sanaz pakzad

Feminism is defined as a philosophy in which women and their contributions are valued. This concept is based on equality of women in respect to men. Although this is a dictionary definition, feminism can mean many different things. Feminism can mean women fighting for jobs that were run by men, getting the same equal pay and respect that the men do for the same labor, or fighting for the same education that men receive. Feminist have a goal to abolish the difference between men and women and to be treated equally as men. Women are discriminated against all throughout the world. Being discriminated against because of race is wrong, but being discriminated against because of sex is wrong also. Women have the same, if not more, capabilities as men do and should be allowed the same freedom and rights as men. To explore feminism more, I went to five different museums; The National Museum of African Art, Hirshhorn, The National Museum of American Indian, Holocaust, and finally The National Museum of Women and the Arts, and I discovered what feminism is really about.
The first place that I visited was the National Museum of African Art. This museum was located on Independence Avenue next to the Smithsonian Castle. There was a beautiful garden in front of it, and glass doors. The museum was made out of beige and grey cement with a particular shape design. When I first went into the museum, I assumed that there would be many exhibits about feminism. When I went in, I saw that the museum was not a feminist because many of the exhibits were about men. Since feminism is about the contributions of women being valued, this museum does not meet the definition of feminism. There was a figure of a female with a child in her lap from the late 19th century in Mali. There was also another figure of a female carrying a basket on the top of her head. This museum only had one floor of sculptures. I assumed that there would be more sculptors and definitely more of women and their contributions in Africa. This museum showed nothing about women contributions. There were only two sculptures of women in the entire exhibit. When I went to see the Body of Evidence, we discovered that they had taken that exhibit down. I was very disappointed because I was hoping that it would show some of the women contributions in Africa.
The next museum that I visited was the Hishhorn. The Hishhorn was located about two blocks down from the African Art Museum, on Independence Avenue. This building was circular with cement on the outside with a few sculptors in front of it. When I walked into the museum, the museum was circular shaped with white marble floors. I assumed that this building would be very boring and would not have many interesting exhibits inside. When I went inside and started to discover all of the different exhibits, it was very interesting. The most interesting part of the Currents: Recent Acquistions was the artist Nikki Lee. She would be in every picture that she photographed by fixing the camera and getting into the picture. The most fascinating thing about her pictures was that in each picture she looked like someone different. She would go to a tanning salon and get the color of the ethnic group that she wanted to take a picture of so that she can act and behave like the people in the neighborhood. She has a hip hop project, a ghetto scene, and an older scene. I felt like this was a good way to learn about different ethnic groups. This museum was not a feminist because it did not show anything with the equality of men and women and feminism is about the equality of men and women.
The third museum that I visited was the American Indian Museum. This museum was located on Maryland Avenue. This building was shaped in a very interesting form, it was the most out of the ordinary building I have ever seen. In this museum, there were five different exhibitions including our lives, our peoples, our universes, return to a native place, and identity by design. The purpose of these various exhibitions was to basically show the whole American Indian universe and how their lives were. The place that art by women have the most contribution was the identity by design. In this exhibition, there were many different sets of clothing made by Indian women. This exhibition is feminist because the women in this museum and the culture had a purpose. The women would make different clothing for themselves, their children, and their husbands while the men would kill animals for food. The women also skinned the animals with the men. In this museum the men and the women were equal. I assumed that I wouldn't see anything related to feminism and that there would not be a lot of exhibitions and information.
The fourth museum that I visited was the Holocaust museum located on 15th street. This museum looked like a memorial museum from the outside. It had brown and white color bricks and looked very depressing. I assumed that as soon as I walk in, there would be pictures of the holocaust and very devastating. The museum did not have anything when I first walked in but it was separated into different levels and exhibitions. The exhibition that touched me the most was Daniel's Story. This exhibition made me cry at the end. I was very upset and mad at what they had done to the Jewish community. What made me even madder was that these innocent people didn't choose to be Jewish, and they should not have been penalized for that. I believe that this museum was not a feminist, but it did deal with equality because the Jewish community was fighting for fair rights like other races and that is was feminism is about.
The last museum that I visited was The National Museum of Women and the Arts located on New York Avenue. This museum was just about women. I assumed that this museum would be all about feminism because it was a museum dedicated to women. I also assumed that there would be a lot of different types of artwork. In this museum there were three different floors. The first floor was dedicated to Paula Rego. The second floor was the Permanent collection and the third floor was the Performance Hall Theatre. Surprisingly, there were not that many pieces of artwork in the museum. Each exhibit had a few pictures. I was very surprised because I expected the museum to have a lot of different types of artwork but more importantly to be about feminism. Although this was a women's museum, it had nothing to do with feminist because feminism is about equality for women in all aspects of social, political, and economical. This museum showed nothing about equality. The Paula Rego exhibition will be taken away in May and replaced. This month, photographs of Cherel Ito will be placed into the museum. Also last month, the museum received a national medal for museum and library resources. The medal is located on the wall in the main lobby. When I first went in, the receptionist explained to me how Paula Rego's exhibition will be taken away soon and that there will be photograpsh of Cherel Ito coming in soon.
These five museums, The National Museum of African Art, Hirshhorn, The National Museum of the American Indian, Holocaust, and The National Museum of Women and the Arts, have given me another look at feminism and what exactly it is. Feminism isn't just about having women contributions valued, but it is also about equality and fighting for rights that women should be given. Although I made many assumptions, they were not all true. Also what I expected in each meusum about feminism wasn't entirely true either. In conclusion, women should be given equal rights and should not have to fight for freedom. Without women, the world would never evolve.