Whilst I was in the airport catching my flight back to Scotland last weekend I picked up a magazine, something I never do, which had ‘Activism, Are you Generation GAF? (Gives a f***)’ on the front cover. This caught my eye as reading about experiences with activism reassured me that being active about a particular matter can make a difference, as we are among a generation of people who want to create change.
Activism is what lead my final year of Art school, more specifically awareness and the right for equality. I was a part of the Grays school of art class of 2019 who exhibited their final work in June. My work was hung and observed and the feedback I received for it was amazing.
The comments from the public were more than I ever thought I’d receive and the conversations which came from them were positive and uplifting.
My paintings struck people and took them by surprise especially when they saw me sitting with them.
My final year got of to a slow start but with a topic which I had collected information for in the previous year, it began to take shape due to the newspaper article about the 1999 women’s world cup final. Brandi Chastain scored the winning goal for the USA against China and took her top off – which became more recognised than her win. Many articles reported on her ability to take her t-shirt off rather than her ability to score the winning goal.
Shortly after I discovered these articles about the world cup, I noticed in the newspaper that the grid girls had lost their jobs and the Presidents club charity fundraiser were given back the money they raised as it was discovered that they had harassed the waitresses working at the event.
These three situations have created much controversy and discussion but one is still a difficult discussion. The Grid girls, or as we should now call them the ‘Glamour girls’ have struck many debates among the public where feminists are arguing that they are being objectified and are not good role models for young children growing up.
However, there are many arguing that they are doing a job which they enjoy, a long with many other models, they are representing a brand and are being treated fairly by their employers. The way I see it is that women are putting other women out of work when, if the women want to do it, they should be allowed to make their own choices and not have other women bring them down but support them. The world is changing but perhaps its going too far, there was and is still a time where women are being objectified but if a woman wants to wear a dress to go out clubbing or go out for a an evening who is to stand in her way? So why have we stood in the way of these women making a living.
This chain of events lead me to the final paintings which I created for my show encouraging me to delve deeper into the issues which women are faced with on a daily basis and the effects history has had on the present day.
I could reel of everything I’ve learnt from the research I gathered during my final year but instead I’m going to take the things I feel were important and share those.
Discussion
Creating discussion is a very important part of my art work and an even more important part of activism and making a difference. My art allowed discussion and interactivity and my goal has always been to continue creating conversations about topics people are afraid to discuss. One topic being the percentage of abuse and deaths within the domestic house, no matter the gender the numbers are high but in particular 3 women a week are killed due to domestic violence, 3!!! Doesn’t that terrify you? We are living in 2019 and women’s rights are still falling to the bottom of the food chain.
Awareness
The second thing which is created through art is awareness, creating a visual which alarms the viewer, leaving an imprint on their mind. One man said to me whilst observing my large pink painting with the text ‘you killed her’ (1.7m x 90) ‘it isn’t something I’d have in my living room’. No, no it’s not.
Activism is important, creating discussion is important and one day you could change someone’s mind who could really make a difference.
As I said earlier people were surprised to find out that the artwork was created by myself. I don’t come under the category of what people assume a feminist or activist looks like I come as a shock. I like to look glam and dress fancy and post my life all over Instagram, I like to shave my legs and wear make up and not burn my bras (which is almost definitely a myth as they are really bloody expensive). I like to do things my way and believe in what I want to believe in.
This leads me to the third, and final, thing that I believe that is important, the understanding that an activist does not have a specific look. A feminist could be a straight male who is extremely masculine but understands and supports the right for gender equality. The breaking down of categorising women and objectifying women and men.
So maybe I am bias towards the grid girls but I believe we should all be able to express ourselves in any way we choose.
I would love to hear any thoughts about anything i’ve said in this blog.
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