The Damsel in Distress is a classic media trope that has been consistently present in books, films, and advertisements since its origin, which can be traced back to the medieval era. The term evolved from the French phrase demoiselle en détresse, and alludes to the medieval power structure that considered the protection of women as…
Ms. magazine was founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes. Following an extremely successful first year of publication, Ms. Magazine spread its first holiday issue in December 1972. The Australian Women’s history Network writes, “In seeking to maintain its secular feminist perspective while cultivating a religiously respectful tone, the December 1972 cover by Brazilian designer Bea…
Sonia Delaunay was originally born under the name Sarah Stern on November 14, 1885 in Odessa, Ukraine. She was one of three children in an underprivileged family, so her mother chose to send her to live with her affluent Jewish uncle in St. Petersburg, Russia. Her uncle, Henri Turk, was a well-known lawyer that could…
Project 3: Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum? The 1989 piece titled “Do Women Have To Be Naked To Get Into the Met. Museum?” addresses the sexualization of women’s bodies in highly regarded paintings and artwork, and how ironically, “85% of the nudes are female” in The…
Charm Magazine was another important marker in Cipe Pineles Career. This was a collaboration between she and Helen Valentine under Street & Smith Publication. After successfully creating Seventeen Magazine they realized yet again that there was an “issue” with the female magazine industry. Adult women that were being represented in magazines, were not accurate to…
Pineles work with Seventeen Magazine was only just a part of the Continuum that was her editorial career. She and an old friend from her time at Vogue magazine, Helen Valentine, decided that there was a market for teen girls to buy magazines. Not only was there a market for it, but there was a…
Project 2: The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist This poster created by the Guerrilla Girls uses a list to highlight how women are excluded from art history lessons, textbooks, museum collections, and more institutions in the field of art. Their 1988 poster “The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist” lists thirteen “advantages”…
Project 1: Dearest Art Collector “Dearest Art Collector” is one of the Guerrilla Girls earliest pieces, created in 1986. Many copies exist in museums today – the medium used to create the copy of the poster I viewed was screen print on paper owned by the Tate art collection. The composition was…
Guerrilla Girls: “Conscience of the Art World” The year was 1985. 14 years earlier, writer Linda Nochlin published the feminist essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”, a piece of writing which blamed the society, education system, and art world for women’s inability to reach the same artistic notoriety…