Miwa Yanagi’s Art & Denise Chavez’s Novel

Last week, I had the pleasure of reading through Denise Chavez’s Novel, “Loving Pedro Infante” and attending a lecture at the MFAH that discussed Miwa Yanagi’s insightful art. What a week! I was catapulted into a world of reality, where women all too often make men the center of their world (as is the case with Tere, the main character in Chavez’s novel) or try to become what society mandates, thus losing indiviuality and natural beauty.

In Miwa Yanagi’s Elevator Girls, all the girls look the same. They are all beautifully polished, and look almost fake. the image makes me think of the increased popularity of plastic surgery among women. Society is constantly praising a certain look and all the meanwhile, women are beginning to conform more and more. I wonder, will everyone look like elevator girls in a few more years?

In Denise Chavez’s novel, Tere, the main character is obssessed with Pedro Infante and old cinema. She preoccupies herself by fantasizing about novela-like romances, until she finally gets one in real life. She becomes a mistress to a man who fits the role that Pedro Infante played so many times. He is unloyal and aloof. Reading the novel made me realize that novelas, love stories, movies, all seem to dictate what a woman should look for in a romance. Similar to plastic surgery, these fantasies, for lack of a better word, have affected women’s thoughts and behaviors, deeming it unacceptable to engage in a relationship that does not resemble the ones seen on the silver screen.

It saddens me to think that this is the future women have to look forward to. Carrbon copy bodies, faces, and romances.

LG

Accepting or negotiating time?

When we address the diverse issues of feminine beauty, wow are we in for a long haul… On the Monday night panel, discussion over the art of Miwa Yanagi 3 different photograph series was overall very interesting. Each panelist was interpreting and adding their own views about her art and women beauty. Everyone seemed to love the series of ‘my grandmothers’ and with great reason; each photograph presents a different issue of life to all women. To ask your subjects, to imagine their life in the future, wow! The strong one that is memorable: Yuka. She is a very adventurous old lady, she rides with her way younger man, her red hair in the wind, and have just a blast! Who would think of an old lady, a grandmother to be this active and full of life and control?

We need to really wake up and get past the young and thin beauty that Hollywood and the media keep pronouncing every day. From the image of the commercialize feminine beauty the great majority of women idolize being young, being thin, and just you typical flirty ‘kind of gal’. It is true what the one panelist said, that by conforming to the proverbial image of perfection of beauty, then society will praise the effort and accomplishment in being ‘beautiful’.

The one concept that really caught my attention, not only because it was the last presentation, but because it was about Japanese not conforming to what society expects of all women. Japanese women are to be mothers, produce more beings to keep the economy going. But instead they are ‘Parasites’ who are single women who choose not to marry or have kids. These single women do splurge on whatever they want for themselves, so in turn they are considered ‘selfish’. Being selfish is not a very bad term; they can accept who they are for themselves. Does not sound like a bad philosophy at all to me. Maybe someday we will have more minds for women to be selfish and not conform to what society desires. Aging is a natural process for all humans, but for women is a process that most will dread. But someday, with hope some may embrace and enjoy the wisdom of life that comes with aging.

-RA

making our bodies desirable

Today we were talking about plastic surgery. It seems like most everybody thinks it is ok, if done in moderation. One thing that came up was breast jobs – last time I had a mammogram they asked me if I had an implant. I was surprised (I said I didn’t).

The art of John Currin was profiled in last week’s New Yorker. One of the images reminded me so much of our discussions about the body and the knife. The artist titled it “The Bra Shop” – I call this painting – the exaggerated boob job. MTH