Expository Essay: Curatorial Power and Feminism

            This gallery is a thought experiment. As I thought about all of the injustices our students would face, there were too many to number. And so I thought about one that many would face, and realized that in some way, every day, gender discrimination or objectification would be a part of their lives, as long as they live in modern America. The true purpose of the gallery is to think about moving from a world in which most of the population will be objectified in some way at some point of their lives to one in which those very subjects can reclaim their voices and space to speak.

            Although males as well as females can experience gender discrimination, it is generally more common for women to be the objects of a male-gendered gaze. Nowhere is this more true than in the museum, where the curators and directors of the major museums still tend to be white males, in spite of the demographic shift taking place in the nation as a whole (Lufkin 2009). Because of this over representation in the museum community of higher level curators and directors, projects which invoke feminist themes can be hard to come by. By reclaiming curatorial power from the male gaze, we can interpret objects very differently, adding new insights and understandings. For example, once we know that a prehistoric Venus which has been understood as an object for the male gaze or to promote fertility was carved by a woman, that same object can suddenly be seen as a self-portrait or something that might show women as more complex than their biological utility (Conkey 2003).

            As a feminist teacher, these lessons are ones that I feel are as important for students as learning the parts of speech. Yet, structuring a curriculum that will allow a teacher to do that and still not upset the current political climate is a distinct challenge. Walking the walk, as Crabtree and Sapp (2003) express it, is something one must do carefully and delicately. My hope is that the objects explored in this gallery might demonstrate some of the nuances involved in doing so.