The eighties were a rad time of pushing all sorts of boundaries, in fashion, music, film, television, and so much more. This period of change also included challenging standards of women’s etiquette and advocating for women’s rights, as did feminist movements before, but it also built upon the goals and successes of the past, and went beyond them. From normalizing female sexuality to addressing workplace harassment, the eighties were a time of significant progress in revolutionizing antiquated ideas of femininity and expectations of women.
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The 80's was a time of great change and variety in music and fashion. Female musical icons such as Joan Jett and Annie Lennox were key figures in challenging standards of femininity and seizing power through music. These rockers not only contributed to a musical revolution, but they also provided a model for genuine self expression that many women in the 80s followed, ditching modest, reserved hairstyles and clothing for bright colors, eye catching patterns, and new, daring silhouettes and materials. The iconic, zany styles of the decade is evidence of the destruction of prior norms of delicate, reserved femininity. This idea of self expression carried over to all following eras of feminism.
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A large part of feminism in the eighties was acknowledging and destigmatizing concepts of female sexuality. While the seventies and sixties had somewhat normalized the fact that women can and do enjoy sex, the eighties gave rise to the idea that women can enjoy sex and pleasure in different ways (ways that were previously entirely male-oriented)- such as masturbation and porn.
In 1983, Cyndi Lauper released "She Bop," a song almost entirely about female masturbation and sexuality. This song was the anthem of this part of the feminist movement, as it and its video presented female sexuality and masturbation as an entirely natural thing, one that shouldn't be so stigmatized (or at least not be considered more taboo than male equivalents). |
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Judy Chicago is perhaps one of the most iconic feminist artists of the later twentieth century. Still active today, Chicago has spent much of her career tackling various feminist issues through her works.
One of her most prominent projects of the 1980's was the Birth Project. The Birth Project was a response to what she saw as a lack of birth-related iconography in western art. In response to this absence, she created a series of works portraying birth and emphasizing women's power of creation. Around the same time, she also created a series of individual works that would become PowerPlay. These pieces (of mediums varying from drawings and paintings, to weavings, to bronze reliefs) addressed masculinity as a construct through a feminist lens, and how definitions of power and powerlessness impacted society. You can learn more about Judy Chicago on her website: http://www.judychicago.com |
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Another iconic feminist artist active during the 80's was Barbara Kruger. Strongly influenced by a background in graphic design, Kruger's works often presented feminist ideas and criticized societal norms through her characteristic style.
Most of her pieces addressed feminist issues, such as sex and gender stereotypes, power, and concepts of submissive femininity. Her works (feminist, and those related to other issues) typically consisted of dramatic, close up images underneath bold, clashing text. The text often took a satirical approach, particularly in her political pieces, often mocking those she was calling out. However, in many of her feminist pieces, the text was moreso a sincere portrayal of the inequality faced by women. |
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Cindy Sherman is one of the most well-known photographers of the twentieth century. Using herself as a model, Sherman used photography as a way of conveying her feminist ideals and tackle issues relating to women's roles and representation in society.
For most of her projects, Sherman herself would be the model. However, she wasn't taking self portraits. Instead, she photographed herself in various costumes and settings, taking on false roles to emphasize sexist standards and stereotypes about women. In order to really convey that these images were fake, like the concepts they were based upon, most of them were labeled "Untitled", and numbered, to depersonalize the works from Sherman herself, and to show that those concepts do not represent real women. |
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Perhaps the most notable contributions to the feminist art world of the eighties are those of the women's art collective and activist group the Guerrilla Girls. The Guerrilla Girls are an anonymous group of self-described "feminist activist artists," who use their art to make statements about feminist issues, particularly in the art world.
In their mission statement, they describe the methods and intentions of their works. "We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. We undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders." You can learn more about the Guerrilla Girls on their website: https://www.guerrillagirls.com |
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TThe UMD Special Collections at Hornbake Library provided a myriad of documents from campus during the 80's. Among these documents is a flyer advertising events on campus to celebrate International Women's Day.
The paragraph addresses the purpose of the events: to honor the actions and successes of feminists of the past, and to protest and demand further change in the present. They call out issues of economic inequality, the objectification and sexualization of women, and reproductive rights. The flyer also contains a list of demands for change at the University. Many of these demands relate to increasing and broadening healthcare opportunities for people on campus. Others include calling for the creation of a Women's Studies program, and for a Day Care Center for the children of those working and studying on campus. Their final request is simply for "an end to discrimination against women by the University." The events listed to celebrate International Women's Day differ in their purpose. The first was a rally, which was intended to both celebrate womanhood, and to protest for the demands listed on the poster. The second was a rock concert, also in appreciation of women. The last was speaker Linda Jenezs discussing revolutionary feminism, to inform and inspire women to take further action. Clearly these events had some impact on life at University of Maryland, as many of the demands listed are things that exist/are available on campus today (for example, there is now a Women's Studies program available). International Women's Day is still celebrated at UMD, and is still a feminist event. For more information on IWD at UMD, see the 90's. |