GerShun Avilez
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040122
- eISBN:
- 9780252098321
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040122.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter tracks how artists investigate the discourse of reproduction not simply to explore dual meanings, but rather to consider how the politicized concept of reproduction functions as a ...
More
This chapter tracks how artists investigate the discourse of reproduction not simply to explore dual meanings, but rather to consider how the politicized concept of reproduction functions as a contested means for conveying gender identity. In her painted quilt sequence The Slave Rape Series, Faith Ringgold uses reproduction to establish a visual interrogation of Black gender identity and to probe the implications of the commitment to reproductive paradigms. Her paintings of the pregnant body create the opportunity to recast the images circulating in political discourse, which favor restrictive conceptions of gender expression, especially in regard to femininity. On the other hand, Toni Morrison's novel Paradise (1997) moves the questioning of reproduction to the realm of narrative and enhances the exploration of masculinity. Meanwhile, Spike Lee's feature film She Hate Me (2004) evokes nationalist strategies by offering an exploration of reproduction as a viable mechanism for resolving social anxieties about gender identity and for rearticulating Black social agency.Less
This chapter tracks how artists investigate the discourse of reproduction not simply to explore dual meanings, but rather to consider how the politicized concept of reproduction functions as a contested means for conveying gender identity. In her painted quilt sequence The Slave Rape Series, Faith Ringgold uses reproduction to establish a visual interrogation of Black gender identity and to probe the implications of the commitment to reproductive paradigms. Her paintings of the pregnant body create the opportunity to recast the images circulating in political discourse, which favor restrictive conceptions of gender expression, especially in regard to femininity. On the other hand, Toni Morrison's novel Paradise (1997) moves the questioning of reproduction to the realm of narrative and enhances the exploration of masculinity. Meanwhile, Spike Lee's feature film She Hate Me (2004) evokes nationalist strategies by offering an exploration of reproduction as a viable mechanism for resolving social anxieties about gender identity and for rearticulating Black social agency.
GerShun Avilez
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252040122
- eISBN:
- 9780252098321
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252040122.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
This chapter tracks how artists inhabit the subjective space of whiteness as a closing ranks move. This idea may seem counterintuitive, but for many thinkers, exploring whiteness is useful in ...
More
This chapter tracks how artists inhabit the subjective space of whiteness as a closing ranks move. This idea may seem counterintuitive, but for many thinkers, exploring whiteness is useful in determining the conventional parameters of Black identity. The act of identifying and challenging these boundaries creates the opportunity for imagining a unity not plagued by restrictive conceptions of blackness. Therefore, turning inward does not appear as a mere rejection of whiteness in favor of shoring up blackness. The chapter then highlights how the rhetoric of White innocence provides the foundation for both racial and gender frameworks in the U.S. social imaginary. The desire to generate a radical Black identity includes dismantling this rhetoric, which permeates media and popular thought.Less
This chapter tracks how artists inhabit the subjective space of whiteness as a closing ranks move. This idea may seem counterintuitive, but for many thinkers, exploring whiteness is useful in determining the conventional parameters of Black identity. The act of identifying and challenging these boundaries creates the opportunity for imagining a unity not plagued by restrictive conceptions of blackness. Therefore, turning inward does not appear as a mere rejection of whiteness in favor of shoring up blackness. The chapter then highlights how the rhetoric of White innocence provides the foundation for both racial and gender frameworks in the U.S. social imaginary. The desire to generate a radical Black identity includes dismantling this rhetoric, which permeates media and popular thought.
