I consider myself pretty liberal and open-minded but it still surprises me what some would consider art these days.
Two days ago, I attended a private banking function hosted by RBC at the Vancouver Art Gallery and was held hostage by the large collection of feminism art. Mind you, these are pretty sensitive if not offensive materials if you do not have the appetite for it. Nudity, lots of it, but not in any sense pretty. Maybe it is just me, but I seriously tried to comprehend some of these pieces, including a room build with mattresses with some clips inside, but while the bouncing around seemed fun, the art failed to form a connection with me.
This afternoon, during a lunch with some of my colleagues, we were contemplating how we were born 20-40 years too late. Back in the days, women had a less substantial role in society and men were the beneficiary. By strengthening women’s status, conflicts were created and their independence from men also dissolved many of the traditional family values that were instilled since young. Then divorces climbed and violence increased. People have less and less tolerance for differences and less and less patience to develop manners.
Don’t get me wrong, I have always been a supporter of feminism, at least till it shifted away from the struggle for equality to the battle for power with men. Maybe in many parts of the world, women are still far from equal with men, but let’s face it, we are of different genders and sex, we are meant to be different.
Equality is an ideal that works on paper and in theory but fail in reality. Feminism is not even an ideal, it is just an excuse. Be it for art or priveleges.
1 comment:
(1) if anything, I think feminism is not as extreme as the bra-burning days anymore...so your opinion is a decade too late, not to say that there isn't anymore extremist among the bunch of feminists...but they are certainly not representatives or the norm.
(2) there are many different kinds of art, some are to be looked at at varying angles, some are just to be experienced, and some have more meaning to the creator than the onlooker. You might just find out more about the underlying concept (there is always one) if you talk to the creator.
(3) I do not think it is the feminist movement that dissolved traditional family values, as you had said. You have to consider the many changed in the past 20-30 years. All the lifestyle changes worked together to create a smaller family unit, which is now more independent from the community than ever before, and a focus on the short-term with the right-here, right-now attitude. It can be hardly attributed to simply feminism (certainly it contributed though). Bottom line is, before you chose feminism as the scapegoat for the decline of traditional family values, you need to open your minds to all the other factors, which I'm sure explains this decline better...
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