Author: Former Student

Theory of Praxis Assignment

Posted on by Former Student

After taking GSS 101, a theme that stood out to me was understanding gender as a social construct. Growing up I had a very limited mindset about gender and sexuality and accepted many of the ideas as they were presented to me. However, over the years I have understood more about the complexities and many identities within gender and sexuality. With this in mind, it led to me thinking about how I can use these ideas to influence an art piece for campus to spread awareness and normalize identities that aren’t ‘cis-gender heterosexual’. While there are already many sculptures, especially of bodies, around campus I wanted to propose a new sculpture of a body that implements the ideas of the diversity of gender identities and sexual orientations. My piece is inspired by the metal sculpture on campus by Jaume Plensa, titled Waves III. This piece is made up of letters from all different languages to signify unity and diversity. It is based upon cultural identity and the way that one individual holds a connection to a greater culture.

  • Waves III, Jaume Plensa

My idea is to create a sculpture on Davidson’s campus that intersects the ideas of gender as socially constructed as well as show the variety of identities among individuals. The sculpture would be made out of glass and would depict a human form, without genitalia, to represent an individual not tied to a gender. The position of the body would be arranged so that the arms were extended outward to signify openness of the individual. The idea is to show the complexities of humans and the many identities, both genders and sexual orientations that exist. The form of the body would be composed of words carved into the glass form of sexual identities, such as: “queer, bisexual, lesbian” and words associated with gender identities: “she, they, him, non-binary, trans.” And instead of the exterior of the form being perfectly smooth, shards of glass would poke out in all different directions to create an ambiguous body shape.The words would be repeated all over and done in different fonts to completely cover the entire form. The sculpture would symbolize the many identities that don’t receive recognition in a heteronormative society. This sculpture would work towards normalizing those identities that are not cis-gender heterosexuals, but also serve as a reminder of the hardships of LGTBQ+ individuals. The title of this piece would be “Complexities of Intersectionality” and would capture the chaotic and diverse nature of the gender and sexuality spectrum. While this sculpture wouldn’t explicitly touch upon identities within class and race that also affect an individuals experience, this would be the starting point to begin examining identities and start the conversation about other impacts on an individuals’ experience.

References:

https://www.davidsoncollegeartgalleries.org/uncategorized/seen-on-campus-jaume-plensas-waves-iii/

“Man’s World” by MARINA

Posted on by Former Student

“Man’s World” by MARINA

MARINA, previously known as Marina and the Diamonds, is an Indie/electro pop musician who is no stranger to female empowerment in her music and on social media. She recently dropped a new album Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land which spreads the important message of ecofeminism and the downfalls of a capitalist society. The most popular song on the track is “Man’s World.” “Man’s World” is an anthem of feminist power and resilience. This song not only recalls specific historical moments where women have been oppressed and mistreated, but also indicates discrimination and violence that LGBTQ+ individuals have faced. She references the Salem Witch trials in the lyrics:

“Burnt me at the stake, you thought I was a witch
Centuries ago, now you just call me a bitch”(MARINA, lines 5-6)

These lyrics are based on the incident where violence against women occurred due to society’s view of “abnormal” activity of girls and women during the Witch trials. Expectations of what a “women” should be and act like are still prevalent today and it causes those who don’t fall into those categories to be treated as outcast. It also points out how women used to be called “witches” to the more recent derogatory use of the word “bitch.” While also recalling the controversy regarding The Beverly Hills Hotel that Marilyn Monroe is linked to, MARINA’s lyrics state:

“Marilyn’s bungalow, it’s number seven
In the pink palace where men made her legend
Owned by a sheik who killed thousands of gay men
I guess that’s why he bought the campest hotel in LA then”(MARINA, lines 12-15)

This references the controversial event where the recent stakeholder of the Beverly Hills Hotel passed a law in the South China Sea, where he made queer sex and adultery punishable by stoning. These violent anti-gay policies caused a boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel by many celebrities.

“Man’s World” hints at a theme explored in Contesting Cultures, where Uma Narayan states, “Women’s inequality and mistreatment are, unfortunately, ubiquitous features of many “Western” and “non-Western” cultural contexts (Narayan 401).” In cultures all over the world, women are mistreated and oppressed against. Violence towards women is everywhere even though the specific situations differ. This brings the question of intersectionality into the mix. While “Man’s World” doesn’t cover the topic of intersectionality, it’s important to note that through class, gender, race, and sexuality, women can be more susceptible to different levels of violence in their day-to-day experiences. Lorber writes, “Within many social groups, however, men are advantaged over women. The more economic resources, such as education and job opportunities, are available to a group, the more they tend to be monopolized by men (Lorber 61).” This goes hand in hand with the line “So don’t punish me for not being a man”(MARINA, line 23). From birth, our assigned gender places expectations on the life we are supposed to live and unfairly places cis-gender men at the top of the social structure.

While “Man’s World” comes from more of a Westernized approach to feminism, it’s still a solid start to educating listeners about violence and oppressions towards women and LGBTQ+ indiviudals. “I don’t wanna live in a man’s world anymore” (MARINA line 9) illustrates the strength and resilience women have demonstrated for centuries.

Works Cited

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

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/opinion/sunday/the-sultan-and-the-salad.html

“‘Cause Shade Never Made Anybody Less Gay”

Posted on by Former Student

Written by Liz Truluck for Autostraddle

“You Need to Calm Down” by Taylor Swift

Calling all Swifties! Taylor Swift has done it once again in her banging new music video. Supporting queer rights through music, dancing, and a upbeat production, the song “You Need To Calm Down” is a queer anthem bashing the hate experienced by many LGBTQIA+ members. By incorporating a catchy beat, colorful props and many queer icons themselves, T-Swizzle shines a light on both the celebration of pride along with the hardships of many queer folk past and present. Billy Porter, Laverne Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, and Jonathan Van Ness are just a few of the incredible appearances throughout the music video. “You Need to Calm Down” challenges gender norms with references such as “can you just not step on his gown?” This lyric is breaking the assumptions that girls are meant to wear dresses and allows a space for self-expression through clothing.


Not only does Taylor stand up for queer rights through her artistic lense, but she also uses the music video as a educational experience for ways people can also help the queer movement. At the end of the music video she linked a petition for Senate Support of the Equality Act on Change.org along with the statement, “Let’s show our pride by demanding that, on a national level, our laws truly treat all of our citizens equally.” The music video served as an inclusive and welcoming place for queer people, allies, and anyone who likes a fire pop song. Taylor used her platform to put in the public eye queer artists, actors, and celebrities alike. The bopping tunes and gay flags are woven together through this video capturing how extraordinary queer culture and the queer community are.
While this video served mostly as a queer anthem, it also supported women empowerment and feminism. Two scenes that really shouted those themes for me were when there was a stage filled with drag queens dressed as big pop stars lined up from left to right: Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Adele, Cardi B, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj. They all stood alongside each other on a stage. RuPaul walked towards the stage holding a crown on top of a pillow. Before crowning the winner, he walked to the center of the stage standing in front of all of them. Instead of crowning one winner, he smirked and then threw the crown into the air. As this scene was happening the lyric “We all know now, we all got crowns” began playing. This scene and lyric supports women backing other women. In today’s society, judgement and comparisons about bodies, especially among women, have created a negative space filled with doubt and unworthiness. However this moment in the video pushes against those norms and celebrates all individuals.


The next scene transitions into colorful cake and confetti flying left and right. The camera zooms in on Taylor Swift, who is wearing a french fries costume, looking around confused. It then focuses on Katy Perry, dressed as a hamburger swaying side to side with her head down. Taylor and Katy then make eye contact from across the set and after recognizing each other, awkwardly smile and begin approaching one another. Taylor shyly waves as they get closer and then they embrace in a big hug. Previous to this video, Taylor and Katy were rumored to have a long on-going beef with one another. But this video finally squashed what had happened in the past and ended on a cheerful and loving note.