{"id":19211,"date":"2015-01-29T18:04:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T17:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=19211"},"modified":"2015-01-29T18:04:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-29T17:04:23","slug":"written-on-the-body-female-representation-in-body-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/written-on-the-body-female-representation-in-body-anxiety\/","title":{"rendered":"Written on the Body: Female Representation in "Body Anxiety""},"content":{"rendered":"

\"May May Waver, “Content Aware 1”, 2014. Screen captured from bodyanxiety.com<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll start with a disclaimer: it\u2019s hard, as a man, to write about female self-representation in art. It\u2019s undoubtedly harder, however, to represent yourself while female.<\/p>\n

But what is contemporary femininity? While the dissemination of text, images and ideas on this topic seems at an all-time high, the scope of these concepts is still remarkably focused around male fantasies. \u201cBody Anxiety\u201d, which launched on 24 January, aims to empower women by letting them write their own narratives on gendered appropriation. Curated by artists and writers persons Jennifer Chan<\/a> and Leah Schrager to showcase artists working with and through the internet as a platform to detangle contemporary femininity, \u201dBody Anxiety\u201d is accessible exclusively online.<\/p>\n

\"Saoirse Saoirse Walls, “Den Perfekte Saoirse”, 2012. Screen captured from bodyanxiety.com<\/a><\/p>\n

How the feminine is represented in a female artist\u2019s work is a subject of constant contention: in an interview for Sleek Mag\u2019s \u201cWhat Women Want\u201d<\/a> issue, Sleek asked Petra Cortright<\/a> if men should be asked they are feminists more often.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cMen never have to justify their masculinity in the same way that women are made to talk about being women,\u201d she responded. \u201cFor example, discussions about women\u2019s work always has to mention femininity\u2013it\u2019s never just about the work. And that sucks!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe internet has allowed women and gender-queer people to reinvent and explore sexual identities<\/a> by sharing self-imagery that radically differ from the limited versions of femininity seen in pop culture,\u201d Chan writes in her curatorial statement. In the pursuit of self-representation, almost every artist turns to appropriating the selfie, but can \u201cBody Anxiety\u201d be understood within the contemporary framing of female representation?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"DSC_5580final1\" Leah Schrager, “Hide Me With Your Art (Model Dream)”, 2015. Screen captured from bodyanxiety.com<\/a><\/p>\n

With the limiting scope of how non-male people are represented, the lens through which these images are received is critically distorted. Video work by Faith Holland and Angela Washko, for example, can be understood through the female tropes used in web-cam videos: Holland\u2019s videos were made to be uploaded on porn distribution site Redtube, and she can be read as the cam-girl and the amateur stripper; Washko\u2019s instructions on attracting a millionaire-mate can be related to the YouTube channels on nail art tutorials or shopping \u201chaul\u201d videos.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u201d and \u201cshould\u201d are miles apart, however, and the appropriation in \u201cBody Anxiety\u201d critiques the limited capacity in which women are allowed to be represented, read and understood. Alexandra Marzella\u2019s \u201cmisandrystood\u201d is a scan from the labia across the taint to the anus, and the resulting image is definitively outside of the contemporary visual comfort zone. The bondage porn scene in Ann Hirsch\u2019s \u201cbad feminist\u201d seems less immediately discomforting \u2013 perhaps out of familiarity, but definitely out of cultural legibility \u2013 than the distorted Photo Booth video of Hirsch dancing alongside a vagina wearing reading glasses entitled \u201cdance party just us girls\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whereas \u201cbad feminist\u201d offers a narrative of women that has been written as representation, the discomfort in \u201cmisandrystood\u201d and \u201cdance party just us girls\u201d is a product of female self-representation willing to disturb the hierarchy that has, historically, simply written it off. \u201cBody Anxiety\u201d offers a platform outside of institutional hierarchy for these interventions to take place as women and gender-queer people push for a broader scope and understanding of femininity.<\/p>\n

Part of the reasoning behind this show was due to examples of appropriation of female bodies by male artists\u00a0\u00a0in the net art sphere. While discussions have ranged from the civil to the absurd, this exhibition takes back the authorship for female artists themselves by changing the conversation and making a clear statement for something\u2014anything\u2014different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Body Anxiety” can be accessed here\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Read about Future Feminism, a feminist art collective dealing with female empowerment and hetero-normativity.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>
<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May Waver, “Content Aware 1”, 2014. Screen captured from bodyanxiety.com I\u2019ll start with a disclaimer: it\u2019s hard, as a man, to write about female self-representation in art. It\u2019s undoubtedly harder, however, to represent yourself while female. But what is contemporary femininity? 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