Feminist Art in China and Britain – Term Paper

Introduction

Feminist art is a hallmark in the celebration of art throughout the world as this kind of art seeks to place an equality demon the realm of art through the presentation of feminist phenomena (Yang; Preece). Western countries were the pioneers of feminist art which was often accompanied by a liberation movement for women. However, modern eastern views see feminist art as a self-discovery of the image of feminism and thus an expression of the same. This paper proposes the fundamental differences between presentations of feminism in the Eastern and Western cultures with particular regards to Chinese feminist art and British feminist art.

Problem Statement

The embodiment of feminism and feminist views has often thought to be global. As a result, the expressions of feminism have always been viewed as part of the same thing. However, special factors taken into consideration will reveal that different cultures may in fact have different points of view with regards to feminism (Peng). Britain, for example, had specific and peculiar factors that led to the development of its art independent of the pre-dominant European culture that would affect the rest of the European countries (Maiguashca, Dean, and Keith). As a result, differences in the presentation of continental European art and British art will be apparent. Similarly, the Chinese have had various socio-cultural factors that would affect the presentation of their art, including cultural restrictions that would not have feminist views presented in the same way as western feminist art. Therefore, this proposal seeks to embrace the differentiation of feminist artwork presentations of eastern and western cultures as two sides of a coin.

Hypothesis

In a patriarchal society, the presentation of feminist art is in itself the presentation of a struggle for a sex within the society to present itself. Therefore, the significant differences in cultures that have been present since their inception exemplify the differences between the sexes. Therefore, art is a method through which women’s voices can be heard. Nonetheless, it cannot be said that this voice is expressed in the same way throughout the world. As such, the critical analysis of various pieces of art, specifically from Britain and China, can reveal different expressions of the feminist voice. The ignorance of the existence of the female sex is indeed being voiced. Notwithstanding, it is not being done in the same way. This proposal will seek to prove this statement.

Research Questions

As a result of the hypothetical position of this paper, we seek to ask the following questions in this proposal:

1. Are feminist views presented in British art significantly different from those expressed in Chinese art, as a larger presentation of fundamental differences in feminist art from the Eastern and Western hemispheres?

2. Are women in the arts more restricted in the presentation of feminist views in one of the regions as opposed to another?

3. Is the depression of women in the arts a fundamental part of the art making process, so that without ignorance of the feminine art is limited?

Objectives

This study is aimed at determining the extent of the penetration of feminist art into social issues. Feminist contributions in modern art is quite extensive, and at the very least, notable. Rising from the edge of culture, the feminist art has now taken center-stage in bringing the need for cultural equality among other aesthetic values. However, a concern is that there has been little development of the art in the eastern hemisphere due to restrictive practices among other socio-cultural factors, leading to the further orchestration of injustices against women. Therefore, this study will seek to find points of difference in the two batches of art from the two countries.

Significance

With the exposure of such problems within a problematic social issue of women depression, women’s movements within the art world become an important area of study (Coombs). As a result, the study of the feminist foundation is important especially with relation to art and the challenges that it has faced in the presentation of women in select jurisdictions (Myzelev). Western women studies have enjoyed relative freedom in presentation of feminist woes. However, the same cannot be said of the east, with specific regards to China. This paper will be an extrapolation of the western situation and its applications in the Eastern hemisphere.

Methodology

The use of literary analysis, comparative research methods among others are going to be used to analyze and interpret data from the two jurisdictions. Literature analysis will allow the researcher to collect information that is related to the feminist phenomenon (Juhl). This includes women art connotations, feminism as a topic; feminists in a bid to collect, analyze, summarize and understand the concepts behind the phenomenon (Chang). Therefore, a comparative analysis of the British and Chinese views on feminism will be analyzed in the course of performances, paintings, and other art pieces with specific regards to the presentation of women within those contexts. The comparative analysis will embody the reflective aspect of this research which will summarize the expectations of the development in Chinese presentation of feminist art. The art results will be digested and given a broad perspective on possible changes to the Chinese presentation of feminist views that could improve the perspective of Chinese feminist views.  

Conclusion

In conclusion, the presentation of feminism in different cultures has often been defined by the cultural boundaries of those cultures. However, there has been a considerable amount of defiance of cultural norms when presenting feminist views in art, or any other area of concern. However, this has not been the case in China as largescale restrictions have persisted into the area of feminist expression. As a result, the Chinese feminist movement has significantly different characteristics as compared to other cultures, especially more advanced western expressions of the phenomenon. As a result, this proposal brings out this area of concern in the problematic social issue of women oppression and its expression in art by comparing two jurisdictions – Britain and China. Hereby, the research will offer academic and practical solutions to the presentation of feminist ideas in the People’s Republic of China in a more effective way.

Works Cited

Chang, J. J. “Bound to Emancipate: Working Women and Urban Citizenship in Early Twentieth-Century China and Hong Kong by Angelina Chin (review).” China Review International, 20(1) (2013): 69-71.

Coombs, C. “Political feminism: Activist art in Australia in 2015.” Art Monthly Australia, 286(Summer) (2015): 56-61.

Juhl, P. D. Interpretation: An essay in the philosophy of literary criticism. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2014.

Maiguashca, B., J. Dean and D. Keith. “Pulling together in a crisis? Anarchism, feminism and the limits of left-wing convergence in austerity Britain.” Capital & Class (2016).

Myzelev, A. “Creating Digital Materiality: Third-Wave Feminism, Public Art, and Yarn Bombing.” Material Culture, 47(1) (2015).

Peng, Z. H. A. N. G. “Between New Knowledge and Conventional Ethics: Women’s Political Participation Discussed by the Women’s Times in the Early Years of the Republic of China.” Collection of Women’s Studies, 1;(2013): 014.

Preece, J. “Viewpoint: On finding a good use for coffee…” Art Libraries Journal, 39(03);(2014): 3-4.

Yang, S. “Feminist aesthetics: Representing women in contemporary Chinese art.” JAWS: Journal of Arts Writing by Students, 2(1);(2016): 13-18.