COLLECTION NAME:
Undergraduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
Reconsidering the Gaze: Women Photographers and the Pursuit of Sexual Freedom (1970-2000)
Creator:
de Jesus, Kylie M.
Subject:
Thesis (B.F.A.) -- Art History
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Art History
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
“Developed upon centuries of patriarchal dominance, the gaze has severely impacted the perception of the female body, women’s autonomy, and the freedom of sexual expression. Appearing out of the second half of the 20th century came a new wave of scholars, artists, and feminists who strived to challenge women’s subordination within modern culture. Feminist theoretical writings such as John Berger’s Ways of Seeing (1972) and Laura Mulvey’s ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ (1975), which discuss the omnipresence of the male gaze throughout history and cinema, shaped a new perspective through which to view the gaze. Expressing the right to female sexual expression, became a prominent theme within the artistic practices of women artists of the time, as they strived to free themselves from the oppression male gaze. Where do our perceptions of the female body stem from? How do these perceptions affect how society views female sexuality and the erotic? And, how do the female artists of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, challenge these perceptions altogether? Running in parallel to the ever-changing sociopolitical climate, Tee Corinne, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Patrica Cronin reflected upon the nuanced, evolving feminisms in their erotic photography. Through intimate depictions of queer sexuality, to blatant pornography, to politically driven erotica, each artist’s contributions speak to the feminist agenda for sexual equality. Ultimately, working to challenge and subvert the male gaze, each artist pushed past the constructs of the patriarchy to create space for liberated sexual expression, balancing on the between pornography and art, exploitation and autonomy, and subjection and expression.” –Abstract
Keywords: John Berger, Tee Corinne, Patricia Cronin, feminist, gaze, Laura Mulvey, photography, sexual expression, Cosey Fanni Tutti.
Keywords: John Berger, Tee Corinne, Patricia Cronin, feminist, gaze, Laura Mulvey, photography, sexual expression, Cosey Fanni Tutti.
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia: Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2024-03
Format:
1 online resource: 1 PDF (Thesis, 71 pages, color illustrations)