Date of Award

Spring 2015

Thesis Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Honors Bachelor of Arts

Department

Art

Sponsor

Rachel Simmons

Abstract

Using my relationship with my own body as a queer, gender non-conforming woman as a lens, the work discussed in this thesis investigates the role of objectification in the sociopolitical and cultural structures that forcibly position womenʼs bodies as sites of control under “white supremacist, capitalist [hetero]patriarchy.” Central to my work are the concepts of the male gaze, the sexual objectification of women, agency, and the pleasure of looking as discussed in feminist film theorist Laura Mulveyʼs classic essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” By discussing my process of thinking/making—a circular process in which thinking generates making which generates thinking, and so on—in building this body of work, I hope to unpack some of the workʼs meanings and to contextualize the work both within contemporary art and within critical theory—namely feminist theory.

Rights Holder

Alice Johnson

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