POST 4

Martha Rosler is an American artist who works on various projects such as

video, photography, text, installation, and performance. Her art typically

displays everyday life through the perspective of a woman. Martha Rosler’s

Semiotics of the Kitchen addresses the oppression of women by addressing

gender roles. The woman’s role in the kitchen has always been emphasized

in society. Her performance parodies cooking shows and exhibits the

frustration women face with the expectations for their duties in the home:

in this case, the kitchen. She picks up various kitchen tools and demonstrates

their use with anger. This is powerful in sending the message that women

should not be limited to the kitchen or the home in general. 

Marina Abramovic is a famous Serbian performance artist, testing the

endurance of a woman’s body in her performances. She displays how

much a woman can endure, using her own body. This is powerful

because it showcases a woman’s strength. What is more painful than

the actual punishments is the acknowledgement that if a woman leaves

her body for others to perform various acts on it as they please, she can

really get hurt. Women are naturally not perceived as intimidating, so if they

leave themselves to be vulnerable to strangers, it can not be predicted what

actions they may take to cause harm. 

She objectified herself to see what random people would do to her if she

really was an object and did not resist. People literally treated her like an

object and eventually attempted to kill her. The interesting part about this

performance is that she mentioned how the public ran away and feared

confronting her as an actual person after the performance was over. This

shows how easy it is to mistreat women when they are objectified, but how

hard it is to face the consequences when a woman finally confronts society

and takes control.

Marina Abramovic on Performing 'Rhythm 0' 1974

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijKz3JzoD4

Jennifer Linton is a Canadian artist who works with drawing, animation,
and printmaking. She addresses everyday frustrations women face in
society through much of her artwork. Her Alphabet Book addresses many
of these issues. She draws various women facing a different issue arising
from the simple fact that they are women. One of the drawings that stood
out to me most is the letter “A” for anger, which generally covers how dark
women’s thoughts can get when they experience oppression. However,
more specifically I would like to discuss the letter “G” for gender. This letter
exemplifies the number of women’s issues covered in this single piece of
artwork. Aside from every other possible issue women can experience today,
she is also not afraid to cover the topic of gender. In today’s world there are
so many different ways one can identify themselves. Women should be free
to identify as they please without being scorned. Jennifer normalizes the
different genders people can identify themselves as with this picture, which
can easily bring comfort to many.

Jennifer Linton My Alphabet of Anxieties & Desires 2006-10

Judy Chicago, an American feminist artist focusing on art installation pieces, has ignored the rejections of women artists since the 1960’s. She appeals to a large audience by relating with women and speaking up for them. She is not afraid to express her self confidence as a woman, or to empower other women. Judy recognizes 39 powerful women in her famous project called “The Dinner Party”. This intricate display of plate settings in a triangular form symbolizes power. Over 200 people have helped with this project, and people appreciate it worldwide. This is indicative of the many supporters she has and the huge step in the progression of feminism that she has taken.

Judy Chicago The Dinner Party 1974-79

Melanie Martinez, a prominent American singer-songwriter, expresses various feminist topics in nearly all of her music. Her recently released album, K-12, touches upon topics of gender, race, and politics. In her song below called “The Principal”, she refers to politicians and makes this clear in her music video. It is also speculated that she refers to Donald Trump, addressing the controversial actions he takes and gets away with as the president of our country. He is known for his inappropriate sexual interactions with women, insults and openly racist comments about immigrants, offensive tweets, and etc., and she covers all of the above in her lyrics.

Her song called “Strawberry Shortcake”, introduces the audience to how early women’s issues begin in their lives. Melanie walks us through a girl’s thought process during her early stages of life and how society attempts to shape her as she enters womanhood. The first verse exposes the unrealistic expectations society has for the way women should look. The young woman reflects on Barbie, and expresses her insecurity of growing into a woman who looks nothing like her. Simultaneously, the girl’s mother stresses the importance of remaining “pure”.  The male gaze is later presented as she specifically says “People all around me watching closely, ‘Cause it's how I look and not what I think”. This also relates to the patriarchal foundation in society which claims that women should stay in the house and look pretty instead of studying, working, and voicing their thoughts and opinions. The song finishes with Melanie confronting society to tell everyone that “Instead of making me feel bad for the body I got, Just teach him to keep it in his pants and tell him to stop”. With this verse she changes the meaning of the chorus, challenging men to take responsibility for their actions. Additional songs by her that are related to feminist topics include “Tag, You’re It”, “Mrs. Potato Head”, “Alphabet Boy”, and many others.

Works Cited

“My Alphabet.” Lady Lazarus, 8 Apr. 2017,
https://jenniferlinton.com/drawings-prints/my-alphabet/.

Rosler, Martha. “Martha Rosler. Semiotics of the Kitchen. 1975: MoMA.”
The Museum of Modern Art, https://www.moma.org/collection/works/88937.

Williams, Faye. “Performance Artist Stood Still For 6 Hours to Let

People Do What They Wanted to Her Body.” Elite Readers, 11 July 2018, https://www.elitereaders.com/performance-artist-marina-abramovic-

social-experiment/.