I saw this article shared by Jayme Kilburn, Artistic Director of the Strand Theater about the prejudices that female playwrights receive & how those prejudices negatively affect theatres."...reveals that women tend to write plays about women, but plays featuring female protagonists are produced less often than those starring men. And, while the proportion of scripts that get produced is fairly equal between men and women, the total number of productions is inequitable since fewer women write plays (one informal study of nonprofit theaters by the playwright Julia Jordan found that 17 percent of their plays were written by women). One way women have compensated for writing female stories is to write fewer roles, which make their plays accessible to more theaters."
So this quote got me thinking... do we as women artists apologize for what is in between our legs?
I had an experience recently working with two male graphic designers. The initial poster proof had a really interesting design, but at the bottom of the poster was this image of a sweaty belly. My initial reaction was that looked like the belly of some slut. Sure that sounds a little harsh, but I got the image of the girls I used to see out at bars getting trashed and going home with the hottest guy that hit on them that night. She was too skinny, her bones poking out, basically an "ideal" men's fantasy. She was not a real woman to me.
I took objection, saying I loved the design, but had an issue with the belly element. It could be interpreted that I didn't like the belly b/c it was too skinny, but what it really is for me is that I don't want women to be looked at like just a place to make a deposit. It isn't just about what is in between our legs. A woman's sexuality & sensuality starts with the mind & works its way down. I had to remind myself that it was okay for me to have this opinion. As women we are taught by society to apologize for how we feel about something, just go with the flow for fear of being the "crazy bitch".
My art helps me to stop apologizing for what lies between my legs & fully embrace my point of view as a young female.
Btw, the graphic designers I was working with were completely awesome about altering the element. The picture for this post is the end result. I feel it's sexy, sensual & doesn't objectify me as a female, but embraces female sexuality as something powerful.
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