M Wollstonecraft: Statues of Women

**Frownland** · 11-11-2020, 07:50 AM

Ask the imaginary person in your brain who's making that point.

Anyways, media wasn't prominent enough in Wollenstonecraft's time for exclusively sexualized representation in media to be on her mind imo. That said, she did view being defined by beauty as inherently restrictive, but I'm not sure if that was the intent here. The artist did it to represent femininity, they did so in a way that's far from the unrealistic standards of barbie dolls (unless they're much more toned down over in the UK), and it could've been done better but to me this just reeks of manufactroversy.

Psy-Fi · 11-11-2020, 08:02 AM

I'd never heard of her until I saw this thread.

But I've certainly heard of her husband William Godwin, her second daughter Mary Shelley, and Mary's husband Percy Bysshe Shelley.

OccultHawk · 11-11-2020, 08:10 AM

It must have been hard to have a baby without a vagina.

Lisnaholic · 11-11-2020, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psy-Fi

I'd never heard of her until I saw this thread.

But I've certainly heard of her husband William Godwin, her second daughter Mary Shelley, and Mary's husband Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Thanks for colouring in a bit of historical background, Psy-Fi.

The more I think about this statue, the more it bugs me. Not relinquishing the criticisms I've already made, I also take issue with the abstract, Quatermass blob that Barbie is rising out of.

A memorial will frequently evoke the time that the hero(ine) lived in, although most artists today would probably steer clear of an exact historical recreation. But Barbie-on-a-Blob just has no connection to MW, her times or even the aesthetics of her time. At every level it seems to disregard rather than honour or evoke MW.

In short, to quote Neil Young, it's a piece of crap. The artist might as well have put up a statue of two dogs fu cking in a spaceship for all the relevence it has to MW.

**Frownland** · 11-11-2020, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

A memorial will frequently evoke the time that the hero(ine) lived in, although most artists today would probably steer clear of an exact historical recreation. But Barbie-on-a-Blob just has no connection to MW, her times or even the aesthetics of her time. At every level it seems to disregard rather than honour or evoke MW.

The "blob" looks like a mass of people struggling to escape from a membrane with the woman (a barbie, apparently) finally being able to escape at the top, which is a good representation of Wollenstonecraft's legacy of helping women escape oppression and achieve equal rights imo. Could've been done better but I think that the artist's intentions were sound.

**Marie Monday** · 11-11-2020, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Why? She’s dead. She doesn’t know it exists.

It’s what we think of it.

Imagine someone made a statue of you after you died, sculpting you draped in an American flag with a bald Eagle on your shoulder, kissing the feet of Donald Trump

**Marie Monday** · 11-11-2020, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

Thanks for colouring in a bit of historical background, Psy-Fi.

The more I think about this statue, the more it bugs me. Not relinquishing the criticisms I've already made, I also take issue with the abstract, Quatermass blob that Barbie is rising out of.

A memorial will frequently evoke the time that the hero(ine) lived in, although most artists today would probably steer clear of an exact historical recreation. But Barbie-on-a-Blob just has no connection to MW, her times or even the aesthetics of her time. At every level it seems to disregard rather than honour or evoke MW.

In short, to quote Neil Young, it's a piece of crap. The artist might as well have put up a statue of two dogs fu cking in a spaceship for all the relevence it has to MW.

Totally. I don't take strong offence but I definitely think it's just ugly and the design is pointless

The Batlord · 11-11-2020, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

The point of memorialising is to honour someone for their achievement, and I think speculating about the dead person's opinion is valid. The naked figurine seems like a slap in the face to MW's feminism.

I'd just like to point out that part of your argument defending a feminist's modesty is essentially just stereotyping women as being monolithically modest.

OccultHawk · 11-11-2020, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marie Monday

Imagine someone made a statue of you after you died, sculpting you draped in an American flag with a bald Eagle on your shoulder, kissing the feet of Donald Trump

Well ok but it’s gonna take a lot of granite to do my ding dong.

**Marie Monday** · 11-11-2020, 11:18 AM

it would also depict you as having a tiny penis of course

View Poll Results: Your verdict on the MW monument
Take it down now	3	60.00%
Not great, but OK by me	2	40.00%
Looks nice to me	0	0%
A worthy monument to MW	0	0%
Voters: 5. You may not vote on this poll

11-11-2020, 07:50 AM	#21 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,548	Ask the imaginary person in your brain who's making that point. Anyways, media wasn't prominent enough in Wollenstonecraft's time for exclusively sexualized representation in media to be on her mind imo. That said, she did view being defined by beauty as inherently restrictive, but I'm not sure if that was the intent here. The artist did it to represent femininity, they did so in a way that's far from the unrealistic standards of barbie dolls (unless they're much more toned down over in the UK), and it could've been done better but to me this just reeks of manufactroversy. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

11-11-2020, 08:10 AM	#23 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	It must have been hard to have a baby without a vagina. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html