Master's Thesis
Studio artist, Jeanette Staley, received a degree from Vermont College of Fine Art in January of 2020. Her master’s thesis, Misogynistic Sign Posts in American Culture was an opportunity to deeply explore the research that has captured her attention for over 30 years. She describes misogyny and religion as the pillars that bear the weight of a patriarchal culture. This body of work combines political activism, social commentary and medium experimentation that’s aim is to provoke the viewer’s idealistic gender expectations and their origins.
Misogynistic Sign Posts in American Culture
A research and studio project exploring the history of patriarchy and its manifestations in modern culture.
Jeanette Staley
Misogyny and religion are the pillars that bear the weight of our patriarchal culture. They shape gender expectations and social attitudes and beliefs that manifest as narrow policy that affects more than half of the population and that groups’ ability to flourish as individuals specifically, but for all of us as human beings eventually.
A History of Rape
Jeanette Staley’s first project, A History of Rape floor cloth, combines the reading and research with the domesticity of the floor covering. It was painted to be read while standing in the middle of it. A booklet accompany’s the piece that chronicle the “history of rape” in images beginning with the rape of Leda by Zeus through the 400 year history of slavery, ending at the White House in 2016.
Misogynistic Campaign
The following semester was a Misogynistic Campaign. Using collage to illustrate some of the grievances of the #METOO movement, Staley used these final paintings to create lawn signs, bumper stickers, and street signs to protest the patriarchal culture.
Complicity
By third semester, Staley began to venture into sculpture and video that explored gender expectations and the intersection and cultural tolerance of violence. Complicity, is an exploration into women’s indoctrination into our own subjugation as a handmade wedding dress, with the familiar phrases of patriarchy and religion stitched into the veil, “what did you do to make him leave” or “boys will be boys” for instance. Women hear these phrases but we also repeat them to each other.
A Family Values Album
Staley’s final project, A Family Values Album that compounds the history of humankind and our current social structure into a 3-minute video. It was projected onto a 30’ wall with visitors moving in and out of the images, casting shadows that became an integral part of the message.
