Assignment 1

Before I visited the Museums, I assumed that feminism was a group of angry women solely concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. I normally think of a butch woman when I think of the term feminism. However, my views on feminism changed after my visits to the museums.
I first visited the National Museum of Women in the Arts. This museum is located in Washington, D.C. and is the only museum solely devoted to celebrating women’s achievements in the visual, performing, and literary arts. Since the birth of this institution in 1987, the museum has obtained a collection of more than 3,500 sculptures, paintings, works on paper and decorative art contributed to women.
I assumed that this institution would be a lot larger then it actually was. I imagined this museum to be one of the larger museums that I visited with red and pink walls! Although this institution was not as large as I imagined, it still presented more than 200 exhibitions which included: Playing with Fire by Julie Taymor, Hot Women Designers by Nordic Cool, etc. One of the exhibits that I found to be most fascinating was the Paula Rego exhibit, Looking Out. It was a picture of a woman with her back turned to the viewer, looking out a window. It was a pastel drawing mounted on aluminum. I found it captivating that Paula Rego is one of the leading figurative artists today, and the National Museum of Women in the Art in Washington D.C. is the first museum to present her work. This museum is feminist; it presents over 200 exhibits contributed to women only.
Second, I visited the National Museum of the American Indian located in Washington, D.C. I assumed that this museum would have little to do with feminism and the art of women. I thought this museum would be dedicated to the chiefs/leaders of the native culture or warriors who have died. When you think of leaders or warriors, you tend to think of a male, not a female. I was surprised to see that this museum contributed some work to women as well. For example, a current exhibit in this museum celebrated Native women’s clothing, such as dresses. I learned that dresses are more than simple articles of clothing for the Native women. The Native women wore dresses to express their culture and identity. Their dresses often embody messages about their life. I found this to be interesting because I looked at this exhibit and thought of just a dress, but in their culture it tells a story.
I would say that this museum is neither feminist nor non feminist because it does contribute to women, however, it does not show great concern with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. Just because this museum contributes work to women, does not make it feminist.
Third, I visited the National Gallery of Art which is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. I assumed that this institution would contribute to women. I imagined beautiful paintings and sculptures of women, portraying purity and natural beauty of women. This museum presents some of the finest collections of Western painting and sculpture in the world. This museum does not contribute as many pictures and sculptures to women as I had originally assumed it would. Most paintings are of landscapes and old French and Renaissance pictures. One of the exhibits that I found intriguing was the Homer painting, called, Autumn. I found this painting to be intriguing because it was a picture of a woman however she seemed to be dressed up in boy’s clothing. She looked like she was wearing a man’s vest and a hat but it looked like the bottom of her outfit was a dress. I thought it was a woman because her face was delicate and her cheeks were rosie red. I really admired this painting, I thought it was beautiful.
I do not think this museum was neither feminist nor non-feminist because it did contribute to women, however, it did not suggest any inequality among men and women.
Lastly, I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum which is also located in Washington, D.C. (in between 14th and 15th streets SW, adjacent to The National Mall). I assumed that this museum would have little to do with women. I thought it would contribute more to men and the Jewish population in general during the period of Holocaust. I also assumed that this museum would be very large and filled with sad stories and paintings about the Holocaust.
This institution is very large, dedicated to documenting, studying, and interpreting the history of Holocaust. Every corner you turn, there’s a sad story or heartbreaking story to read. Surprisingly, this museum contributed more to women then I had originally assumed. One of the personal stories that stuck out in my head was that of a female. Her name was Helene Melanie Lebel. She was diagnosed with a mental illness then later officially listed as dying in her room of “acute schizophrenic excitement”. This story touched me, and like Helene, there were many other stories told about women during this time. I do not feel that this museum represents feminism because it is more about the hardships that both women and men had to face during the Holocaust. I don’t think this museum discriminates against young, old, female, male, it does not say that men were faced with greater struggles than women. I think this museum does a good job at portraying the hardships between both sexes during this period.
Visiting these museums has really changed my perspective on what feminism is and what women stand for. Before I thought feminism was a group of “butch” angry women who wanted to bash men. I now realize that feminism is a friendly term that aims to understand gender inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations, and sexuality. Many feminists focus on the promotion of women’s rights and interests.

Assumptions

I assumed that the National Museum of Women in the Arts would be a big beautiful building with nothing but pictures and sculptures of beautiful women. I could imagine the walls being painted pink and red, what’s more feminine then that?
When I looked over the assignment, I thought to myself why would we visit The National Museum of the American Indian for a Women Studies course? I assumed that this institution would have nothing to do with feminism. I assumed that this institution would be dedicated to mainly male Indians because you think of warriors and chiefs.
I assumed that the National Gallery of Art would contribute to women. I imagined beautiful paintings of women. I could imagine sculptures of women, portraying natural beauty.
I assumed that the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum would have little to do with women, but mostly to do the Jewish population in general during this time. I assumed that the building would be very large filled with sad stories and pictures of the Holocaust.