My Performance Piece is called "Exile". The socio-political issue I chose to address in my performance is the impact of societal limitations women are forced to adhere to due to patriarchy, the male gaze, and society's expectations of women to be submissive and obedient to what is currently viewed as appropriate for women. I was inspired by Cindy Sherman, because through her artwork, Cindy expressed herself as different characters, each unique and non conforming to society’s expectations of women. Society forces women to look and act a certain way, specifically in a way that pleases and conforms to the male gaze. For my performance, I decided to do a makeup look different to what most people would choose to wear. I did a black smokey eye look, very thin and high eyebrows, nude lips that matched my skin tone, bright blush placed only on the apples of my cheeks, and even a line drawn on certain areas surrounding my mouth. In The Ugly Beauty of Cindy Sherman it states, ““I’m fixated on the thin eyebrow ... in a world of picture perfect perfection she’s given up. This is her subtle rebellion.” These are all photographs of subtle rebellions — the first being the demand, of women of a certain age, to be noticed, admired” (Sehgal 2018). I chose to do a unique makeup look because I hope to demonstrate that I will not allow society’s lack of approval stop me from expressing myself as I wish to.
During my performance, I look into the mirror to see myself clearly prior to entering the world and facing society face-forward. As I am looking into the mirror, a person—representing society members who realize that I do not conform to their expectations of women—hand me a wipe and expect me to remove my makeup. I then push the wipe away and continue. In The Ugly Beauty of Cindy Sherman it states, “These women are not metaphors, they are not waiting to be represented, rescued or destroyed. They are gloriously, catastrophically themselves, and we meet them on their own terms — as we so frequently meet each other — in stagy, embarrassing, endearing selfies launched into the world” (Sehgal 2018). During my performance I reject the makeup wipe given to me twice. Society continues to attempt to mold me into who they perceive I should be, but I reject society’s opinions and continue to do what I please as the protagonist of my own story.
Lastly, once I am satisfied with what I see in the mirror, I head over to the stairs. Even as I am walking away, society follows me, demanding that I change the way I look so that I please their standards. In Ways of Seeing by John Berger, he states, “To be born a woman has to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The social presence of women has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living unger such tutelage within such a limited space” (pg. 46). As a woman of this society, I am expected to live within the boundaries set by society, specifically heterosexual males, so that I may please those same males. In my performance I continue walking until I reach the stairs, and then I turn around and face society with pride. Although I was attacked and followed by power structures like patriarchy, and told repeatedly that my means of expression is not appropriate for a woman of my age and in this society, I remained firm, and faced society the way I chose for them to see me. Even when I am standing on steps, publicly rebelling against society's limitations, I am still followed by the makeup wipe until the end. I named my performance "Exile" because I recognize that when society cannot control a woman's self-expression, their ultimate attempt is to exile her, so as to not allow her rebellion to inspire others to do the same. Like Yoko Ono's Cut Piece in 1964, I utilized my performance to analyze society's reactions. However, unlike Cut Piece where Yoko Ono sat still to see how far society would go if a woman does not intervene or defend herself, I fought against society to see how far society is still willing to go even when a women does attempt to defend herself and her right to self-expression.
Instruction Pieces:
Stand next to a window and yell a word or phrase as loudly as you can.
Buy a small bag of rice and make a small hole in it. Walk outside and see how many people stop you to tell you your rice is falling out of the bag.
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