SlutWalks: Harming the Cause or Providing an Outlet?

[Editor's Note: This post was written by Cindy Kok, IMOW's summer programs and exhibitions volunteer.]

SlutWalk Chicago, June 4, 2011 from Wikimedia

“I'm not supposed to say this,” Michael Sanguinetti said to a group of students at an Osgoode Hall Law School safety forum on January 24, 2011. “[But] women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.” Little did the Toronto police constable know, his misguided rape-prevention advice would incite a furious backlash that took form in international SlutWalks, still being organized almost half a year after his offhanded comment.

The first SlutWalk Toronto—founded by activist Heather Jarvis and York University alumna Sonya Barnett—marched on April 3. While the organizers were expecting perhaps 300 people to participate, more than 3,000 supporters showed up, dressed both provocatively and in “normal” daywear, carrying signs that read There is no such thing as an invitation for rape and Slut Pride. Although Sanguinetti had issued a written apology, the issue had outgrown the outrage that stemmed from a policeman’s careless words, and morphed into to a worldwide movement to end the practice of placing responsibility for sexual assault on the victim, as well as to reclaim the word “slut.”

So is it possible that this provocatively-monikered movement will shock new life into the cause well-respected groups like Take Back the Night are already fighting for? While most people can agree that a culture that blames victims (and their way of dressing) for rape is one that needs reform, SlutWalk’s second goal seems to have sparked even more debate and controversy than Sanguinetti’s original statement. As satellite SlutWalks mobilized, first in North America then spreading to other continents, so did commentators, offering everything from enthusiastic support to outright condemnation of the so-called “SlutWalkers.”

Women in Hip Hop: Where We At?

I recently read a Colorlines article entitled 5 Reasons Why People Love to Hate Kreayshawn , and it got me thinking about the state of women in hip hop today. Kreayshawn is a white female rapper from Oakland, California who has the web buzzing. Her debut single Gucci Gucci is a party song, and despite its materialistic sounding title, Kreayshawn raps about designer clothing being unimportant. One of the song's more memorable lines is, "I got the swag and it's pumping out my ovaries."

While the Colorlines article brought up some very good points, there was one I disagreed with. The article quotes the criticism of writer Bene Viera at Clutch:

It's ironic how a White girl mimicking Black culture has been viewed as quirky, cute, and interesting in the past. But sisters who fashionably rock bamboo earrings, gold nameplate necklaces, and blonde streaked weaves will inevitably be considered "ghetto" by society. It's equally problematic that every female emcee post Queen Latifah and MC Lyte who has massive mainstream success all had to sell sex. Kreayshawn, on the other hand, is able to avoid an over sexualized image because of her whiteness.

Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea

[Editor's Note: The following is a guest post from photographer Brenda Paik Sunoo. IMOW is hosting an event featuring Brenda to celebrate the publication of her book Moon Tides: Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 29. You can find more information about the event here.]

From Brenda Paik Sunoo's "Moon Tides: Jeju Island Grannies of the Sea"

I’m newly arrived to the shores of aging. And yes, a bit fearful of the unknown. After all, the eldest of 75 million American baby boomers began turning 60 in 2004. In some ways, aging is like free diving. In the sea, one’s mental and physical endurance is tested with a single breath. On land, one’s endurance is tested within a single lifetime. Quite simply, there’s no guaranteed safety net for either phenomenon. Aging and free diving both invite risks into mysterious and magical realms.

I was born on February 13, 1948. During my last few physical exams, I have repeatedly been warned to watch my cholesterol, supplement my diet with Vitamin D, monitor uterine fibroids, irrigate my sinuses, and practice Pilates due to a herniated disc. It’s no wonder that I’ve never dreamt of diving into the sea. That is, until I encountered the sea women of Jeju Island, Korea—known as haenyeo.

For centuries, these divers have faced the tempestuous tides of history and struggle for survival. Their intimate relationship to the land and sea, their shaman beliefs, and communal village life have protected them throughout their entire lives. In return, many have sustained a continuous life of purpose and resiliency well into their 90s.

Three years ago, I turned sixty. I began searching for inspiring role models---aging women who remained active until they died. Not women who died because they had regrettably aged. To a graying baby boomer like myself, these haenyeo stories became gleaming beaconsilluminating a wise, practical and fearless course.

Moon Tides is my homage to these women divers. I have organized the book according to seven aspects of their multi-dimensional lives. Each one reveals how the haenyeo have been “lifted by the wind and tides” of: Shamanism, Family, Survival, Suffering, Aging, Compassion and the Future. Through photos and translated interviews, my intention has been to represent the women (ages 39 – 93) in their own voices and work/life environments--not only in their rubber suits. They are, after all, grannies, wives, mothers, sisters, community volunteers, patriots, and social activists. To each other, lifelong friends.

Through their examples, I believe that one’s life purpose can be as continuous and infinite as the sea. For centuries, these Jeju divers have kept their lives afloat--in spite of risks and danger. As one granny told me, “If we didn’t, we couldn’t survive.”

Having been blessed to drift among them for for 7 months over the course of three years, I feel more comfortable with aging. Thankfully, one is never too old to be inspired by others. I have even begun to imagine my life as a septuagenarian and octogenarian. Granted, I will never become a working woman of the sea like the haenyeo. But if I do live well into my 90s, I hope to lead a continuous life of purpose as they have. Gray-haired, wrinkled and polyp-free.

Young Women Speaking the Economy: Economic Realities Abroad

[Editor's Note: IMOW's newest online exhibition Young Women Speaking the Economy brings 44 young women from four countries together to discuss their thoughts and ideas about entering the workforce at a time of economic uncertainty.

As part of the exhibition, four events were held in each of the participating countries--the U.S., Denmark, Sudan and the Philippines--with some of the exhibition creators traveling all over the world to meet and discuss their ideas in person. For the next few months, we'll be publishing some of the reflections from student participants who traveled to foreign countries as part of this project. This post was written by Kirby Kimber, a student at Mills College in Oakland, California, who traveled to the Philippines for the exhibition. Check out Kirby's project here, and explore the entire Young Women Speaking the Economy exhibition.]

A few of the project participants and advisors in the Philippines

I have heard that the United States is a wealthy country, but the significance of that statement was not real for me until my visit to the Philippines last May as a participant in Young Women Speaking the Economy through the International Museum of Women. Despite communicating with the other participants (from Denmark, Sudan, the Philippines, and the U.S.) online through Facebook since November, I don’t feel like the real work of the project was complete until I met face-to-face with some of the amazing women of Young Women Speaking the Economy. Facebook just can’t replace the depth of understanding and conversational spontaneity that is possible in person, or the feeling of working together and showing the world what you made through a concrete event like the Young Women Speaking the Economy Philippines debut at the Ayala Museum.

Through making our projects for Young Women Speaking the Economy I had learned some of the economic realities of the Philippines before I arrived in the country, but some projects, such as Valeene Salanga’s on the rampant unemployment experienced by recent graduates, have a much more contextualized meaning now.

Photo by Kirby Kimber

The extremes as we know them in the United States pale in comparison to the normalized economic extremes that I observed in the Philippines. Without even leaving the highway I could see huge houses (what would be called McMansions in the US) a block away from shanty towns.

Roman Catholicism is observably prevalent in the country. It was not uncommon to see large St. Francis crosses, and huge pro-life and Knights of Columbus billboards. Our hosts at Miriam College were very friendly and patient with me, explaining all of the history and background for the things I was seeing and hearing.

Economic extremes and a strong Catholic culture are resulting in a national debate over the passage of the RH bill that would nullify the ban on contraceptives in the Philippines. The population of the country is overwhelmingly young (annual population growth is around 2.3% versus around 0.98% in the US) and this has led to a shortage of jobs. I had to fight the urge to clean off the table at a fast food restaurant or assume I would make my own cup of coffee. With so few jobs available there is an employee hired for everything.

Catholicism is deeply rooted as a part of Filipino culture, and Filipinos are aware of the problems within the country. Reconciling the RH bill with this aspect of their heritage was a serious ongoing endeavor in the country during my visit, and Filipinos seem to be walking the same tight rope as the United States for some middle ground between national identity, belief, and the pressures of reality.

In many ways the problems of the United States and those of the Philippines can sound very much like the same laundry list: poverty, unemployment, over-population, and overall economic decline. But the words stretch into the reality of our different circumstances. Poverty in the US can mean being on the Medicaid rolls. In the Philippines it is four million people (in Metro-Manila alone) living in sprawling slums built on top of garbage heaps.

We got to enjoy some of the sights and history of Manila during the trip, but there are still slums in the background of our privileged tourist pictures.

[Previously: "From Aarhus to Oakland" by Kristina Moeller Andersen]

Zar: Women’s Medicine, Tradition and Rituals

Traditionally, religion has been one of the most powerful sources of both vision and values. Every religion, particularly indigenous, has evoked a new vision for society, aided in advancing the collective consciousness, and inspired both personal and institutional transformation. It has also been a source of division and social fragmentation. However, in indigenous spiritual practices, like the Zar, we find that women play a key role as leaders of ritual, keepers of the earth, and healers.

In parts of the Arab world, women diagnosed with acute cases of depression are, believed to be, possessed by the jinn. This depression or low spirit emphasizes an individuals inability to withstand psychological disorders usually brought about by deprivation, poverty, and hardship. Despite religious opposition, many women resort to the underground female healing ceremonies of the Zar, where a ritual-dance accompanied by music are conducted to appease or elevate these spirits or invoke their therapeutic capabilities.

Gender Law + Women in 21st Century Art History

My Bed by Tracey Emin. Image via Wikipedia

I recently started working for the Alameda County Public Defender's Office, and it rules. The people are down-to-earth, the work is intellectually stimulating, and it's a diverse work environment--all of these qualities bear much value to me in other areas of life, including Art History. The last thing I want is to ignore underrepresented social groups or to encourage exclusivity to anyone that wants to voice their issues. Where do Art History and Law "meet"?

While I admire artists--many of them women who have enhanced Art History through the advancements presented in the 21st century understanding of art's contribution to society--I often wonder how easy it is to slip into a coded language that does not allow the public to "see" themselves. It's a problem that emerges in legal matters as well; legal practice is conditional upon the need to defend individuals/groups who do not have the resources or historical support that others do. In this way, it is always a two-sided process. Similarly, Art History provides viewers with an opportunity to adopt (or reject) a "case" for a subject.

I thought about this, and immediately considered the linguistic intersection that I became familiar with a few years back; it was a definition that brought the cultural enforcement of gender to my attention, in a way that I had not ever considered--gender law profoundly changed how I perceived life and art in general. In addition, the legal community has not overlooked the necessity for specific attention to inequalites that are created as a result of gender difference and stereotyping.

How do artists contend with this issue? Dina Felluga put it best when she related the social construct of gender to an established construction, which renders it unnatural:

Gender, according to Butler, is by no means tied to material bodily facts but is solely and completely a social construction, a fiction, one that, therefore, is open to change and contestation...Gender is, thus, a construction that regularly conceals its genesis" ("Performative" 273). That genesis is not corporeal but performative (see next module), so that the body becomes its gender only "through a series of acts which are renewed, revised, and consolidated through time" ("Performative" 274). By illustrating the artificial, conventional, and historical nature of gender construction, Butler attempts to critique the assumptions of normative heterosexuality: those punitive rules (social, familial, and legal) that force us to conform to hegemonic, heterosexual standards for identity.

Awhile back, I wrote about Tracey Emin's work, and her role as an artist whom challenges gendered understandings of everyday actions. I recently came across another article (via Art in America) that directly addressed how she examined gender through its art historical tropes. The article briefly noted a genre, Minimalism, which tends to be observed as "empty" in comparison to more readily obvious content that reads as masculine or feminine iconography. Ossian Ward noted that:

co-opted an industrial, masculine material generally associated with Minimal and Conceptual practitioners in America. Those neons hardly convey anything as specific as the bleeding-heart narrative of an oversexed, half-British, half-Turkish-Cypriot female artist from a small seaside town in southern England.

I don't know what to think about that last sentence. If you ever read Anna Chave's illuminating discussion, titled "Minimalism and the Rhetoric of Power," about the hypermasculine subtexts of Minimalist art, it's clear that there's a gendered reading happening in that analysis. Gender (art) law strikes again!

What do you think about this analysis? Emin herself is not averse to discussing her art in terms of sex but that is quite different from discussing her work in terms of gender. Would you say that she represents herself well as a female artist? Should she be considering gendered language? As you can see, she's a favorite of mine, and I think that she incites reactions that expose the complexity of Art History's fairly repressed depiction of women, gender, and sex. Please leave your thoughts below!

"Gay Girl in Damascus" Blog: A Work of Great Fiction

A poster that appeared on a "Free Amina" facebook page.

Today, the person behind the popular confessional blog site "Gay Girl in Damascus" revealed their true identity. Blogger Amina Abdallah, known to devout readers from across the globe as a Syrian American lesbian with a talent for capturing everything from the excitement of the Arab Spring to sharing intimate, sensual poetry, was revealed to be...a man. Not only that, "Amina" is in fact a 40 year-old white American man currently studying in the UK by the name of Tom MacMaster.

The contempt felt by those who once followed him, or worse, those who only discovered him today through this new found notoriety (including this blogger, real name Amity Bacon), seems to have reached a fever pitch. And the reasons are fairly plain to see, as any white male blogger can attest.

The idea of a westerner born of white male privilege impersonating a queer Arab woman in order to have his voice heard is surely a painful irony. And I can only imagine that actual, real life members of the LGBT community in Arab nations that have struggled to get their messages out to the international community are more than a bit upset that they haven't been heard over all the media hype MacMaster has been able to drum up through his dalliance in fiction writing.

"Abdallah" wasn't your typical unknown blogging hobbyist. After garnering enough attention in her responses to the uprisings she supposedly witnessed firsthand, she was commissioned to contribute to various news sites. She even had a facebook account, filled with pictures MacMaster had stolen from another facebook user, as well as fan pages on the social networking site (yes, pages plural). And when MacMaster was bored with his little fiction project, he conveniently implied in his posts that Amina Abdallah had gone missing and was abducted by security services, which of course only led to more support, and, one can imagine, more fan pages. The State Department was reportedly opening up an investigation as well.

I understand the anger surrounding this. Especially if you see this video of MacMaster explaining himself and how he was driven by vanity to create this character. At this point he is probably envisioning future book deals, talk show appearances, and a life of glamorous celebrityhood from here on out.

But before we're so quick to dismiss this as a cheap hoax devoid of any lessons to be learned, here's a question to consider: where do you get your news? And what are the sources for that news?

In America, the number of US-based foreign correspondents has only dwindled as our military reach has skyrocketed. Conversely, in countries where first amendment rights are not protected, particularly in the Middle East, informal means of communication such as blogging, twitter, and other social networks have become a major source of information for the global community. In these types of circumstances, is it a complete surprise that myths and lies can be perpetuated like never before?

There are no easy answers to fix this media environment, but if there is a cautionary tale here it's this: however enticing a wide open internet may be, blogs and social media will never replace a functioning media--that is, a media comprised of trained journalists, fact checkers, and editors that are neither beholden to government nor corporate institutions. Is such a thing possible? Probably not, but it is something to strive for.

CLIO TALKS BACK: Women and Credit Worldwide

Did you know that women worldwide and throughout history have been continually involved in financial transactions, notably in credit, investment, and capital formation ?

Long before microcredit projects began to foster female loan cooperatives in societies such as India, with the Grameen Bank and SEWA, women were involved in small-scale financial operations.

Some of Clio’s male historian colleagues have contributed greatly to illuminating aspects of women’s economic involvement in earlier times.

A survey which sheds a great deal of light on the subject is "Women and Credit in Pre-Industrial and Developing Societies" by William Chester Jordan of Princeton University.

According to recent historical findings on women’s economic involvement in Europe, there is “something distinctive about women’s roles in credit.” [p. 1] . . . “both men and women were pawnbrokers and moneylenders.” [p. 2]

According to Jordan, the sexual division of labor in earlier times was remarkably less pronounced in this area of finance than in many other arenas of women’s labor, such as the manufacture of cloth, baking, or poultry-raising.

This all changed with industrialization and commercialization, and western prescriptions for a strict sexual division of labor.

Clio suggests that you have a look at this study, which addresses not only Europe during the middle ages and early modern period, but also sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean in the colonial and post-colonial period. Eye-opening!


Sources:

William Chester Jordan, Women and Credit in Pre-Industrial and Developing Societies. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.

David Herlihy, Opera Muliebria: Women and Work in Medieval Europe. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990.

Aisha Cousins Creates a Performance Experience

Aisha Cousins jumping rope with braided hair for Diva Dutch.

Aisha Cousins is a Brooklyn-based performance artist whose work is unique in the sense that it creates community. As an artist who is "committed to reaching audiences that do not normally feel comfortable in museums or galleries." You're more likely to see her work on the streets of Brooklyn or Harlem or in a local business than in a gallery space. And the best part about Aisha's performance work is that anybody can join in. In fact, that's what enriches the experience. In the following interview, she talks about her most recent projects.

Please tell me about your Diva Dutch performance piece (braiding long extensions into womens' hair and inviting people to jump rope with it). What was your initial inspiration for the piece, and how has it evolved since it first started? Where have you performed Diva Dutch? Did people receive it differently based on what location you were in?
Diva Dutch started as a sort of rites-of-passage for my 30th birthday. I had been trying to make myself over -wearing high heels, makeup, etc.- so that I looked more "womanly" because I was tired of being mistaken for a teenager. I can't wear heels though, and I'm not big on makeup. It was torture. Finally I said "Look, I'm turning 30. All my older female friends say the great thing about the 30's is you stop worrying what other people think of you and start living for yourself. I should just embrace whatever it is that actually makes me a woman and be happy." For me, the best thing about being an adult is having the freedom and the resources to do all the things people wouldn't let you do as a kid, so I kind of ran with that and Diva Dutch was born.

Braiding hair for a Diva Dutch performance

Diva Dutch performance in Brooklyn

Since then, Diva Dutch has changed a good deal in purpose and meaning. When I first performed it on my stoop in BedStuy, I was in a neighborhood I grew up in, so it felt like that action of jumping rope, and also the hair braiding, resonated across space and time. As I jumped, I couldn't help but picture the other black women, who like me had once been little girls and jumped rope in front of their houses all along the block... and throughout the neighborhood. And I pictured all the little black girls before and after us. It seemed like something we had in common -the grandmoms, the aunties, the big sisters, the daughters, and the granddaughters. The same was true for the hairbraiding. We were very purposefully passing these acts of joyfulness and beauty on to each new generation.

An Undiscovered Gem: Museum of African Diaspora

The San Francisco Bay area is a unique American city in that it feels like the whole place has been sprinkled with a hearty mix of diversity. The ability of SF to intersect different cultures also makes it the birthplace of many social and artistic movements.

It was here in San Francisco that I discovered the Museum of African Diaspora located on Mission Street soon after moving from London. I regularly enjoyed the Tate Museum and thought I would have a similar experience at SFMOMA. However, I soon discovered around the corner from SFMOMA is the Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD).

Marion Coleman "Sound of their own"

Unique in it’s name, MoAD holds much promise of being one of the few places in the Western hemisphere that is solely dedicated to teaching the public about the wealth of African culture as a result of African diaspora. The Museum is small, but the staff and curators do a wonderful job of showing a range of exhibits that expand the mind about both art and culture. The last exhibition, Textural Rhythms: Constructing the Jazz Tradition, Contemporary African American Quilts, showed visitors about the underground art of quilting. Featuring the work of quilters such as Marion Coleman and Ed Johnetta Miller, visitors were exposed and educated to the different multimedia components that are used in quilting. What was particularly compelling about this exhibition is it’s ability to tell the story of many aspects of Jazz, incorporating both the integrity and vibrancy of the Jazz artist. The vivid colorful pieces were a delight to the eye, but also made one think when seen up close about the about of stitching and thought that went into the piece.

Alice Beasley "Miles Ahead"

Last last January, the Museum appointed a new Director, Grace Stanislaus. Grace holds a Master's degree in Art History from Columbia University and was previously CEO of the Romare Bearden Foundation, set up in honor of the late artist Romare Bearden. With her knowledge and influence, Grace has brought Romare Bearden’s work to San Francisco and it is currently exhibited in the Museum. Grace has used her experience in the arts to inject an intellectual aspect into the Museum that encourages the visitor to think about exhibitions but also to take away sound knowledge that inspires further engagement. I have personally found I remember the exhibitions and look to find further information afterward. Furthermore, the Museum takes art and intellect a step farther. The Museum regularly has art, history, and sociology experts attend to give talks. The management has also taken art a step forward going "off the walls" and into performance. The Push Dance company is currently performing Dance across the Diasporia, inspired by the word "Mixed," referring to someone coming from a mix of cultures; the shows promise to educate and show that art forms can transcend across immigration borders.

Romare Bearden "The Dove"

MIDDLE EAST: Rape is Never Part of the Contract

If you visited the Middle East, you'd no doubt notice that migrant domestic workers--who represent a vulnerable group, whose rights are often ignored, in contravention to international conventions and standards--are incredibly prevalent.

Mainly from Asia and Africa, they comprise nearly 1.5 million of the workforce in Saudi Arabia, 660,000 in Kuwait and more than 200,000 in Lebanon. With hopes of escaping poverty or conflict in their home countries, many travel under false pretense and find themselves hungry, subjected to poor working conditions, unpaid salaries, abuse and conditions akin to slavery.

In response to widespread abuse and mounting reports of withheld salaries, several labour sending countries issued bans restricting female migrants from seeking employment abroad due to the alarming rise in the number of suicides. However, this has only made them more susceptible to traffickers and employment agencies working the black market.

According to the International Labour Union, there are more than 22 million migrant workers--a third of whom are women--currently in the Middle East. Currently the ILO is advocating the drafting of specific labour legislation for domestic workers that extends legal protection in a systematic and comprehensive manner.

Originally from Madagascar, Dima 19, escaped from her employer after being sexually abused several times. She tells her story to Her Blueprint:

"I come from a poor family in Madagascar and before leaving I was told that I would find good employment in Lebanon, and that my situation and that of my family would improve. I wasn’t happy to leave my country and my family but I needed to change our situation so I agreed to take the employment.

The male employer picked me up from the airport and when we arrived to the home he told me to take a bath. He insisted that I leave the door slightly open but I felt uncomfortable about it and pleaded that I close the door but he kept insisting that it was for my own safety just in case something were to happen. So finally I agreed and while I was in the bath he entered and raped me.

While it was happening he kept saying how he had never been with a Black woman and wanted to have a taste. For me, it was humiliating, and I felt empty inside. Afterwards, I was told to get dressed and take care of my household duties, as if nothing had happened. I felt trapped and had no one to help me. When I was able to speak with my family I had to tell them that everything was okay because it would kill them to know that I was suffering.

Some time passed and nothing happened but then one day the Madame said that she was going out and that I should stay but I insisted on not being left in the house with him. Always I tried to make sure I was never left alone with him but she gave me no choice and it happened again. Except this time, he spread my legs apart and tied my hands and legs to the bed and repeatedly raped me. Then he invited two male friends over and they also took turns raping me.

Afterward, I was destroyed and could only think about how I could get away because I couldn’t bear living like this anymore. Luckily I had met another Madagascan woman in the street and she told me the number of the community leader and that if I had any problems, she would help me. So almost a month later, while the family was getting into the car I started running as fast as I could so that they didn’t catch me. Eventually I managed to get far enough that I stopped and went to a pay phone and called the number and the woman told me to take a taxi to the consulate and that they would pay for it once I arrived.

I was told at the consulate that they could help me find new employment but all I wanted to do was leave because maybe I would have the same problems with a new employer and I didn’t want to take the chance. I just wanted to be with my family. I would prefer to live in poverty than to continue suffering in this way."

Cases like Dima are all too common in a labour sector where abuses remain invisible because these women suffer in places that are hidden to the public's eye such as in private homes.

Passport confiscation and the Kafala or sponsorship system, which binds migrant domestic workers to a specific employer excludes them from protection and left in the hands of individuals who have complete control over their lives.

Recently, the ILO set up a website with the aim of promoting decent work for domestic workers and supporting initiatives worldwide by sharing information related to working and living conditions of domestic workers, policy issues and challenges in domestic work, country experiences and knowledge, and practical tools on how decent work may be advanced in domestic work.

Reclaiming (Her)Story: Drawing Strength from the Past

Contralto singer Mabel Ritchardson in San Francisco, circa late 1930s.

For the past two years, I have been researching the history of my family. I have spent hours rummaging through old photographs and documents, constructing family trees, and scouring the internet for information about my ancestors. What an incredible journey it has been! The more I learn about my family's past, the more I long to know. The stories of the women in my family are particularly compelling. I am fascinated by the story of my great-grandmother, Mabel Ritchardson, who was a noted contralto singer in San Francisco during the 1930's. She performed pieces by Bach and Brahms, as well as spirituals, all while raising her six children in the city's Western Addition neighborhood.

A review of Ritchardson's performance in The San Francisco Spokesman reads, "Mrs. Ritchardson scored another triumph in her career when she was presented in an intimate musicale, by a group of artists at the fashionable Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. Mrs. Ritchardson, the only colored on the program was introduced as a cultural leader of her race. The audience was spell-bound while she sang "Come Let Us All This Day" by Bach. For encore she sang "Vittoria Mio Core" by Carissima in Italian. She appeared later on the program with a group of Negro spirituals which were enthusiastically received."

I found this review of her work, along with programs, letters, and photos Mabel saved from her singing career. I was inspired by her dedicated pursuance of her craft, especially since this was an era where a woman's "place" was considered to be in the home. In spite of the obstacles facing all women, and especially Black women, she made her dreams a reality.

Art and Citizenship

Image via WikipediaLast week, President Obama made a trip to Ireland, and it was described in terms of finding his "roots." I watched a video in which he was described as a "rockstar," and felt the immense anticipation and pride that the audience (and the Obamas) felt that day.

To stand in a space and consider your roots and your legacy can be a joyous occasion. Art can also facilitate the connection between one's personal identity and their cultural heritage, and may reveal paths to a greater understanding beyond monolithic depictions of race and ethnicity. (Even Obama had to confront such misunderstandings recently when he presented his birth certificate to the public, finally putting the questioning of his citizenship to rest.)

I wonder, "How do art and citizenship intersect?" The first image that springs to mind is that of Peter Paul Rubens' depictions of war--but why? First, he was quite fascinated by the topic of war, as explained in this succinct Guardian UK article. This seems a timely thought since it was just Memorial Day weekend, too. I think that the reason that Rubens' works stand out to me has to do with the fleshy women that stood for national vulnerabilities, such as family (losing a member of family to war is a common tragedy), life in general (the ability to produce life), and on a more symbolic level, one's "land." Here's the image of the Allegory of the Outbreak of War:




An artist that honored history and our contemporary understanding of war and national identity is Maya Lin. She designed the internationally recognized Vietnam Memorial monument (shown above). Considering the subject matter, it was considered a controversial work because of its design. The symbols she used were not in keeping with the more traditional symbols of American citizenship, such flags or images of the soldiers who were in the Vietnam War.

There are other works, such as Picasso's Guernica, in which women played a major role in either the symbolic content or the creation of the works. Which spring to mind? How do they address citizenship and a nation's identity?