ARCHIVE: Femme of the Week
“Femme of the Week is a weekly segment where we’ve highlighted femmes through art and words. The segment was originally created by Abbie O’Hara and Daisy Jones for our EcoFeminist Issue. ”
Yayoi Kusama
Artwork by Hannah Smuland , words by Carson Scott
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese avant-garde artist who has a large focus in patterning through polka dots. She grew up with parents trapped in an unhappy marriage; her father would regularly cheat on her mother and Kusama’s mother would often send her on missions to spy on her father having sex with other women. This affected Kusama’s view of sex and love for the rest of her life, leaving her with an eternal disdain for sex. At a young age Kusama hallucinated dots and orbs of light, which is what largely inspires her to incorporate so many polka dots into her artwork. She also began to work at the very young age of thirteen at a factory in the midst of World War II. The war had a great effect on Kusama and led to Kusama’s belief in the importance of pursuing one’s interests instead of sitting around and being compliant with what life seems to have destined for you.
Kusama attended an art school in Japan and eventually departed for France and New York. She went to New York with fellow artist and friend Georgia O’Keeffe, who mentored Kusama through her early years as an artist. Once settled in New York, she began to build up a name and reputation for herself in the realm of avant-garde artists. She began to create installations filled with phallic shaped, polka dot ladened objects. She also used mirrors often in her work, creating a series called “Mirror/Infinity Rooms”. In addition, she broke into performance art, beginning with purposefully obnoxious happenings in public that often involved nudity in an effort to protest the Vietnam War. In another performance art piece, performers stepped into the fountains in a courtyard at the MoMA, removed their clothes, and allowed Kusama to cover them with paintings of polka dots.
Kusama eventually ended up back in Japan due to poor health and began to write many surreal novels and short stories. She became an art dealer, but it was short lived and she eventually checked herself into a mental hospital. She still resides there today by choice, but continues to collaborate with others and create new works. She did a campaign with Louis Vuitton and designed bags decorated in her signature colored polka dots. She has also taken part in the Venice Biennale multiple times, each time creating a new iconic piece of art or installation. Recently a new museum opened in Tokyo dedicated to Kusama and features many of her works. Kusama is still alive and active today, further cementing her fame and dedication to creating works of art.
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CINDY SHERMAN
Artwork by Hannah Smuland , words by Carson Scott
Cindy Sherman is a conceptual photographer who grew up in Long Island, New York. She began her work as a painter but soon found that painting had certain limitations that she did not enjoy, so she in an effort to raise above these limitations she found a interest in photography. She began to dress herself in different personas using clothing she found at thrift stores and photograph herself posing as various characters. She also turned all of her college studies towards photography and found other photographers interested in the same kind of conceptual work that she was interested at her college.
In Sherman’s work she typically plays every role; she is her own stylist, model, director, and photographer. In her first notable work, she dressed herself up as a variety of bus riders and photographed herself in these different personas. She also would dress up as old Hollywood actors and actresses and created fake movie stills with mostly unclear plots. The story for these movie stills depended on Sherman’s expressions and positioning, rather than relying on background or props. This series, called Untitled Film Stills, continued into an even longer series, where Sherman would dress up as whatever character she pleased. She then started to include more background and prop assistance and slowly began to create more elaborate scenarios. She left these photographs untitled to promote ambiguity and different translations of what scene she was portraying.
She eventually started another series called Sex Pictures, where Sherman used mannequin bodies and limbs to create slightly unsettling images with sexual undertones. While these pictures were sexual in nature, they were also grotesque and unappealing, challenging the typical role of pornography as an attractive and “sexy” form of media. These images can also be seen as a reflection on some people’s discomfort of overt and open sexuality. The images in this series are beautifully strange and tend to entice the viewer, despite their inherent unappealing nature.
Many of Sherman’s works have feminist undertones, whether they are speaking out on the sexualization on women’s bodies or highlighting the effects of domestic violence. She uses her art to support women’s rights and raise awareness for inequalities and disadvantages that women face. Sherman took her passion for photography and turned it into a way for her to express herself and the many ideas she has. She is still alive and working today, and continues to create more amazing works.
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ANGELA DAVIS
Artwork by Hannah Smuland , words by Carson Scott
Angela Davis was an American civil rights activist who fought for racial equality. She is famously associated with the Black Panther Party and also fought for women's rights. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama where she lived in a neighborhood that was bombed in an effort to drive out African American middle class citizens. Davis’ mother worked in civil rights as well with a communist party and tried to promote a healthy and close community among African American people in the South. Davis was very influenced by being raised in a communist environment and remained in association with the communist party into her adulthood. Another early influence of hers was found in girl scouts, where she truly found her interest in civil rights and activism.
She attended Brandeis University and went to grad school at UC San Diego, where she began her association with the Black Panthers. She went on to find work as a professor at UCLA but was briefly unemployed because of her alleged association with the communist party. Davis fought her dismissal in court and eventually got her former position as a professor back. Outside of her work, she fought for the freedom of three men nicknamed the Soledad Brothers who were accused of killing a prison guard. At their court session, they ended up being armed and freed and the escape attempt was soon tied to Davis, who was found to have purchased the guns used in their escape. She was sent to jail and spent 18 months there until she was eventually acquitted in 1972.
Davis eventually returned back to teaching and is now a professor at UC Santa Cruz. She also turned to writing, her most popular book being Women, Race, and Class. She also spent time visiting different places and lecturing on her beliefs and findings. She incorporates her time spent in prison and her beliefs on race, gender, and class into her lectures and writings. She has become one of the most iconic speakers on the need for social change and will forever be remembered for her fight for equality.
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FRIDA KAHLO
Artwork by Hannah Smuland , words by Carson Scott
Frida Kahlo is an artist from Mexico who is known for her self-reflective portraits and surreal paintings. She grew up in a very stiff family; her mother was serious and highly religious and her parents did not really love each other. At a young age Kahlo contracted polio and was left with a leg that was significantly smaller and thinner than the other, leaving her with a lasting disability. This ailment also kept her home for long stretches of time, which left her estranged and bullied by classroom peers, but caused her to become closer with her father. Her father nurtured her creativity and encouraged her to explore education and art. Kahlo started school later in her life and went in and out of many schools. During her schooling she lied about her age, stating that she was born on the year that the Mexican Revolution began.
Kahlo’s school career was going in a promising direction, but when she was eighteen she was involved in a bus accident that left her with near fatal injuries. She was left bedridden for three entire months, stuck immobile in a plaster corset. She passed the time by painting, the main subject of her artworks being herself. A couple of years after her time spent bedridden, she met Diego Rivera, another renowned painter, and they soon wed, despite her knowledge that he was known for flirting with many women and had a history of being unfaithful. They lived in separate houses and both had many reported infidelities, and even divorced once, just to get remarried the next year.
Kahlo is viewed as an icon and main figure in female artistic history. She was struck with may illnesses throughout her career, both physical and mental, but still tried her best to power through and continue to create art. She also was outspoken and openly discussed her sexual interest in women, which was a very taboo topic for her time and culture. She expressed her independence fully and worked to embrace herself for who she was, for better or for worse. Her works explored her mind and thoughts fully, which gave a unique view into her mind and inner workings of the brain.
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Marsha P. Johnson
Artwork by Hannah Smuland, words by Carson Scott
Marsha P. Johnson was a transgender woman who is known for fighting for the rights of gay and transgender people. She grew up in New Jersey, where she was raised in a religious family. She found interest in wearing dresses and skirts as young as the age of four, but stopped wearing them for awhile due to pressure from her family and neighborhood bullies. Her parents were not accepting of her identifying as queer. Her mother even stated that she believed people who were not heterosexual were less than dogs. Eventually, Johnson ran away from her abusive household with nothing but $15 and a bag of clothes.
Johnson ended up in New York City, where she worked as a drag queen, originally calling herself Black Marsha. She later changed it to Marsha P. Johnson, claiming that the “P” stood for “pay it no mind.” She would say this as a response to people asking her what her gender was. Johnson quickly made a name for herself in New York City and is credited as being one of the key people affiliated with the Stonewall Uprising. She also tried to join the Gay Liberation Front in a protest for LGBT+ rights, but was not allowed to join because of her status as a drag queen, which was thought of as an embarrassment to the community at the time. Johnson showed up to the protest anyways, marching in the front, demanding rights for her and the people around her.
Johnson also started the first shelter for LGBT+ teens and adults called the STAR house. Here she worked as a sex worker alongside many other people to keep the house up and running. She was the “drag mother” of the house and was the main provider for everybody who stayed there. The house did not stay in operation for a very large amount of time, but it became a model for future shelters that were soon to come. Johnson’s involvement with sex work left her in a lot of trouble with the police, which did not help with her poor mental health. She was never formally diagnosed, but it was suspected that Johnson may have had a split personality. She fought her best to overcome this issue, but it sometimes left her in a violent outrage, unexpectedly lashing out on others who may be around her.
Johnson’s death is still a mystery, but it is believed to have been a suicide. She was found floating in the Hudson River with a large gash in the back of her head. The presence of this gash has Johnson’s friends and family convinced that her death was more than a suicide, but it has never been explicitly proven. She is remembered as being a pioneer for trans rights and a woman who fought to help others like her have a better life than she had to live.
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton
words by Carson Scott
Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a major figure and advocate for women’s rights in the early nineteenth century. Stanton was born and raised in New York and was a part of a large family. She was the eighth of eleven children, but five of her siblings died when they were very young. Stanton’s mother was left in a deep depression due to the loss of so many of her children, leaving a motherly gap in Stanton’s life. Her father worked in law, which is one of the main early influencers in her life towards a career of fighting for women’s rights. Her father had many books about law that she would read, sparking her interest in politics from a young age. Her study of her father’s books is also drew her attention to the fact that the laws were majorly in the favor of men, leaving many rights for women largely disregarded or nonexistent. Her father was often busy with his work, leaving more time for Standen to immerse herself in law and rights.
Stanton is largely credited for starting the original women’s rights movement in the United States. She was also an abolitionist in tandem with her husband on top of fighting for women’s rights. She stood out because she fought for more than just the right to vote; she also fought for better women’s rights in topics such as divorce, parental rights, birth control, among other areas that were regularly ignored. She also did not support an amendment that was up to be passed that only gave new rights to African American men, ignoring African American women. This caused a rift in the women’s rights movement, because some women still opposed giving rights to African American people. She also regularly wrote and published books and articles about her stance on women’s rights.
Stanton is an outstanding woman in history because she is one of the mothers of feminism and fought for the rights that women have today. She not only fought for women’s rights, but also fought for equal rights for African American people. She demanded equality for all and did not just fight for the rights of her demographic only, which many other women of her time were doing. She fought for what she believed was right and just, not allowing the popular beliefs of the time to dictate her opinions.
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Amelia Earhart
words by Carson Scott
Amelia Earhart was a renowned aviator who is famed for her role as one of the first major female figures in plane flight and for mysteriously disappearing, still remaining unfound to this day. She grew up in Kansas, where she spent a large part of her childhood playing outside. Her mother did not have a focus on raising girls the traditional way and did not particularly enforce the typical roles of a “proper” girl, allowing Earhart to play and dress how she pleased. This is probably where Amelia, nicknamed Millie, got her roots of overcoming the boundaries in which women were placed. As a child she saw her first plane, and ironically found it boring and unremarkable. As she grew older, her idyllic childhood was interrupted and she realized that her father was an alcoholic, losing his job as a result. This prompted a move to Chicago, where Earhart was unhappy. It is here where she finished high school and started her life as an adult.
As a college student, she started to become interested in aviation and saved up $1000 for flight lessons. She immediately fell in love and fell deeply into the role of a typical pilot, cropping her hair short and even making slight changes in her style to look more the part. She became the sixteenth woman in the United States to be issued a pilot's license. She also slowly started to gain celebrity status, and was even seen as a sort of fashion icon. With celebrity endorsements and association with Cosmopolitan, she gained attention towards aviation and became known as the “Queen of the Air.”
She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic ocean on her own, earning her the United States Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1937, she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared in an attempt to circumnavigate the United States. There are several radio signals that were picked up from her on this flight, but they were fairly unclear and jumbles, not giving much help to the search. There are many theories revolving around her disappearance, but sadly none have been confirmed, and what happened to her still remains a mystery.
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DIANE ARBUS
words by Carson Scott
Diane Arbus is an American photographer who was active in the mid 1940s to the early 70s. Arbus was raised in a relatively wealthy family and therefore had a comfortable childhood. Her father was constantly at work and her mother struggled with depression, leaving Arbus in the care of maids and siblings. She married her highschool sweetheart and had two children with him, eventually divorcing but remaining on good terms. During their marriage, they ran a photography business together where Diane typically art directed and her husband took the photographs. She also had an ongoing relationship with painter Marvin Israel, but he was married the entire time and refused to get a divorce.
Arbus’ photography is known for paying attention to more unexpected subjects. Instead of going out of her way to photograph beautiful models in lavish clothing, she sought after people who tended to be alienate from fine art. She worked with people with disabilities, people who were transgender, people who worked in the carnival, and other characters such as those. She also deviated the norm by producing photographs that were slightly unsettling, rather than creating images that were pleasant and happily received by the viewer. She challenged what was socially accepted as a suitable model and presented people as subjects who were not typically represented.
Arbus continually struggled with depression as her mother did, and occasionally experienced intense depressive episodes. During one of these episodes, Arbus took her own life, dying at the age of 48. Her artistic assets were left with her eldest child and she ended up with a memorial gallery in the Venice Biennale and in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She was remembered as an artist who pushed boundaries and created a platform for subjects that were not typically represented. Her work lives on today and is admired for its originality and personality.
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Grace Jones
words by Carson Scott
Grace Jones is a Jamaican fashion and music icon from Syracuse, New York. She grew up with religious parents, who eventually left her living with her abusive grandparents. Her grandfather, who had recently gotten married to her grandmother, was exceptionally abusive and hated by Jones. Her grandparents were also highly religious and sent Jones to a Pentecostal school, where she struggled to make friends. Even once she started to attend a regular public high school, she still had trouble making true connections with her peers. She eventually returned to living with her parents and went on to go to community college in Syracuse. She went on a summer trip to Philadelphia and eventually fell into the counterculture of the sixties and began to experiment with drugs, alcohol, and partied at gay bars much to her parents disapproval.
She moved back to New York at the age of eighteen and then to Paris, soon falling into the major modeling world. Casting directors loved her deep skin and androgynous look and before she knew it, Jones was modeling for huge fashion brands and making the cover of Vogue. Jones eventually transitioned into creating music as well. Her album Nightclubbing gained a lot of attention, making it to the top 5 charts of four different countries. She also dabbled in acting, placing roles in about twenty different films.
Grace Jones is a leading example of experimental beauty, fashion, and music. Her take on life is one of freedom; she lives in a manner that is pleasing to her and does not conform to any set standard. She has worked with countless world renowned artists and designers to create unique works of art, whether it be visual or auditory. She also often appeared in the gay nightclub scene with friend Andy Warhol, creating a name for herself in the queer community and making a place for herself in the grand history of art, music, and fashion.
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Kathleen Hanna
Digital art by Brenna Fox, words by Carson Scott
Kathleen Hanna is a singer/songwriter who is known for starting the 90s feminist movement riot grrrl. She was born and mostly grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she stayed until she graduated high school. She then moved to Olympia, Washington for college, where she became increasingly interested in feminism. During this time, she also started creating zines, which are small handmade magazines that often feature original art and personal messages. Zines became a big part of Hanna's identity and were instrumental in spreading her feminist message.
In the late 80s, Hanna started a band with some friends in Washington called Bikini Kill. This band broke into the male-dominated Washington punk scene with an exceptionally strong force and quickly made a name for themselves. Hanna was known for encouraging girls to come to the front of her shows, creating a safe space for women and minimizing male hecklers. She also embraced a rebellious, "I don't care" demeanor, often performing in minimal clothing with provocative slogans like "I'm a slut" written on her body. Soon, Hanna began collaborating with other bands such as Joan Jett and Bratmobile in efforts to promote feminism and gender equality.
Hanna went on to create two more bands: Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. Le Tigre maintained the punk feminist spirit but incorporated electronic elements. The band was successful but went on hiatus due to Hanna's health issues. It was later discovered that she had been suffering from Lyme disease; as of today, she is officially Lyme-free. The Julie Ruin, a continuation of a solo project she started in the late 90s, is still active and released its latest album in 2016. Hanna’s story and influence are also captured in the documentary The Punk Singer, which explores her role in the riot grrrl movement.
Hanna is celebrated for her disregard of societal expectations and her promotion of self-acceptance. She built a platform for women and people of all kinds, advocating for acceptance regardless of gender, race, sexuality, or personal expression. A strong supporter of Planned Parenthood, she often speaks about how the organization supported her when she had little to give in return. Overall, she is a fearless advocate who stands firmly for her beliefs and continues to fight for equality.