Contemporary Practice In Context - Blog Tasks.
Blog Task 1 - Keywords & Definitions
-Using keywords from the short essay task for Contemporary Practice in Context.
Ambiguity- Ambiguity translates to vagueness, with no actual meaning. When the word is used it tends to be describing something that is open, and cannot accurately be labelled. In context of my own work, I use the word “Ambiguity” to express fashion or gender. For example, talking about the appearance of the musician David Bowie, I would say that his style was ambiguous due to the mixture of masculinity and femininity expressed in both his music and his fashion. As there is a mixture of male and female traits, it would be hard to label or identify a person as anything other than ambiguous because of the lack of certainty of the person. Ambiguity can also be a term related to Androgyny, as both of these terms are open to communication within gender identity and often refer to someone with no gender, bigender (two genders) or genderqueer (unknown gender).
Androgyny- The definition of Androgyny is a combination of masculine and feminine traits. As explained with Ambiguity, Androgyny is often seen as an ambiguous thing. It is mostly known within gender identity, that if someone is androgynous, they would stereotypically have an appearance that matched both male and female looks. The way in which we see Androgyny in media is in fashion, where females where suits and are made up to look manly, and in which males have extremely long hair and skinny body types. An example of Androgyny used fashion would be the model Rain Dove, whom shows off their features by wearing either suits or dresses; it would depend on what identity was stereotypically made to communicate. Androgyny is mostly linked with pushing boundaries of gender, especially when identity is the main issue, it is made to show society that they don’t have to look extremely male or female; there can be an in-between of genders.
Gender- The word Gender is typically known to refer to male and female. However it is self-identity and often reflects with cultural and social elements too. Gender is different to Sex, as Sex links directly to biological aspects, whereas Gender is a labelling of characteristics. Although the two well-known genders of male and female have been with us from birth, there are also many other genders that exist such as Agender, Bigender, Genderqueer, Transgender and so on; these are becoming a lot more important in society and accepting too. Along with gender comes pronouns, which is how we address someone. For example if a male person would like male pronouns he would be addressed as “him”, “he”, “his”; however sometimes this is not straightforward and people may have a different pronoun to their biological Sex. When the term LGBT arises, Gender often comes hand in hand with Sexuality as Transgender is put with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual sexualities; however we must understand that Transgender is not a sexuality, it is a gender.
Identity- Identity is how we understand ourselves, it is the characteristics and qualities that make a person who they are. An identity can be affected by everything in life, especially beliefs in society, culture, politics and religion. The first aspects of identity usually form from age as age really has an impact on how we identify ourselves and other people. It would usually be said that identification of another person is a system of labelling, however self-identification is more of a journey of finding who we are. Identity is changing every day for everyone, and is very fluid due to our growing knowledge and understanding in the world. In context of my essay, I have looked into gender identity specifically, and the different ways in which we may identify ourselves other than cis-gender. Gender identity can also fluid in aspects of whether we see ourselves as more than one gender or no gender at all.
Sexuality- Also known as sexual orientation is who a person is sexually and emotionally attracted to. Sexuality is also classed as an identity and labels are used to make sexuality a lot easier to communicate to other people. Much like gender, it is known that sexuality is fluid and can change with a person, maybe because a person is trying to find who they are or has said that they want to identify in this certain way. As well as the well-known labels of sexuality such as heterosexual (straight), Bisexual (attracted to male and female genders), and Homosexual (gay and lesbian), there are other sexualities such as Asexual (No attraction to genders), Demisexual (attraction to all genders), and so on. A community linked with expression of sexuality is LGBT, who host Pride events all year round and worldwide, to show support and a general togetherness for those who identify under the umbrella.
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Blog Task 2 – Useful Quotations
-Using quotations from the short essay task for Contemporary Practice in Context.
-“It's really important that people understand that this isn't a women's right's issue and it isn't an LGBT issue, it's a human right's issue. It's about being a human who is free and able to live equally and not judged by their appearance.” Quoted by Rain Dove, 2015.
This quote by Rain Dove has helped me see how people think to issues within Androgynous fashion, but also what the people under the label think about the negativity caused by society and the media. The context of the quote tells us of Dove’s thoughts after explaining that there are not many other models that look like them, however it is not out of the ordinary and that there is more beauty in the world than what we see on billboards and advertisements for lingerie. The upcoming rise of Androgynous fashion is making the media realise that there needs to be space for this, and it needs to be more in the spotlight due to its ambiguity and positivity on society. How it is becoming less “strange” to see a female wearing men’s clothing, and males wearing women’s clothing; that people are entitled to dress and identify how they want. Rain Dove makes a statement how serious the negativity can be of those who identify differently, telling the Daily Mail that this is far bigger than rights of women and LGBT; it is a worldwide issue of humans. As we all should be entitled to our own identity, opinions, and freedom, rather than living how other people want us to live. I feel that this quote has helped me throughout my essay to look at how LGBT artists see identification as an issue. Especially artists like Grayson Perry, who I see a lot of similarity of opinion with Rain Dove; both knowing that identity is a human right’s issue, rather than just LGBT.
Lorenz, T. (2015). Androgynous female model shatters gender stereotypes. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3137793/People-assume-m-transgender-Androgynous-female-model-shatters-gender-stereotypes-poses-topless-boxer-shorts-MENSWEAR-campaign.html
-“I had a Damascene moment when I realised that the masquerade of dressing up as a woman and getting away with it, or ‘passing’, as they call it in the tranny world, was a fairly unrewarding experience. I used to come back from shopping in Oxford Street in my Monsoon outfit and think, well, nobody really gave me a second glance and that was boring.” Quoted by Grayson Perry, 2014.
Researching into Grayson Perry’s life has been a big influence for me personally, artistically, and also for when writing my short essay. I have felt as though the subjects that Perry has chosen to look into inspire the everyday, with most of his work focussing on identity; I have had an insight into both his life and the people that he chooses to base his work around. I chose this quote as I felt it summed Grayson Perry’s identity and personality up quite massively, but I was also intrigued by the terms that he had chosen too. As Perry is bright and colourful as his alter-ego Claire, it didn’t surprise me when he stated that his objective was for people to second glance him wearing his outfit of choice. However, although he found it boring, it gave me the insight that maybe people acknowledge this appearance and do not second glance anymore due to it being more known in the present day. I was very surprised that Perry used the term “tranny” due to its negativity and discrimination towards Trans people, although I have known a lot of drag acts and transvestites to use “tranny” in a humorous way to make others feel relaxed around them; and that they possibly shouldn’t take them so offensively or seriously. Which I think is why Grayson Perry uses this term, due to his outgoing humour and his drive to be bold and unique. In the quote, he also talks about the term “passing” which tends to mean when a Trans person will live the life in the gender they want and not be questioned, therefore “passing” as the gender they identify as. Grayson does not want to “pass” but show off his identity as transvestite, and wants people to look.
Hattenstone, S. (2014). Grayson Perry: ‘Just because you don’t have a dress on doesn’t stop you being a tranny’. Retrieved March 31, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/04/grayson-perry-dress-tranny-art-who-are-you-tv
-“Being a cultural producer is a lot like being a trans person, in that you can't allow the outside world to define you. You have to maintain a self-definition that isn't altered or affected by the things that other people are saying. It goes the other way, too—if you're motivated by praise from other people, what happens when the message changes? Ultimately, you have to keep on doing what you're doing and not hinge any of it on recognition.” Quoted by Zachary Drucker, 2014.
I chose this quote based solely on the context of the negativities of media on Trans people, and the way that Zachary Drucker explains this. Due to “trolls” on the internet, Drucker has become more aware of the lack of positivity towards her and others’ work on the Trans community, therefore stating that she never reads comments about herself on the internet anymore. Both negative and positive opinions can change a mind for the worse, so being yourself and doing what you want is the best that can be done. When Drucker links being a cultural producer to being a Trans woman, it could also possibly mean that other people can alter the way you think; even with identification too. Self-definition should always be the same and never be affected by the outside world. Drucker is trying to tell us that identification is all about how we label ourselves, and not how other people see us. That if other people see us in a different way to what we see ourselves, then it might influence us to be somebody different. If identity is how other people define us, then identity must be fluid. However having a clear definition for ourselves, must mean that our identity will never change.
Stranger, K. (2014). How Zachary Drucker photographs Trans people – Including herself. Retrieved April 6, 2016, from http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/how-zackary-drucker-photographs-trans-peopleandmdashincluding-herself/Content?oid=19946144
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Blog Task 3 – Annotated reference list
-Using sources from the short essay task for Contemporary Practice in Context.
-Grayson, P. (Writer & Presenter). (2014). Episode 1, 2 & 3. [Television series episode]. In J. Evans (Producer), Grayson Perry: Who Are You?. England: C4. Retrieved from http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grayson-perry-who-are-you/on-demand/55337-001
Watching Grayson Perry’s “Who Are You?” I found the whole aspect of identity very interesting. The 3 episodes of the series sees the artist Grayson Perry creating portraits for different people with different identities. He evaluates and researches the subject in an in depth way, looking at the people around them and their interests to conjure up a portrait. Perry looks into how identities are created in all different ways, and that even other people have an impact on self-identity; he also looks at how self-identities can affect people around them too. The different types of identities that are shown within the episodes, are affected with politics, age, fame, gender and religion. For example, one subject is a young Trans man, Alexander, who is still trying to find acceptance from family and friends. Due to his gender identity changing, his mother finds it hard to simply address her son with male pronouns; this is because she still sees Alexander has her daughter. As Grayson learns more about the subject, he sees a piece of artwork that can be created for a portrait, just from the time that he has spent with him. Grayson’s final piece became a statue that represented Alexander’s identity, a shirtless masculine figure with depictions linked to Peter Pan; Alexander’s childhood hero. Another example was an elderly couple suffering from the strains of Alzheimer’s disease, the woman’s husband’s memory slowly deteriorating. Grayson saw a lot of weakness and emotion in this and created a piece of pottery with cut up photographs of the couple and a demon-like creature communicating Alzheimer’s. I found this series useful to start my journey into research in identity, especially Alexander’s story of gender identification. As my essay is based entirely on gender identity, it was important to see how Grayson Perry worked and thought in situations when identity arose. My main logic to watch these videos were to look into Perry’s identity as a transvestite, however this was rarely seen because Grayson’s central objective was to look at others’ identities.
-Ernst, R. (Writer & Producer). (n.d.). Episode 101: Closets, Episode 102: Generation, Episode 103: From the Bathroom, Episode 104: Right This Way, Episode 105: And My Sisters. [Youtube videos]. This Is Me. America. Retrieved from http://rhysernst.com/portfolio/this-is-me/
A documentary series directed by Rhys Ernst, focussing on the everyday lives of Trans and GenderQueer people; with issues arising mostly of acceptance of their identity. With real people talking to each other about experiences that have happened to them that are either positive or negative to them. Issues of society, law, and media arise throughout the series based all around Trans people and their struggles every day in the world. Although all of the short videos were interesting to me, and also educated me too. I feel that the most intriguing video to me was “From the Bathroom” which shows a Trans man and woman expressing their thoughts on gender specific toilets. The toilet marked for men had only a urinal which Rocco Kayiatos explained was hard for him emotionally and physically due to the fact that he had not had the “correct equipment” (genitals) to use a urinal. It also shows how society hasn’t truly realised the need to have doors and actual toilets in public bathrooms. Although it is known that there are gender neutral bathrooms which allow all genders to use, which makes it a lot easier for society to accept and acknowledge every gender identity. Another video that I found more interesting is “Right this Way” which follows two GenderQueer people talking about pronouns and language neutral of gender. It first starts with an issue that arises when they get called “ladies” at a bar, and they have to tell the bar staff that this has made them uncomfortable and to be cautious when giving their customers pronouns. Following this, we are then told about how the LGBT community is more accepting of Gender neutral identities, and that LGBT medical centres have options on “Gender” that give Non-Cisgender people a correct box to tick. The “This Is Me” series is exceptionally useful for everyone to watch, whether knowing of these issues in life or not. The series was useful for me during my essay to acknowledge the issues of Gender identity in the present day, which has helped me with the basics of structuring my work.
-Robert, D & Siddiqui, S. (2015). Gay marriage declared legal across the US in historic supreme Court ruling. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/26/gay-marriage-legal-supreme-court
Although I have only slightly touched upon Gay marriage within my essay, as I am talking about Gender identity; I’ve took some great information from this source about society’s acceptance in America. The equality of love and marriage is shown developing over the decades, with a diagram from one state in 2007 allowing same sex marriage, to every state in America allowing in 2015; showing how far not only America but the entire world has come to help with this issue. Within the article we see a lot of positivity towards freedom of identity but also human rights, it communicates a victory in law, society and culture; acknowledging that Gay people have equal rights to everyone else. However, as the most of this source is about legalism of Gay marriage, it also tells us that it is still known for people to get fired from their job for being homosexual or having a different gender identity to Cisgender. There are only nineteen states in America that offer discrimination bans for both sexual orientation and gender identity, which in my opinion is highly unacceptable, even if Gay marriage is legal in all states. It still shows that there is work to be still done in society, and that different identities still do not have that full acceptance and acknowledgment in a positive manner. The LGBT community give the extra boost towards issues like this, as so many people now label themselves under that umbrella; there are a lot more people standing up for their rights for themselves and others. In this present day, we still have problems to face with freedom of identification due to the history of law and how people were unaware of such a diverse spectrum of gender identity and sexual orientation. However this source has helped me understand where society is with acceptance, but also how it is building bridges towards a freedom of identity.
