Where do women stand in society? Women’s inequality in society is a sensitive topic that has existed for many years. Women have suffered to have their voices heard and have fought to reach a sense of equality in the world. Women of the 60’s were expected to follow one path: marriage, childbirth and devoting their lives to the home. In the 1960’s a controversial artist named Allen Jones, stirred up the discussion of women being portrayed sexually. Some feminists were left in confusion and anger when Allen Jones called himself a feminist, while others viewed his artwork as a representation of female sexuality. Allen Jones’ controversial sculptures document a sexual culture and his paintings blend androgyny, resulting in a representation of equality
…show more content…
His most controversial pieces are the Table, Chair and Hat Stand that he made in 1969. They are realistic female figures in sexually provocative positions. Table is a sculpture of a woman with her chest bare wearing an under bust corset, stilettoes and black gloves. Hat Stand is a sculpture with a woman with her hands outward (as if she were a rack) with thigh high, lace-up leather boots and revealing lingerie. The third piece to the set, Chair, consists of a woman in bondage, wearing leather or latex clothing as well. His sculptures hint at rubber fetishism and BDSM and represent studies of forniphilia. Thus, Allen Jones’ portrays forniphilia, which is an extreme form of bondage where bounded submissives act as furniture, by making his sculptural female subjects into furniture pieces. Allen Jones’ sculptures specifically represent the practice of BDSM culture as well as the sexual nature of women. The positions he puts the women into as household objects make them submissive- and many would argue- objectified. In BDSM sexual culture, a man or a woman will consent to either being dominant or submissive. BDSM consists of physically restraining a person with devices or psychologically restraining them with commands to enhance sexual experiences and pleasure. It is a completely consensual practice. Therefore, the women that are being portrayed in Allen Jones’ works are a documentation of BDSM
His most controversial pieces are the Table, Chair and Hat Stand that he made in 1969. They are realistic female figures in sexually provocative positions. Table is a sculpture of a woman with her chest bare wearing an under bust corset, stilettoes and black gloves. Hat Stand is a sculpture with a woman with her hands outward (as if she were a rack) with thigh high, lace-up leather boots and revealing lingerie. The third piece to the set, Chair, consists of a woman in bondage, wearing leather or latex clothing as well. His sculptures hint at rubber fetishism and BDSM and represent studies of forniphilia. Thus, Allen Jones’ portrays forniphilia, which is an extreme form of bondage where bounded submissives act as furniture, by making his sculptural female subjects into furniture pieces. Allen Jones’ sculptures specifically represent the practice of BDSM culture as well as the sexual nature of women. The positions he puts the women into as household objects make them submissive- and many would argue- objectified. In BDSM sexual culture, a man or a woman will consent to either being dominant or submissive. BDSM consists of physically restraining a person with devices or psychologically restraining them with commands to enhance sexual experiences and pleasure. It is a completely consensual practice. Therefore, the women that are being portrayed in Allen Jones’ works are a documentation of BDSM