Thursday, 30 March 2017

Introducing the theme

What do you consider to be the issues of Gender and/or Identity in Contemporary Art and Illustration, and how do artists and illustrators investigate these?
I decided to investigate the theme of ‘Gender and Identity’ because I believe these are big issues and very relevant in society today. I believe that ‘Gender’ refers to being a male or a female, considering social, cultural and biological differences. The differences between male and female are usually encouraged from an early age although today we understand the term more broadly, looking at a range of identities which do not correspond to the established ideas of male and female.I understand that ‘Identity’ refers to who or what a person or thing is. I would usually look at the characteristics which determine who or what a person or thing is. Both females and males have obvious characteristics. Some people see identity as a social construction of the self, and I know the western world assumes that we have a true self, we possess an identity that become known to us, it’s expressed through forms of representation and its recognisable by ourselves and other people. There are definitely still gender stereotypes and women are seen to be more sensitive and men more dominant. Stereotypes are a big issue in society and I will discuss these and how artists investigate these throughout this essay. ‘Feminism’ is also a topic I plan to discuss throughout this essay, looking at political movements and social groups who share a common goal. They wish to achieve social, political and economic rights for women and I think it’s important that women establish equal opportunities, especially in education and employment. Some of my favourite pieces of art are based around the idea of gender, identity or feminism and I will definitely find it interesting researching and learning about how artists investigate these issues. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about these topics in the recent lecture and I’m looking forward to developing my understanding through the essay.

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