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From Marcie Soderman
I have often referred to the following quote from the President of Mount Holyoke College, Lynn Pasquerella, from 2011:
“The Australian feminist philosopher Dale
Spender once claimed that every century
has its great women thinkers but that with
each passing generation, the institutional
politics of gender leaves women consigned
to the ‘lower shelves’ of cultural material
and eventually forgotten. We need women’s
education, not only because it strengthens
the institutional presence of women leaders
who will work against the generational
forgetting of women’s accomplishments, but
also because of the urgent need to continue
deepening and accelerating the pace of
achievement for today’s women.”
–Lynn Pasquerella
President, Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College Campaign News
Summer 2011
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_______As Martin Luther King, Jr. said “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
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From the Jan. 17 issue of Star Tribune, in article A New Generation of Leaders.
“I think that the [civil rights] movement had a very clear, tangible set of goals. For us, it seems a little less tangible and clear because we are looking to dismantle white supremacy and the systems that hold it.”
Jodi Abrams, Black Liberation Project
Although they are talking about race, it’s the same idea with women still trying to dismantle a system that favors men. But it’s less tangible now and feels less urgent than in the past because women have made strides in so many areas, including opportunities related to our art. But everywhere we look we are still going uphill, and misogyny and inequity are realities even if veiled.
How can we honor the strides we have made while ensuring we continue to break new ground? How can we daily carry an awareness of inequities that we are very much a part of without some type of organized action We like to believe we are all just fine, and fine is fine. But how can we be good without current goals? Can we gain equality by keeping our heads down and working (I say no). So what can we realistically do individually and as a group to organize action – small or large – that will benefit women in general and women artists?
Melissa May Metzler
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Kerry Morgan recommends these books by women artists, writers and scholars who have explored, expounded upon and enlivened the real and fictional challenges of artists who happen to identify as women.
The Guerrilla Girls’ Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art by the Guerrilla Girls
The Pink Glass Swan: Selected Essays on Feminist Art by Lucy R. Lippard
Leaving Art: Writings on Performance, Politics, and Publics, 1974-2007 by Suzanne Lacy
Lee Lozano: Dropout Piece by Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer
The Blazing World: A Novel by Siri Hustvedt
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Shelby Capacio —
Resources for discussion: http://uncannymagazine.com/article/masculinity-is-an-anxiety-disorder-breaking-down-the-nerd-box/
^ A really interesting analysis of masculinity and fandom, particularly in ‘nerdy’ arenas. Also touches on how feminism, through the intentional deconstruction of one of patriarchy’s main tools, can be a source of empowerment for men and an area that could benefit from collaboration and exploration through art.
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Recent trending feminist video on social networks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNdZcegK1lQ___
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From Lara Rodriguez
In terms of American feminists in the art world/recommended reading– there’s Marcia Tucker, Coco Fusco, Lucy Lippard, Michelle Wallace, … but they are all cultural critics/curators moreso than artists, with the exception of Coco Fusco. There are less book-length works published by women artists on their process, than there are monographs written by other critics on these artists. One exception I’m thinking of here is Suzanne Lacy …
I’m always interested in the ways women of color, queer women, and trans women become tokenized in feminist discourses/group shows/events/panels/arts programming/artist talks, etc.; how do we perpetuate and project the exclusionary violence we have inherit onto “other others”? Here is a recently published 3rd or 4th wave text I bought but have yet to read on that history: excluded by Julie Serano.
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- All the Rebel Women: The rise of the fourth wave of feminism by Kira Cochrane Guardian Shorts Originals ebook (£1.99). Visit guardianshorts.com to find out more.
This is a very short statistically heavy book. It will give you pause. Kira is an editor at the Guardian. Read More
2. Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
USA Everyday Sexism Project. Tens of thousands of women give testimony. http://usa.everydaysexism.com/
Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhjsRjC6B8U
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MCAD is showing the F Word!
Saturday, February 6, 2016
6:30 p.m. http://mcad.edu/event/screening-f-word
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“Siri Hustvedt’s The Blazing World
http://www.amazon.com/The-Blazing-World-A-Novel/dp/1476747237
Longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize and hailed by The Washington Post as “Siri Hustvedt’s best novel yet, an electrifying work,” The Blazing World is a masterful novel about perception, prejudice, desire, and one woman’s struggle to be seen.
In a new novel called “searingly fresh… A Nabokovian cat’s cradle” on the cover of The New York Times Book Review, the internationally bestselling author tells the provocative story of artist Harriet Burden, who, after years of having her work ignored, ignites an explosive scandal in New York’s art world when she recruits three young men to present her creations as their own. Yet when the shows succeed and Burden steps forward for her triumphant reveal, she is betrayed by the third man, Rune. Many critics side with him, and Burden and Rune find themselves in a charged and dangerous game, one that ends in his bizarre death.
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