“Look at what a hot girl I am: in spite of my independence, my culture, my intelligence, all i care about is pleasing you.” Autor Virginie Despentes
We live in a society where western women are expected to abide to strict gender stereotypes and to tolerate the constant objectification and judgement of their bodies; a society, in which the public are persistently exposed to the aesthetic ideals of the ‘perfect’ female body though a sex-crazed advertising …show more content…
Perhaps one of the most relevant feminist art movement works on the theme of striptease and raunch culture is American visual artist Hannah Wilke’s: Super-T-Art -1974. Captured at the Kitchen, New York; Super-T-Art shows the artist in a progression of twenty poses in which she portrays the transformation of the Virgin Mary to the crucified Christ in the style of burlesque using only a white table cloth as a prop. The actions used in the piece link to cliché porn culture performance, but also to reoccurring themes in new burlesque shows; the use of role play and stereotypes. Similarly to burlesque, Wilke’s performance exposes an audience and questions gaze. The performance draws its inspiration from themes of religion, sexual politics and gender politics. Works made using similar themes by Wilke include S.O.S - Scarification Object Series 1975 and Through the Large Glass 1976 each of these performances communicates a defiant message of repressed female …show more content…
Each of their works can be identified as a symbol of modern attitudes to gender and sexuality. Each artist has set out to challenge the modern and historic social stereotypes women are objected to. Their works purposely distort and reinvent the female image to create a juxtaposition to the embodied, sexualised image of women recognised in the public sphere. Hannah Wilke represents the 1970’s feminist art movement, her performances use a connection to burlesque and question traditional views of femininity. Marlene Dumas Creates the image of provocative sex industry workers, who’s confidence and sexual empowerment surprises an audience creating a contrast to the image of strippers in the public sphere. The replicated female form in Sarah lucas’s work directly depicts women as objects in turn questioning gaze and creating a satirical note to criticise the sex industry. Each artist argues against the wider theme of the sexualised female image. They educate viewers on subject of the historic and current female oppression and aim to deliver women from male-chauvinism and to help revolutionise the final female sexual