Jean Kilbourne and Art Expression

I really enjoyed Jean Kilbourne's presentation. The part that really caught my attention was when she was talking about women in advertising. I liked how she brought up that the 'ideal' women that are portrayed in advertising cannot possibly be achieved. The part where Jean talked about how women are seen as things really, really interested me. Not only did she show us examples, she talked about how sometimes in advertising women's bodies are dismembered. With these dismembered body parts, women are being dehumanized. When people are dehumanized, violence is inevitable, said Jean Kilbourne in her presentation. I was really excited when hearing about the portrayal of women from Jean. This is because in my paintings, I focus on the dehumanization of women. My paintings are abstract views of the most sexualized parts of the female form (i.e. breasts and buttocks). I paint them in an unattractive manner and the colors that I paint with are meaty colors (i.e. reds). The point to my paintings are to shock and educate my viewers. I am trying to show people how women are often viewed and treated. My main focus is how they are treated during sexual assaults; however, I find that my concept does relate to other things as well (i.e. advertising). For me to be learning more and more about what I am trying to portray in my paintings is very fulfilling. My goal is to one day change the view of society with my paintings. In Stryker's book, there was a quote that directly connected me to my paintings. On page 6, Stryker says, "Some members of the minority group make art or write literature that changes the way others think of them and the issues they face." When I read this, I was stunned. I knew that this was what I was doing, and I really enjoyed that. Knowing that I am using my paintings to make such a strong statement really means something to me.