Feminist Art = Pickled Penises In a Jar?

Submitted by Roy on Wed, 2007-10-31 16:39

For anyone interested in the cutting edge of misandry in feminist art, a quick glance at Chicago artist Mary Ellen Croteau’s piece titled “Men I Have Known” is instructive. The link includes a photo of her “art” -- basically a mason jar stuffed with (simulated) pickled penises.

Here’s the feminist interpretation of this inspired bit of hateful sexism:

“Croteau often uses laughter as a subversive force in her determination to destabilize patriarchal institutions and the systematic oppression of women. In Men I Have Known, a mason jar stuffed with what appears to be pickled penises, Croteau foreshadows the themes of Saint Lorena. Offering to the viewer an unsettling mixture of humor and rage, Croteau renders the homely Ball jar suddenly uncanny, a site/sight of ravenous hungers and strange trophies. In this way, she undermines the kitchen's -and femininity's-- association with passiveness, safety, hearth, and haven.”

Who says there are no women artists capable of true genius?

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So what is next? Lampshades made out of the skins of men with interesting tattos? Oh, how about some homemade soap made from the fat of dead ex husbands? And any gold teeth a man has possibly could be claimed by the ex wife in a divorce settlement.

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Submitted by Luek on Thu, 2007-11-01 18:53

Maybe next time better, especially if she can get "saint Lorena" involved, eh?

Perhaps me ought to be using laughter as a subversive force to destabilize matriarchal institutions and the systematic oppression of men. Maybe we can undermine masculinity's association with chivalry, safety, servitude and heroism. (Remember, originally 'hero' derived from the Greek 'sewro' - slave. Things haven't changed much since then...)

Contemptible 'artists' such as this Croteau only gain from notice -her intent is to anger and frighten men, to 'empower' women by putting men down, to display her 'evolved conciousness' so that people with similar affectations will buy her work. If he work can trigger anger, disgust and fright, she has the publicity she needs and is content. If her work triggers laughter from the object of her hate, it fails of its purpose and she is not sought out as an 'avante-garde' artist.

Frankly, if all Croteau can preceive of men is their penises, if the 'Men She Has Known' can be represented by nothing more than their cut-off penises (simulated, of course) then I'd say her 'evolved conciousness' stopped evolving about zipper level, and there it stays. the woman's not an 'artist', IMO. More like an amateur pornographer with a bent for kitchen cannery. Which says someting about her clientele, doesn't it?

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Submitted by TomP on Thu, 2007-11-01 22:36