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Where Were We Supposed To Go? What Were We Supposed To Do? (Wonder Woman)
Joan Arbeiter. Where Were We Supposed To Go? What Were We Supposed To Do? (Wonder Woman), 2004.
Description:
Where Were We Supposed To Go? What Were We Supposed To Do? (Wonder Woman)
(part of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl Fulfilling Society's Limited Expectations Series)
This five-year old somehow manages to evolve into a complete, even heroic, woman with the strength and smarts to effect change in the political (fist) and cultural (flowers) status quo.
"Having such a positive role model as Wonder Woman didn't hurt me. But what was my mother thinking when she signed me up for tap dance lessons?" - Joan Arbeiter
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl Fulfilling Society's Limited Expectations Series
There are three main elements in the mixed media assemblages. Each begins with vintage photos of me during my formative years, then documents the timeframe in question with an authentic period magazine illustration and finally, updates and completes the message by including position statements from contemporary feminist books and periodicals e.g. Kate Millet, Betty Friedan, N.O.W., Feminist Majority, and Girls, Inc.
It took the Women's Movement to help me to see these cute snapshots in a different light: as a record of my being prepared to assume the then prevailing gender roles.
Medium:
Mixed Media
Tags:
appropriation, Wonder Woman, tap dance, vintage advertisements, assemblage, mixed media
Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum