developed and the number of women participants has risen. However, the rate of men to women has shown significant variance since the traditional times. In the present day, many countries have formulated laws and policies that seek to foster the position of women in the society. However, it is still evident that men dominate the art, research and technology. The benefits that women receive or lose in the field of science, art or technology have been equivalent to the rise or collapse of female power in the societal perspective. According to Motta et al. (2012), it is apparent that women took many positions in the subject of science and technology during the 19th century, during the start of the 1st feminist movement. Their numbers also increased with the push of the activism during the 2nd feminist movement and many women became empowered or motivated to join the art, science and technology industries. However, when the activism began to crumble, men regained their positions in the field of art, science and technology. Particularly, in the present day, the position of women in the industry of art, science and technology is at variance. The participation of women on advanced levels of studies reduces significantly. Many women still attempt to revive the feminist themes in most of their presentations with an aim of attaining the goals of the feminist activism, especially the target of the 2nd feminist movement (Scanlon 131). For example, it is apparent with female designers to always integrate a female image or theme in her design work, in order to rivet the role of women in the society. This is apparent on the internet where there is significant creation of sexist design works that narrow down to pornographic materials and images/videos (Motta et al. 163). On the other hand, despite the attempts to secure positions for women, they still grapple with low earning employment and less prestigious responsibilities. Over and above, women still lose their image to the feminist activities and presentation of sex themes in the media (Scharff 32). It is true that the woman of the present day is not ashamed to walk around inadequately dressed, contrary to before these feminist movements began. It is also apparent that, these activities have led to an increase in the sale of sex manifested items, such as, artworks – images, videos or audios (Motta et al. 164). On the other hand, the position of women in the society has continued to decay more than it has ever been in the 19th century – before the feminist movements. Conclusion In conclusion, it is apparent from literature that women had significant reasons for joining the feminist art movement. Majority of women found it worthy to join this activism, considering that it promised significant benefits to their positions in the society, on the subject of art, science and technology. However, it is notable that the women managed to achieve a social impact on the subject of feminist art movement, as compared to meeting the primary goals – women participation and integration in men oriented fields and industries. Women intended to have a fair share in everyday life activities starting from the historical perspective of feminist movement. However, they seem to put their focus on individualised roles, such as, political power than collective participation, such as, investing on women’s skills and talents. This, therefore, leads men to dominating the art, science and technology fields yet again. Most of all, the desire to liberate women in the past, still remains the same plea in the present day. Works Cited Dean Jonathan. Rethinking contemporary feminist politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. Print. McRobbie Angela. The aftermath of feminism: Gender, culture and social change. Sage: London, 2009. Print. Motta Sara, Flesher Cristina F., Eschle Catherine and Laurence Cox. Feminism, women’s movements and women in movement. A Journal For and About Social Movements, 3.2(2012): 1-32. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. Redfern Catherine and Aune Kristin. Reclaiming the F word: The new feminist movement. London: Zed Books, 2010. Print. Scanlon Jennifer. “Sexy from the start: Anticipatory elements of second wave feminism”. Women’s Studies, 38.2(2009): 127-150. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. Scharff Christina M. “Young women’s negotiations of heterosexual conventions: theorizing sexuality in constructions of ‘the feminist’”. Sociology, 44.5(2010). 11-34. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. Walter Natasha. Living dolls: The return of sexism. London: Virago, 2010. Print. Woodward Kath and Woodward Sophie. Why feminism matters: Feminism lost and found. Hampshire: Palgrave, 2009. Print. Read More