Are you feminist?

Hello!

Are you feminist?

If not, why do you think that one sex should have more rights than the other?

Normally, when people are asked if they believe in equal rights for men and women the answer is yes. Yet, if they are asked if they are feminist, which defends precisely that equality of rights, most answer no, and some even react as if the proposition was insulting in some way.

Why is feminism such a negatively loaded term when the majority agree with what it stands for?

As you may know, I am working on a project inspired by the wealth of negative propaganda, misinformation and stereotypes that surround feminism.

My intention is to publish an encrypted feminist magazine in the form of a glossy commercially printed publication and a website. The encryption makes the magazine unintelligible at first sight. It will however be decryptable.

Why make an unintelligible magazine?

The encryption touches on myths around women as mysterious, complex and prone to conspiracy. It is also a comment on the difficulty in finding out about the role and work of women in history, on the need for alternative stories and on the apparently ‘coded’ nature of history when it comes to women’s achievements.

Encryption is normally used to keep information in the hands of a selected few. The importance of women through history has normally been put to one side away from the grand narratives and discourses of power.

The unintelligibility of the magazine is a reminder that women are still prevented from enjoying equal status to men through various filtering methods. It mirrors the process in history and it also expresses my own astonishment on the fact that we still have to fight for equality on so many levels and that instead of the barriers being removed, they increase in sophistication.

We have advanced a lot as a society since women were not allowed to study, let alone vote. The fact that most people don’t want to think of themselves as feminist remains to me unintelligible.

The content for this magazine will start off as a collage of existing material reproduced with the permission of the copyright holders. I would be hugely grateful if you would like to contribute with an article, poem, dream, idea, or any other type of text related to the subject of feminism. Either an existing one or one written specifically.
If you would like to contribute please send your text to xyx28@grafeo.com. Also, if you are in contact with anyone who you think might be interested in this project, please could you forward them this e-mail or let me know who to contact.
To find out more about the project you can go to www.sumemos.com and register for updates, or you can contact me directly. I will be happy to tell you more.
Thank you!
Veronica

www.grafeo.com

An installation promoting this project will be part of the MA Fine Art graduating show in September 2007 and I will be around to talk about it. The show will be open on Saturday the 1st of September 11 to 18h, and Monday the 3rd to Thursday the 6th between 11 and 19h and on Friday the 7th between 11 and 16h. The address is Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, 107-109 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0DU.