Questions We Can Help You To Answer

Paper instructions:

Watch the PBS ART 21 episodes on Cindy Sherman and Janine Antoni in addition to the other resources and respond to the following prompts in a discussion:

The film Miss Representation raises the issue of visual representation of gender. In particular, that the media has a large impact in perpetuating the idea that for girls' and women, their value lies in their beauty and sexuality and not in their capacity as leaders. In contrast, boys learn that success is tied to dominance, power and aggression.

How are these issues reflected in the resources provided? Can these powerful ideas be subverted? How have artists like Cindy Sherman and Janine Antoni address gender in their work?

Cindy Sherman: How does Sherman deal with the theme of Stereotypes and gender in her work?

Are her characters believable? Can we as a viewer connect to them?

What do you think about the theme of “transformation” as it is applied to her work? Is she reinforcing stereotypes of gender? Subverting them?

Does presenting them in photographic art have a different impact then in other kinds of media? Some of the images that Sherman creates are very specific feminine stereotypes to America – what are they and what is she trying to achieve with them?

Janine Antoni: Antoni says, “To me so much meaning is in how we choose to make something, both in art but in all objects we deal with in our lives. That’s why I do these extreme acts with my body. I feel that the viewer has a body too, and can empathize with what I’ve put myself through to make the artwork.” How do you relate to her works of art? Would a female relate to these pieces differently from a male?