How I learned about Feminism From a (Guerilla) Gorilla:
Deep inside the International House at University of Chicago, a lecture was held. The speaker: a gorilla masked feminist. The topic: the infamous Guerilla Girls. Having no previous knowledge of the women’s work, I felt a bit like an outcast. Luckily, the anonymous woman, who uncannily had the voice of Annie Hall, was here to give an untold history lesson. The Guerrilla Girls were formed in 1985 in New York City. Their mission was to radically show the world how both underrepresented and misrepresented women are in the art world. They slapped witty posters across museum walls all over the globe. The posters asked questions, demanded answers, and shouted out facts. The featured Guerilla Girl had a slideshow depicting many of the posters. One of my favorites boldly asked, “ Where are the women in Venice?” and then replied, “Underneath the men.” This is both relevant in art and for female artists. Not only are women structurally placed beneath men in the majority of art pieces, but also many of the art created by women are locked up in basements. Our revealer noted that this is practiced not only in Europe, but in the land of the free as well. When the Guerrilla Girls protested at the Smithsonian, the curator put up one “feminist” painting. That clearly wasn’t enough and more protesting ensued.
The Guerrilla Girls didn’t stop with museums. Hollywood, politics, commercial advertisements were all targeted as being both chauvinistic and racists. The girls took on the Oscars (“Unchain the women directors!”), Homeland Security (“The U.S. Homeland Terror Alert System for women”), history books (Bitches, Bimbos, and Ballbreakers), and even Barbie (fact: she originated from the German sex doll, Lilli).
As enjoyable as it was to watch a feminist in a gorilla mask give example after example about how the Guerilla Girls radically changed the art world, by the end of the night the masked female sounded redundant. Their posters became trite and their protests seemed as though they read too much into the status quo of male-female relations in art, film, politics, etc. For example, the Guerrilla Girls invented stereotype dolls. Sure, the point may have been to make stereotypes obvious and humorous, but how does it prove a point? Wouldn’t it have been more productive to create dolls that fight stereotypes, instead of enhancing the ones that are already present in media?
By the end of the night, it was clear that feminism is definitely not over. There is still a reason to throw up a fist. Many female artists don’t get the validation they deserve. The Guerrilla Girls are there to stand up for that artist. The gang of women continues to collaborate together, and, even though they refuse to allow men in their circle (hypocritical?), they want to work with undisguised men to get women on top. The masked leader left the audience with the idea that we can all contribute to the cause, even without a primate mask.
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