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INFLUENCER ANALYSIS
How Rainer and Finley's Work is Relevant to My Own
Both Yvonne Rainer and Karen Finley were feminist artists, although they approached their work quite differently. Rainer was conscious of her male audience and used her work to challenge their ingrained thoughts and feelings on femininity. Finley was more blunt in her approach of addressing the male audience. She used shock and obscenity to force audiences to consider their positions of privilege. This extended to female audience members as well, which encouraged them to investigate the intersectionality of their feminism.
This page will explore how the work of these two women has influenced my work as a feminist artist. It will look into the elements of their work that has raised questions for me in my research.
FEMININITY AND THE PERFORMING BODY
In much of her cinematic work Rainer focused on the female form and the male gaze. The concept of the male gaze was introduced by Laura Mulvey in her 1975 essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. The idea of the male gaze centres on an inherent sexualisation of women. As female artists, she suggests, we must consider the implications of the male gaze. The male gaze has the power to undermine the significance of feminist work. Some specific works where artists in film and performance art sought to avoid the male gaze include Rainer’s Trio A and Film About a Woman Who...
Here we can see that Rainer’s intention was to negate the male gaze by forcing an air of uncomfortability in the scene. Despite the fact that the woman was being undressed, there was nothing sexual about it. This was done on purpose. I believe that in feminist work it is important to humanise women to the male demographic. Rainer worked to counter the effects of the male gaze by playing carefully with how women were framed in her works. The deprivation of pleasure is an effective method to contradict the male gaze. There is no satisfaction for them and thus they are forced to broaden their view of the purpose of naked women; they do not exist solely for their pleasure.
Finley approached the female body in a similar method. She would often present herself in such a way that would be considered “undesirable” despite being naked. She explored the ageing female body, continuing to perform and create art in various forms to this day. The ageing body has often been a point of interest in feminist art, as society has led women to believe they are of worth based on their desirability. They imply that an infertile woman is undesirable. Rainer tackles this in her cinematic work Privilege. This film follows a woman in the throes of menopause. The woman and her similarly-aged friends experience love and heartbreak, highlighting the full and colourful life that these people are still able to experience. Rainer made a point to interview women from many different walks of life for this film, specifically Black and Latina women. She recognised her privilege as a white woman and used her platform to give awareness to marginalised voices.
"I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS UNTIL PEOPLE STOP ASKING ME WHETHER OR NOT I'M A FEMINIST"
-FINLEY 1987
I am interested in how I can take these concepts and carry them through to the choreographic work that I am currently rehearsing. The theme for the upcoming work is body image. I am specifically interested in the ways that women are taught by a patriarchal society that their bodies are never good enough. I am inspired by the body positivity movement and my own work as a pilates instructor. I want this work to be a celebration of the female form. However, with some of the considerations presented in works from Rainer and Finley, I am aware of some of the issues that may arise from the subject matter. An empowered woman is comfortable in her own skin, and presents herself however she pleases. Unfortunately, misogynists will often misinterpret an empowered woman. I have seen this time and time again. A woman feels comfortable in her body and wears a “skimpy” swimsuit to the beach only to be catcalled and then told it’s her fault because she dressed provocatively. A woman who wears masculine or androgynous clothing will be labelled a lesbian because their lack of traditional femininity is threatening to men. A woman who is happy to be single will be called a “crazy cat lady” with the intention of suggesting that being single is insane, when one could be in a relationship with a man. I could go on. When I feel empowered, I can feel myself presenting with more confidence. I feel as though this confidence could be misconstrued as immoderate sexuality. This is something that I am hyper-aware of in the creation of this work. I believe that an important part of feminism is not censoring ones femininity. In an ideal world, male audience members would not need to be guided through a feminist work with careful framing of the women to avoid sexual thoughts. Although we have come a long way from the days of Rainer and Finley, there is still a lot of work to be done. I will discuss my plan to approach this in my research under the research project tab. Or follow the Read More Link above.