Feminist Art Redux

With the birth of the Feminist
Movement of the 1960s and 70s in the U.S., feminist artists began creating art in almost every medium on every topic, from their bodies to class, race, consumerism and political power.

Judy Chicago, one of the leaders of the Feminist Art Movement, was aware
that “art was a vehicle for intellectual transformation and social change” and rocked the art world with “The Dinner Party” (1974-79). The piece
comprises a massive ceremonial banquet, with a table arranged in the shape of an open triangle—a symbol of
equality. A total of 39 place settings each commemorate an important woman from history, from Sojourner
Truth to Georgia O’Keeffe.

In the last two years, art by women has seen a resurgence, exploding in a
variety of venues. At the Pompidou Center in Paris, “elles,” an exhibition of 500 works by more than 200 women artists, went on display in 2009. The
international collection will be shown for a year, beginning with early 20th Century paintings by French artist
Suzanne Valadon and ending with works by Japan’s Mariko Mori, among others.

While “elles” was in its planning stages, “WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution” opened in 2007 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and moved on to New York, Washington and Vancouver. That exhibition
spans 1965 to 1980 and
includes 120 artists and artists groups from the U.S., Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand.

“And in 2007, the Brooklyn Museum of Art established the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art,” says
Ferris Olin, co-director of the
Institute for Women and Art at Rutgers University, New Jersey. “When you see all that happening, you know there’s a sea change.”—M.Z.

Japanese Women Artists Break Barriers

Women artists have always had a difficult time exhibiting and selling their works because of gender discrimination. In Japan the patriarchal culture has made it even tougher, the reason
many moved to the West, according to Dr. Midori Yoshimoto, associate professor of art history at New Jersey City University.
In her book, “Into Performance,” she writes about five women artists, including Yoko Ono, who were among the first Japanese women to leave their country
and explore the artistic possibilities in New York City.

“The reception for Japanese women artists is warmer right now,” she says, “and I think younger women finally
have some role models.”

Tabaimo, for example, is an artist whose art “reflects her concerns as a woman,” says the art professor. Born in
Hyogo in 1975, Tabaimo created “Japanese Bathhouse-Gents,” a video and sound installation that uses the
bathhouse, an archaic but once integral part of Japanese life, as a metaphor to explore sexual equality, motherhood
and pollution.

Another artist forging a path for women artists, says Yoshimoto, is Kyoto-based
photographer and video artist Miwa Yanagi. Born in 1967, she burst onto the Japanese art scene in 1994 with
“Elevator Girl” (1994-98).

Her “Grandmother Series,” part of the “Off the Beaten Path” exhibit curated by Art Works for Change, explores issues of feminine self-image and aging through interviews and staged photographs of young Japanese women.
Asking them to imagine their lives 50 years in the future, she used makeup, costumes and digital manipulation to
realize their visions.

“I’m happy with people thinking of my work as feminist art,” she told The
Japan Times, “but I don’t set out with that intent. If you are making art on the basis of an agenda, it will inevitably
lose its power.”—M.Z.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, meant to encourage support and participation in domestic violence programs, awareness campaigns, materials, resources, and educational efforts. This month of observance is meant to address the victimization of women and women who have been involved in domestic violence, and build social intolerance towards domestic violence and the abuse that disproportionately affects women. Consider the following domestic violence facts in observance of domestic violence awareness month, and promote safe and respectful relationships.

Domestic Violence Facts: Shedding Light on Domestic Violence and Supporting Social Intolerance of Intimate Partner Abuse
The statistics are devastating—one in four women (25%) has experienced some sort of domestic violence in her lifetime—85% of the victims of intimate partner violence are women (15% are men), according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief. Three out of four women, 75% know someone who has been a victim of domestic violence—30% of women know another woman who has suffered domestic violence at the hand of a physically abuse boyfriend or husband in the past year.

Domestic Violence Facts

• Every year, between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence, with women ages 20-24 at the greatest risk.
• Separated and divorced women are at a greater risk for domestic violence and nonfatal intimate partner abuse.
• Women of all races are equally vulnerable to domestic abuse and suffer violence from intimate partners.
• Women with lower annual incomes (below $25,000) are at 3 times greater a risk of experiencing domestic violence than women who make over $50,000 a year, although women of all income and socioeconomic status experience intimate partner violence. It’s important to consider that women with fewer resources are also less likely to report incidents.
• Domestic violence health-related costs exceed $6 billion annually—approximately $4 billion for medical and mental health care, and $2 billion associated indirectly with lost wages and productivity.
• Approximately 1 in 5 high school teens will be involved in an abusive relationship before graduation.
• Only 20% of female victims of domestic violence seek help or assistance—most believe it to be a personal or private matter, some fear reprisal, and others want to protect the offender.

74% of US women who suffer abuse at home also experience abuse at their place of work, according to the Family Violence Prevention Fund study.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that approximately 20,000 workers are threatened or attacked in the workplace every year by their partner or spouse.

October Domestic Violence Awareness month is meant to promote awareness about dating violence, sexual abuse, stalking, as well as to encourage healthy relationships, communication, respect, and trust. To prevent domestic violence, we’ll need to provide teenagers with a clear picture of a healthy, loving relationship. If teens recognize unhealthy relationship traits such as jealousy, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, and stalking earlier, they can then prevent abuse and violence before it starts.

Learn the domestic violence facts and become empowered. You have the ability to change how domestic violence affects females. Raise awareness and find out more about what you can do to prevent domestic violence and keep women safe at work.

*Fact Source: http://www.dvrc-or.org

Bio: Erica Ronchetti is a freelance writer for Soroptimist International of the Americas, an organization working to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world. For more information on how employers and co-workers can help women experiencing domestic violence, visit us on the web. Learn more about domestic violence facts and how you can raise domestic violence awareness at http://www.soroptimist.org.