f r o m t h e e d i t o r
&
politics and artistic expression
I’ m grateful 2016 is coming to an end. It was a year filled with challenges both personally and politically. There is a part of me that feels like everyone should revisit the feminist perspective of Judy Chicago’ s The Dinner Party. In fact, I think most of us could stand to have a powerful feminist perspective permeate our lives. For me, I feel like the acknowledgement of women in history is still spoken about in feminist circles but neither taught nor acknowledged as mainstream. And, even when a movie such as Hidden Figures emerges that sheds light on amazing women in recent history, I wonder how many men and boys will see the movie in comparison to women and girls.
Is the word“ feminist” still a dirty word? Is it still synonymous with“ man hating” or an excuse to blame societal failures on a woman’ s“ failure” to uphold her“ responsibility and duty” to the household? Are men allowed to idolize women the way women permitted to idolize men?
I recently finished watching a series on Amazon called Good Girls Revolt. The series offers personal insight to womanhood in the 1970s and is based on the gender-based workplace-discrimination lawsuit filed by women working at Newsweek magazine. The women who filed the suit were paid less, relegated to titles such as researchers, weren’ t allowed to write articles and so on. I think the necessity of art and political expression is that it creates space where we can discuss relevant issues. And that’ s what leads me to censorship or, in the case of Good Girls Revolt, a cancelation.
The successful season was canceled. Dana Calvo, the creator of the show, publicly said that no women were involved in the decision. How many other decisions about women have been made that don’ t include women in the decision-making process?
Why is empowerment and equality so scary? Why is educating women so scary? Why is shared responsibility of households so scary? When will trailblazing women be met with the same reverence that we offer men who achieve greatness? Why aren’ t more women at the table when decisions are made.
The Dinner Party had women at the table. We need more women at the table. We need to acknowledge more women who have achieve, women who have fought for equality in the workplace, education, the right to drive, to vote, to run for political office, to have the ability to have solo art exhibits that are sold out.
I want to see and hear about more women achieving in 2017. I want to see more emerging women in the arts. I want to hear about more women artists selling pieces at higher prices. I want to hear about more solo art shows for women.
I encourage everyone to contact us about their art shows or about art shows worth attending around the globe. It’ s through visibility and discussion that we can influence the dialogue surrounding women, the arts, our value, and so on.
If women aren’ t at the table, let us all do our part by extending invitations to women.
Let’ s make 2017 phenomenal like the phenomenal women that we are and hope to be.
LMarelli
Liesl Marelli Editor-in-Chief page 7
ART women