Constructing Gender

The basis of Constructing gender is to do with society and culture creating gender roles, and these roles are prescribed as ideal or appropriate behavior for a person of that specific sex. when this comes to art, a lot of artist rebel against this idea and they make strong statement through their work. I will touch upon this within this report.

Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair

Frida Kahlo
(Mexican, 1907–1954)1940. Oil on canvas, 15 3/4 x 11" (40 x 27.9 cm)

This Painting at first glance gives me a feeling of a very strong woman who is making a statement about how woman are forced to look. she has cut her hair short and she is wearing a very masculine suit. It is like she is saying she stating that she is not going to be held down by what society tells her to do or how she should look

I read that Frida Kahlo cut her hair short a month after her divorce from fellow artist Diego Rivera, and she painted this self-portrait soon after. She depicted herself wearing an over sized men’s suit and crimson (shirt which could've been Rivera’s) instead of one of the traditional Mexican dresses that she is often shown wearing. Her masculine haircut and garments contrast with her delicate, dangling earrings and petite high-heeled shoes. 

Artist: Richard Prince (American, born Canal Zone (Panama), 1949)

Date: 1989

Medium: Chromogenic print

Dimensions: 127 x 177.8cm (50 x 70in.)

Richard Prince rephotographs others photographs, using such things as blurring, cropping, and enlarging. He would attempt to intensify the original image and make it his. The original artist was never happy with him doing this but when it comes down to it. he wasn't doing anything wrong.

The famous Marlboro man who is the cowboy in the picture, is always portrayed as a very masculine man who is gritty, rides a horse and of course smokes Marlboro cigarettes. the advertisement is clearly stating that if you smoke these cigarettes, you will be as strong and masculine as this cowboy on a horse. 

Richard Princes work is trying to tell you what a man should be like and and Frida Kahlo is rebelling against the idea of what a typical woman is expected to be like. So there is a strong contrast here which interests me. They are both playing with this idea of gender holding certain characteristics but they've taken different approaches.