I love museums. I
often equate a trip to the museum with memories of my childhood, when on a
boring summer day my mom, grandmother, camp counselor, or whoever had the task
of looking after me would bring me down to the city for an educational
adventure. That’s why when my college
English teacher announced the assignment to attend the campus art museum and
write a blog post about it, I was extremely excited. When I visited the Palmer Museum of Art this
past weekend there were lots of beautiful pieces that I was inclined to write
about, but one in particular caught my eye.
Its name was “Affirmative Action” by Jerry Kearns, painted in 1943. It depicts a woman at work, slamming a hammer
down on what looks to be some form of rock.
Her facial expression is aggressive and strong, as is her stance. The noteworthy aspect of this piece is that she
isn’t in clothes that you would expect for such a task, she’s wearing a dress
and high heels. Why, you ask? Well that’s what I was wondering too. First I stepped back and tried to analyze
what the message of the piece was, paying special attention to the time period
it was painted in. During the 1940’s,
America was at war. WWII had just begun,
and men all over the country abandoned their lives to join the armed forces.
This meant that there were a lot of jobs, and not enough men to do them. At this time there were also a lot of
factories being created for weaponry and support of the war, and there were
even fewer men to work there. This was
when America turned to the women. Although
for centuries women were looked at as nothing more than child-bearers and
keepers of the household, there was a growing need for workers and women were
our only hope. No one expected that this
would be a permanent change; everyone just assumed that after the war men would
come back and take their old posts. As
you may have realized, that was not the case.
This struck a revolution for women, eventually leading to a fair society
in which we have just as many rights to work as men do. The most important icon for the “working
woman” at this time was “Rosie the Riveter”; she appeared on countless ads and propaganda
prompting women to support the war by going to work. She was “the ideal woman worker: loyal,
efficient, patriotic, and pretty”(Women at Work). This painting makes me think of her. The woman in the painting could be fighting
society, using her hammer to break away the foundation of societal views that
were holding her and her gender back. It
could also simply be reminiscent of the working woman of the age: working hard
to support her country, but also holding true to her femininity by dressing as
she was expected to. Now, I don’t know how many people reading this
have actually worn heels, but let me tell you that it is no easy task, and for
a woman to be doing manual labor in shoes like this is extremely impressive and
out of the ordinary. This piece
obviously is very powerful, no matter which way you choose to interpret
it. Personally, it reminds me of my mom,
my strongest role model. A single mother
supporting three kids, working non-stop to provide for her family, make sure
there’s enough food on the table, and put me through college. She is driven, hard-working, and does all of
these incredible things in her classic 4 inch heels. Although I doubt it was the author’s
intention to make me think of my mother, especially since she was born 20 years
after the making of this painting, I do think he successfully commented on our
gender as a whole, showing the strength and courage of women of his time, and
ours. I did some research on Mr. Kearns
and found that he has done a lot of “modernist” paintings that comment on
society and represent a political view.
Although before my trip to the Palmer I was unfamiliar with his work, I
can now say that I am a fan and will be looking for more. What do you think about his work?
Works Cited
"Women At Work." 1940's.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 9
Sept. 2012. <http://1940s.org/history/on-thehomefront/women-at-work/>.
Week 1:
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job defining where this piece lands in society today! Also I agree with your view that Kearns made the women timelessly strong, sturdy and independent. Throughout much of my schooling in history classes we see glimpses of strength of women and finally in the 1940’s we got put on ads not as housewives or “family” centralized but as hardworking contributors to society when our country needed us most. Today women may legally have equal rights to men, but there are still some people in the world that have a firm belief for the woman to stay in the kitchen and it is paintings like these and moments in history that need to be re-emphasized to convince them that maybe their view is slightly skewed. You gave a very nice historical background behind your painting and you spent much of your blog focusing on how people today would perceive the piece, that sections is very clear and defined. But the question that pops into my mind is “What would people have thought about this painting during the era it was created? Would the message of this painting be translated differently?” Today that woman represents the strength and the independence of women. “We can do it all” that’s the phrase that comes to mind, however I feel as though women in that era would have found a different message. The women of the 1940’s just began their search and exploration of the working field when the men went to war, the time period was full of these images of “strong women”. But no one ever seems to mention that when all the men came back from the war they wanted their jobs back and women went back to being the housewife or the “Betty Crocker” of their home. Thus began the first glimpse of the Women’s Rights Movement that would continue throughout the 20th Century. So I feel that this image of the strong woman in heels during that era would be perceived as either and inspiration “call to arms” for women or just another reminder that women although they now contribute to society are still trapped behind this stained perception within society. That’s the part that intrigues me most! You picked a great piece of art to analyze and you analyzed it well! Sorry if I wrote too much I tend to babble! But it’s because you wrote an interesting post :D so that’s a compliment to you! Keep it up!
I love this picture! I think this picture does a great job in showing that woman can be beautiful and do just as much as men (sometimes even better)! During the era this image is portraying I’m sure this image would have been looked down upon, but we're in new and better times now; this picture definitely shows the change!
ReplyDeleteThis is my second favorite picture at the Palmer Museum. I love everything it stands for! It's basically saying that women are strong, beautiful, and are capable of doing any job a man can. When I saw this picture, I also thought of my mother because she is a strong, hardworking woman. Great post on this impactful piece of art!
ReplyDelete