DON’T TEASE BITCH. STRIP TEASE BITCH.
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010WHO_Sasha Grey
WHAT_Snap by Terry Richardson
WHEN_2007
WHERE_Penthouse – Gentlemans magazine
WHY_I’m working on a brief for a solo show in 2011 called Tits ‘n’ Ass. It’s a visual conversation about where I feel that I fit into society as a woman and my views on feminism. Not just directly into society but with as much importance as my identity to myself. I read a quote at a show recently by artist Louise Bourgeois (RIP) that said ‘My feminism expresses itself as an intense interest in what women do…’. This is as close to my own definition as it could get.
My friend recently showed me a video of porn star Sasha Grey on The Tyra Banks show. Tyra gunned her, but I really respected what Sasha Grey was about. She seemed a very intelligent young woman, who was in control of her career. I recently read some extracts on the world wide web from Ariel Levy’s book ‘Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture’ (it’s on order from amazon) which argues that ‘America’s sexed-up culture not only objectifies women, it encourages women to objectify themselves…’ I’m not sure I overly agree, i mean of course to a large extent that’s true but in some cases i.e Sasha Grey, is she just not a clever business woman? Doing something she enjoys and getting paid well for it? Is she simply exploiting men’s often uncontrollable desire for sex? Aren’t all women guilty of using their sexuality to their advantage in some way or another? Is her success at the misfortune of many women being sexually exploited?
More to the point would I be considered a female chauvinist pig? I’m obsessed with listening to derogatory rap (my favourite song being Xxplosive by Dr Dre, hence the title). I admire Sasha Grey. I have most definitely used being a woman to get what I want, on more than one occasion. Does that mean I’m celebrating, partaking and practicing in sexual objectification? I guess we’ll all find out at my show.
