dc.contributor	Bouton, Ligia
dc.contributor	Singer, Kate
dc.contributor.advisor	Williams, Marianna Dixon
dc.contributor.author	Kirk, Jennifer
dc.date.accessioned	2024-07-01T18:43:10Z
dc.date.available	2024-07-01T18:43:10Z
dc.date.gradyear	2024
dc.date.issued	2024-07-01
dc.description.abstract	To present in a feminine manner according to heteronormative patriarchal ideals is often to perform, to be aware, and to be at risk of consumption. As a queer individual who has spent their life presenting in such a way, I have a deep understanding of the potential of violence which faces heteronormative femininity, particularly in a world which is panopticonal and built off the male gaze, and the ways in which the general public feels welcome to looking, staring, and consuming through the eyes. This work is an exploration into the ways this occurs, what can be done to disrupt the modern norm which allows it, and how the queering of feminine gender and the unveiling of femininity as a performance works to elevate the self from typical social order. The heart of this thesis is performance art, in which I interact with the world while wearing exaggerated makeup, somewhere between clown and drag, intended to embody hyper-femininity. I explore how I am treated when I present as something that does not adhere to patriarchal beauty standards—even which potentially satirizes them—and compare it to how I am treated when I present the way society intends me to, secretly filming myself throughout the process. Collections of projected videos, collages, and makeup wipes imprinted with my makeup each bolster this work, as they investigate a different element of, or background behind, this performance of hyperfemininity. These elements are the shifting into a new presentation, the vulnerability I refuse to confront, and a selfhood that becomes hidden behind the mask of makeup. Each of these elements of exploration are deeply informed by the work of artists Nan Goldin, Leigh Bowery, Sin Wai Kin, and Sophie Jung, each of whom unpick what it is to know the self, to know others, and to be seen through it all. I attempt to force the viewer, within my own work, to see me and interact with me, and to confront themselves as a voyeur. Within this, in making myself an intentional spectacle in an attempt to cover the self underneath, this begs the question: if I consent to being seen, am I still consumable?
dc.description.sponsorship	Art Studio
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10166/6736
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.rights.restricted	public
dc.subject	Presentation
dc.subject	Identity
dc.subject	Performance Art
dc.subject	Interactive Art
dc.subject	Installation
dc.subject	Makeup
dc.subject	Femininity
dc.subject	Feminism
dc.subject	Queerness
dc.subject	Gaze
dc.subject	Public Gaze
dc.subject	Male Gaze
dc.subject	Panopticon
dc.subject	Chalk Pastel
dc.subject	Video Art Installation
dc.title	Inedible Girl: To Be Vulnerable Is To Be Consumed
dc.type	Thesis
mhc.degree	Undergraduate
mhc.institution	Mount Holyoke College

Inedible Girl: To Be Vulnerable Is To Be Consumed

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