<p>Abstract</p><p>Purpose/Aim : My purpose with this essay is to analyse what men and women think is sexist in TV advertising. I have decided to focus my studie on Dressmann's advertising October- November 2004. I will do interviews with four different groups, two women groups and two men groups, which will include 3-4 people each. The two women groups have persons with an age between 20-30 and one with women older then 30. The men groups have also been divided into two similar groups. After this interviews I will do a semiotics analysis of three of Dressmann's tv-commercials, that I have choosen, who will confirm my hypothesis that it exists sex gender in commercial.</p><p>Material/Method: The primary data is four interviews with 14 people who are heterogeneous in age. I have also done a semiotic analysis of three commercial movies. I will begin my analysis to analyse the result from the interviews. Then I will analyse the results from the commercial advertises and finally combine these two results and use them in my conclusion.</p><p> Main Results: The result of my essay is that men and women have different point of view if the Dressmann's advertising is sexist or not. The younger generation of women do not accept these kind of advertisement and they think that advertising should not have sex allusion. They were more critical in comparison with the older women who thought that it existed more critical commercial. They thought that commercial for kids was worse then the Dressmann's advertising. The men´s opinion was that they thought that the commercial is sexy and not sexist. So they have no problem with it, becuase they think that men appreciate this kind of advertis because it´s sexy. To sum up, there is only one group who dislike this commercial and it was the younger generation of women.</p><p>Keywords: Dressmann, sexy advertising, gender</p>

Abstract Purpose/Aim : My purpose with this essay is to analyse what men and women think is sexist in TV advertising. I have decided to focus my studie on Dressmann's advertising October- November 2004. I will do interviews with four different groups, two women groups and two men groups, which will include 3-4 people each. The two women groups have persons with an age between 20-30 and one with women older then 30. The men groups have also been divided into two similar groups. After this interviews I will do a semiotics analysis of three of Dressmann's tv-commercials, that I have choosen, who will confirm my hypothesis that it exists sex gender in commercial. Material/Method: The primary data is four interviews with 14 people who are heterogeneous in age. I have also done a semiotic analysis of three commercial movies. I will begin my analysis to analyse the result from the interviews. Then I will analyse the results from the commercial advertises and finally combine these two results and use them in my conclusion. Main Results: The result of my essay is that men and women have different point of view if the Dressmann's advertising is sexist or not. The younger generation of women do not accept these kind of advertisement and they think that advertising should not have sex allusion. They were more critical in comparison with the older women who thought that it existed more critical commercial. They thought that commercial for kids was worse then the Dressmann's advertising. The men´s opinion was that they thought that the commercial is sexy and not sexist. So they have no problem with it, becuase they think that men appreciate this kind of advertis because it´s sexy. To sum up, there is only one group who dislike this commercial and it was the younger generation of women. Keywords: Dressmann, sexy advertising, gender

Orientadora: Silvana Martinez Baraldi Artoni / Banca: Carlos Alberto Vicentini / Banca: Marcos Lania de Araújo / Banca: Maria Rita Pacheco / Banca: Vanessa Sobue Franzo / Resumo: Neste trabalho foram utilizados 14 ovinos machos adultos, seis castrados e oito não castrados da raça Santa Inês com o peso médio de 32 kg. Foi realizado estudo macroscópico (topográfico e biométrico) e microscópico (histológico) das glândulas vesiculares e bulbouretrais com o objetivo de averiguar o comportamento dessas glândulas nos animais castrados e não castrados. Para o estudo macroscópico realizou-se a descrição destas duas glândulas, e avaliou-se a biometria após a dissecação e mensuração do peso, comprimento, altura e a largura das respectivas glândulas. Para a histologia foram obtidos fragmentos das respectivas glândulas os quais foram recortados, obteu-se cortes histológicos de cinco micrômetros sendo diafanizados em benzol e processados para inclusão do material em paraplast e corados com Hematoxilina-eosina e fotodocumentados em fotomicroscópio Olympus BX 50. Morfologicamente pode-se documentar que toda a sua topografia apresentou semelhança à espécie bovina, e na biometria evidenciouse medidas macroscópicas menores (p<0,05) das glândulas de ovinos castrados em relação aos não castrados, exceto para o peso vivo dos animais e peso relativo das glândulas vesiculares (p>0,05). Histologicamente verificou-se que a glândula vesicular é um tubo enrolado sobre si mesmo seccionado em diferentes posições. Separando-o há uma delgada camada de tecido conjuntivo frouxo. A mucosa é pregueada e o epitélio é prismático simples com células altas ricas. A lâmina própria possui fibras elásticas e está envolta por uma camada muscular lisa, constituída por duas lâminas: uma interna, de fibras circulares e outra externa, de fibras longitudinais. A camada adventícia é constituída por tecido conjuntivo frouxo. Os ductos excretores principais estão revestidos por epitélio prismático biestratificado... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: In this project, 14 adult male sheep were used. six of them were castrated and eight non-castrated, and they were all Santa Ines breed, weighing 32kg in average. A macroscopic (topographic and biometric) and microscopic (histologic) study of the vesicular and bulbourethral glands was carried out with the aim of investigating the behavior of these glands in the castrated and non-castrated animals. For the macroscopic study, the description of these two glands was carried out, and the biometry after the dissecation, and weight, length, height and width measurement of the respective glands was evaluated. For the histology, fragments of these glands were obtained and cut. The obtained histological cuts of five micrometers were diaphanized in benzol and processed for the inclusion of the material in paraplast and stained with Hematoxylin and eosin and photo documented in photomicroscope Olympus BX 50. Morphologically, all its topography can be documented presenting similarity to the bovine species, and in the biometry it has evidenced smaller macroscopic measurements (p<0,05) comparing the glands of the castrated ovines and the non-castrated ones, except for the live weight of the animals and relative weight of the vesicular glands (p>0,05). Histologically, it has been verified that the vesicular gland is a tube coiled round itself sectioned at different positions. There is a thin layer of loose connective tissue separating it. The mucosa is wrinkled and the simple prismatic epithelium is composed of high cells that are rich. The blade itself has elastic fibers and is wrapped by a layer of smooth muscle, composed by two blades: an internal one, composed of circular fibers and an external one, composed of longitudinal fibers. The tunica adventitia is composed by loose connective tissue. The main excretory ducts are covered by bistratified prismatic epithelium... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

139f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-11T18:41:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Jucelia Ribeiroseg.pdf: 774723 bytes, checksum: 9801b6b9f68fa8975488cd390d96624c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Alice Ribeiro(malice@ufba.br) on 2013-05-02T15:59:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Jucelia Ribeiroseg.pdf: 774723 bytes, checksum: 9801b6b9f68fa8975488cd390d96624c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-02T15:59:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Jucelia Ribeiroseg.pdf: 774723 bytes, checksum: 9801b6b9f68fa8975488cd390d96624c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003 / Esta dissertação focalizou o processo de socialização infanto-juvenil no que diz respeito às relações de gênero e exercício da sexualidade, a partir de uma perspectiva sócioantropológica. O trabalho baseou-se em pesquisa de cunho etnográfico, que teve como alvo grupos de crianças de ambos os sexos, dos 5 aos 14 anos, pertencentes a famílias de classes populares de uma comunidade situada na Ilha de Itaparica, Baía de Todos os Santos, Estado da Bahia. A pesquisa orientou-se para a observação do comportamento dos meninos e meninas tanto no âmbito doméstico-familiar e na escola quanto em espaços de lazer, tais como a praia e uma praça, local onde as crianças brincam e interagem, geralmente longe da supervisão dos adultos. A investigação valeu-se, também, de entrevistas formais e informais com pais, outros parentes, professores e as próprias crianças, com o propósito de identificar normas, valores e práticas relativos a gênero e construção da sexualidade no mundo infantoinfantil. O trabalho mostrou que, apesar da forte influência da família e da escola na socialização primária, as crianças internalizam, reproduzem e reelaboram representações sobre as relações de gênero e conduta sexual adequada, sobretudo com seus pares e, principalmente, no contexto de diferentes jogos e brincadeiras infantis. Isso garante que, a partir dos sete anos de idade, os grupos etários já se dividam por sexo, demarcando os comportamentos apropriados para “meninos-machos” e “meninas-fêmeas”: enquanto eles se afirmam externalizando a sua sexualidade, elas são treinadas, desde cedo, a negá-la, mostrando-se sempre recatadas. O estudo analisou as representações e as práticas dos grupos observados nesse processo socializador, revelando como gênero e sexualidade são construídos socialmente, dependendo dos contextos em que se dão as diferentes interações sociais. / Salvador

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-12-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:41:46Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 neves_cc_dr_jabo.pdf: 2791304 bytes, checksum: 7af619b3158300bba96bd70e5b01b52a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Neste trabalho foram utilizados 14 ovinos machos adultos, seis castrados e oito não castrados da raça Santa Inês com o peso médio de 32 kg. Foi realizado estudo macroscópico (topográfico e biométrico) e microscópico (histológico) das glândulas vesiculares e bulbouretrais com o objetivo de averiguar o comportamento dessas glândulas nos animais castrados e não castrados. Para o estudo macroscópico realizou-se a descrição destas duas glândulas, e avaliou-se a biometria após a dissecação e mensuração do peso, comprimento, altura e a largura das respectivas glândulas. Para a histologia foram obtidos fragmentos das respectivas glândulas os quais foram recortados, obteu-se cortes histológicos de cinco micrômetros sendo diafanizados em benzol e processados para inclusão do material em paraplast e corados com Hematoxilina-eosina e fotodocumentados em fotomicroscópio Olympus BX 50. Morfologicamente pode-se documentar que toda a sua topografia apresentou semelhança à espécie bovina, e na biometria evidenciouse medidas macroscópicas menores (p<0,05) das glândulas de ovinos castrados em relação aos não castrados, exceto para o peso vivo dos animais e peso relativo das glândulas vesiculares (p>0,05). Histologicamente verificou-se que a glândula vesicular é um tubo enrolado sobre si mesmo seccionado em diferentes posições. Separando-o há uma delgada camada de tecido conjuntivo frouxo. A mucosa é pregueada e o epitélio é prismático simples com células altas ricas. A lâmina própria possui fibras elásticas e está envolta por uma camada muscular lisa, constituída por duas lâminas: uma interna, de fibras circulares e outra externa, de fibras longitudinais. A camada adventícia é constituída por tecido conjuntivo frouxo. Os ductos excretores principais estão revestidos por epitélio prismático biestratificado... / In this project, 14 adult male sheep were used. six of them were castrated and eight non-castrated, and they were all Santa Ines breed, weighing 32kg in average. A macroscopic (topographic and biometric) and microscopic (histologic) study of the vesicular and bulbourethral glands was carried out with the aim of investigating the behavior of these glands in the castrated and non-castrated animals. For the macroscopic study, the description of these two glands was carried out, and the biometry after the dissecation, and weight, length, height and width measurement of the respective glands was evaluated. For the histology, fragments of these glands were obtained and cut. The obtained histological cuts of five micrometers were diaphanized in benzol and processed for the inclusion of the material in paraplast and stained with Hematoxylin and eosin and photo documented in photomicroscope Olympus BX 50. Morphologically, all its topography can be documented presenting similarity to the bovine species, and in the biometry it has evidenced smaller macroscopic measurements (p<0,05) comparing the glands of the castrated ovines and the non-castrated ones, except for the live weight of the animals and relative weight of the vesicular glands (p>0,05). Histologically, it has been verified that the vesicular gland is a tube coiled round itself sectioned at different positions. There is a thin layer of loose connective tissue separating it. The mucosa is wrinkled and the simple prismatic epithelium is composed of high cells that are rich. The blade itself has elastic fibers and is wrapped by a layer of smooth muscle, composed by two blades: an internal one, composed of circular fibers and an external one, composed of longitudinal fibers. The tunica adventitia is composed by loose connective tissue. The main excretory ducts are covered by bistratified prismatic epithelium... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

No description available.

Reports on sexual activity among U.S. adolescents have shown a rise in their seriousness (Martino, Collins, Elliott, Strachman, Kanouse, & Berry, 2006). Such young sexual initiation is seen as a predictor of overall riskier sexual behavior such as having a multitude of sexual partners, not using any protective birth control and taking part in unwanted sex (Brown, L'Engle, Pardun, Guo, Kenneavy, & Jackson, 2006; Martino et at., 2006; Parkes, Wight, Hunt, Henderson, & Sargent, 2013; Price & Hyde, 2009; Primack, Douglas, Fine, & Dalton, 2009; Steinberg & Monahan, 2010). It is apparent that such riskier sexual behaviors result in higher rates of STI's and unwanted pregnancies (Brown et al., 2006; Parkes et al., 2013; Price & Hyde, 2009; Primack et al., 2009; Martino et al., 2006; Steinberg & Monahan, 2010). In September 2007, the United States Congress held a hearing on the gravity of sexual music content and their relationship to risky sexual behavior (Kistler & Lee, 2009). Recognition has also been found through studies, including some self-reported, concluding that young populations seek out entertainment media to facilitate as a tool of insight into personal development in the areas of sexual norms, and as a means of reference in establishing their own identities (Brown et al., 2006; Coyne et al., 2013; Coyne & Padilla-Walker, 2015; Primack et al., 2009). Music has been suggested to have the largest personality developing influence when compared to other media forms (Primack et al., 2009). Being that adolescence is the time of accepting or rejecting normalizations, including those distorted, (Turner, 2011) it remains a subject group that provides great value to this study. An organized computer search was directed with the assistance of MedLine, PsycINFO, Communications, and Mass Media in April and May 2017 in search of relevant articles. From here strategic elimination of those without inclusion criteria were made. The remaining data was coded and assessed through the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software program. Although, suitable to both random and fixed effect models, only random models were reported in accordance to Hunter and Schmidt's (2005) argument on population variation. Positive effects signified associations with music in the form of lyrics or video and that to sexual behaviors. All studies presented said positive relationship in support of the music as sexual behavior indicator perspective. Generally, music is not something people are thinking critically about (Burgess & Burpo, 2012) bringing light to the closer but still not reached need in media literacy education. This is essential as it is not realistic to expect media to stop selling sex, therefore the responsibility for change lies in those who can use this knowledge to promote its awareness and ultimately help our youth become better prepared for making healthy, responsible deductions out of the sexually clad music we all enjoy. It is true that the wheels are already in motion (Wright et al., 2016; Wright, Dillman Carpentier, Hopper, & Warburton, 2017); the goal of this study was to keep up its momentum to continue propelling the movement forward.

Cette étude explore la transformation des critères normatifs qui donnent accès au statut de femmes respectables à travers le concept de nouveau sujet féminin discuté par Radner (1999), Gill (2008; 2012) et McRobbie (1993; 2009) où l’idée de recherche active de « sexiness » chez les femmes à l’époque contemporaine est centrale. Le post-féminisme, une formation discursive qui émerge dans les années 1980, est identifié comme étant à l’origine de ces transformations. Cette position identitaire permettrait aux femmes de résister aux stigmates attachés à celles qui se posent comme sujet sexuel actif plutôt que comme objet sexuel passif et conduirait ainsi à l’« empowerment » sexuel. Or, cette vision du nouveau sujet féminin est contestée puisqu’elle ne représenterait qu’une seule possibilité d’émancipation à travers le corps et deviendrait par sa force normative un nouveau régime disciplinaire du genre féminin. L’interprétation valable à donner au nouveau sujet féminin représente un débat polarisé dans les milieux féministes et ce mémoire cherche à y apporter des éléments de discussion par l’étude des motivations des femmes à s’inscrire à des cours de pole-fitness et des significations qu’elles donnent à leur pratique. Ce mémoire apporte des éléments à la compréhension de l’impact de cette recherche de « sexiness » sur la subjectivité des femmes à travers les concepts de pratiques disciplinaires et stratégies de résistance. / This study explores the new female subject of postfeminism centred on the idea of ‘classy’ sexiness that represents a transformation from the traditional bourgeois femininity focused on passive sexuality. The possibility for women to represent themselves as active sexual subjects is understood by postfeminism writers as a way to transgress the stigmata attached to those who do not behave as mute and passive sexual objects. This transformation in normative femininity have been criticised due to the fact that it may represents only one form of power given to women which is limited to the sexualised body and thus supports heteronormative relations. In this vision, the new female subject operates as a disciplinary discourse by the injunction to constitute oneself through sexiness. The interpretation of this new female subject causes divergent opinions within feminist circles. The need to obtain an interpretation of this new female subject that will take in consideration both the possibilities of resistance to patriarchy and heteronormativity as well as the regulative aspects of this limited version of femininity based on sexiness represents a tense fray in the feminist communities. This study aims to enrich this debate by gaining a deeper understanding of what drives women to enroll in pole dancing classes and what meanings they attach to this activity. The main objective is to shed new light on the impact of this search for sexiness on female subjectivities based on the tense relation between disciplinary practices and strategies of resistance.

Cette étude explore la transformation des critères normatifs qui donnent accès au statut de femmes respectables à travers le concept de nouveau sujet féminin discuté par Radner (1999), Gill (2008; 2012) et McRobbie (1993; 2009) où l’idée de recherche active de « sexiness » chez les femmes à l’époque contemporaine est centrale. Le post-féminisme, une formation discursive qui émerge dans les années 1980, est identifié comme étant à l’origine de ces transformations. Cette position identitaire permettrait aux femmes de résister aux stigmates attachés à celles qui se posent comme sujet sexuel actif plutôt que comme objet sexuel passif et conduirait ainsi à l’« empowerment » sexuel. Or, cette vision du nouveau sujet féminin est contestée puisqu’elle ne représenterait qu’une seule possibilité d’émancipation à travers le corps et deviendrait par sa force normative un nouveau régime disciplinaire du genre féminin. L’interprétation valable à donner au nouveau sujet féminin représente un débat polarisé dans les milieux féministes et ce mémoire cherche à y apporter des éléments de discussion par l’étude des motivations des femmes à s’inscrire à des cours de pole-fitness et des significations qu’elles donnent à leur pratique. Ce mémoire apporte des éléments à la compréhension de l’impact de cette recherche de « sexiness » sur la subjectivité des femmes à travers les concepts de pratiques disciplinaires et stratégies de résistance. / This study explores the new female subject of postfeminism centred on the idea of ‘classy’ sexiness that represents a transformation from the traditional bourgeois femininity focused on passive sexuality. The possibility for women to represent themselves as active sexual subjects is understood by postfeminism writers as a way to transgress the stigmata attached to those who do not behave as mute and passive sexual objects. This transformation in normative femininity have been criticised due to the fact that it may represents only one form of power given to women which is limited to the sexualised body and thus supports heteronormative relations. In this vision, the new female subject operates as a disciplinary discourse by the injunction to constitute oneself through sexiness. The interpretation of this new female subject causes divergent opinions within feminist circles. The need to obtain an interpretation of this new female subject that will take in consideration both the possibilities of resistance to patriarchy and heteronormativity as well as the regulative aspects of this limited version of femininity based on sexiness represents a tense fray in the feminist communities. This study aims to enrich this debate by gaining a deeper understanding of what drives women to enroll in pole dancing classes and what meanings they attach to this activity. The main objective is to shed new light on the impact of this search for sexiness on female subjectivities based on the tense relation between disciplinary practices and strategies of resistance.

Preface: Thank you to all the women in my life who have supported me through this process; to my mother, to my other mother (Susan), to Kara, to Jordan and, of course, to Dolly. Summary: (S)examensarbete is a journey through which I have questioned if knitting can be sexy. It begins as a need to occupy my hands and goes on to encompass social media, a feminist view of the body, Dolly Parton, pin-ups, craftivism, interactivity and humor as a mechanism to hide the urge/need to be sexy. Through the journey, I allow myself to rely on the process to carry the project along and that is why so many aspects of the theme are addressed. Eventually, I, as the artist, am present in the final piece to ask the public to share their personal view of knitting and to show my own process and understanding of this traditional technique. I combine social media in the form of Instagram to show one side of the project, a modern, instantly global form of filtered visual communication, with the performative aspect of being present during the exhibit to knit and interact with an irl audience. 1.1 Background During my studies at Konstfack, I have attempted to understand why I find knitting so satisfactory. According to my knitting bible, The Culture of Knitting by Joanne Turney, “Knitting is both fun and sexy, it is humorous and not particularly threatening.” I have a diplomatic personality and humor is my go-to form of communication so it makes sense that I have a soft spot for a technique with a similar description. To say knitting is sexy on the other hand may raise some questions. In my years of working with this technique I have come to understand that knitting, as both the verb and the noun, is not viewed as desirable or even a method to create art for that matter. Knitting is considered to be the pastime of elderly wimmin who have nothing better to do and the results from this hobby are neither attractive nor practical. In this definition, there is nothing sexy about it. So what is sexy? According to the less-than-credible website Urban Dictionary, one of the popular definitions of sexy is as follows: “An intangible attribute. You need not be model thin nor movie star gorgeous to be sexy. Sexy is the whole package, including that “certain something” that you can’t quite put your finger on.” I have to say that I agree with this definition. And perhaps knitting can have this “intangible attribute” if displayed in a slightly unconventional way. In my exam project, I have presented textile handcrafts on my body through the lens of social media to see if knitting can in fact be sexy. 1.2 Purpose and Questions Knitting and humor seem to go hand-in-hand. In The Culture of Knitting, Turney introduces today’s knitting as a postmodern technique and goes on to explain that one of the main aspects of postmodernism is the use of humor. “Humour arises as a response to the presumed, expected or anticipated; it challenges and distorts what the audience believes they ‘know’. It is also disrespectful, rejecting traditional niceties and etiquette in order to make a challenging and witty statement.” This is indeed one of the reasons I find using knitting to create art so accessible: knitting has a built-in sense of humor. Humor is a way for people to cross social boundaries and communicate and I aim to use it in my artistic practice to do just that. Art that can communicate with a variety of people has a particular strength, no matter how simple the concept. In my exam project, I contrast the popular understanding of knitting and crocheting as outdated and undesirable with images of these techniques as youthful, sexual and thereby desirable in modern society. The purpose of this project is to use this humorous clash to invite the viewer into the piece and prompt the question, “Can knitting be sexy?” Although I have used different textile handcrafts in the making of the images, the focus of the project is on knitting. I have also chosen to briefly mention knitting as a feminist notion but will concentrate on the aspects of humor and sexiness. The images are all of me because this project has been an exploration of my relation to knitting and the “selfie” culture. The intended viewer of (S)examensarbete is the average adult of any sex living in the same society as me, fed daily by instant imagery and social media. 1.3 Method I have chosen to use my exam project as a chance to break routines in my artistic practice. In the past I have always worked with long-term projects that have had little room for exploration in the processes. My last gig at Konstfack feels like the ultimate opportunity to redefine my approach to working with art. I have therefore chosen to have a loosely defined overall theme of using my skill and my own body to project sexiness. I have allowed myself to listen to my gut feeling and focus on the process, not the result. This concept has created a tension in my project which has affected the way I work and has influenced my choice in formatting this paper. I have narrated my process honestly and have included segments of my personal diary to enhance the feeling of sincerity. 2.0 Main Text In December 2015, I began a process that I called Becoming Conscious. It was a step-by-step plan in how I should become more aware of the everyday choices I was making that were ultimately shaping my life. By January I had made some changes, like ending a long-term relationship, being more attentive to how I was dressing myself and brushing my teeth with my left hand. I realized that my “consciousness project” had become more focused on my physical body and I now referred to it as The Conscious Body. January 2nd, 2016: I’m also glad I’ve started photographing my body once a day, starting January 1, 2016. I hope that I will continue with this process as well for atleast the remainder of this project and ultimately every day 2016, 366 days to make a 366 image GIF/video. That would be an awesome project. This project is a lot about the body, my body. It’s about listening to it, dressing it, taking care of it, presenting it, piercing it. I can directly relate to the thoughts of Roxane Gay in her book Bad Feminist. In her essay Reaching for Catharsis, Gay wonders if body fixation isn’t just part of the human condition since we can never escape our physical forms. I agree that we’re pretty much forced to focus on our bodies and I think becoming aware of this led my process in this direction. Sitting in a discussion in class one day, I picked up some knitting simply to have something to occupy my hands. After an hour of mindless knitting, I realized what I was doing and decided to make my mindless knitting mindful and knit a pair of pants. These pants sparked new thoughts in my process. January 20th, 2016: I can’t decide if I should post the picture I took of myself in the knitted pants on instagram or not. I mean, you can’t see my face, but you see that I’m wearing a red push up bra and a red stringy thong and sky high glittery golden heels.Maybe part of my exam project is about not being afraid of expressing my body.My gut is telling me to do it. [...] I mean, it’s my body. I can do whatever I want with it. I ended up posting the picture and received positive response from my friends and classmates. I knew that many of the people who had “liked” the image were strong females and other feminists, which I found very relieving. I had been afraid that these wimmin would feel as if I was just posing, using my appearance to get attention and validation, yet they seemed to accept the image. What made this image any different from any other young woman showing skin on Instagram? Was it the fact that they knew me and knew I was doing it ironically? Was it because I was wearing colorful knitted pants, in contrast to the sexy heels and underwear and typical mirror selfie? After this initial image, I began researching Instagram in particular since it was the channel through which I made my image public. An article by Elizabeth Winkler entitled The Manufactured Life introduces Instagram as “our latest form of deception”. Winkler explains that the posed image controls our day-to-day lives in a sense that unless you post a picture of yourself doing something, it didn’t happen. Other people have to see what you did and acknowledge your action and its presentation by “like”-ing your image. In Notes to Self: The Visual Culture of Selfies in the Age of Social Media, Derek Conrad Murray delves into the “selfie” in particular, and how this form of imagery is dominated by young wimmin. Murray sees this self-expression from two angles. The selfie can be: a way for people with low self-esteem to desperately seek affirmation and/or: a method for wimmin to take control of how they are viewed by a male-dominated world and seize their inner feminine sexuality. I relate both these texts to my exam project. Initially I simply wanted to show friends and family the work I was doing, as a sort of proof. When I noticed the contrast between the deceptive reality that digital imagery portrays and the honest materiality of the handcrafted subject, I decided to use Instagram as a tool in my process. Instagram is young, modern and sexy. Posting my images to this social media would contextualize them with the images of other undressed young wimmin. Would my images be sexy or would the fact that I was dressed in witty handcrafts inhibit that feeling? To explore these thoughts further, I began researching the relationship between wimmin and their appearance. I read the glorious book The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. Wolf addresses how the beauty ideal forced on wimmin is the main reason why we are still not treated equally. Wolf discusses “beauty” in relation to a broad span of topics such as violence, religion, porn and eating disorders. On the second page of the book, early in the introduction, Wolf writes in plain text, “What I support in this book is a woman’s right to choose what she wants to look like and what she wants to be.” In the last chapter of the book, Wolf reiterates. “I am not attacking anything that makes women feel good; only what makes us feel bad in the first place. We all like to be desirable and feel beautiful.” Reading this encouraged me to continue exploring my project in relation to my own female body. The next image I posted to my Instagram account under the theme #xxxjobb was a piece called Titshirt. I had taken a picture of my own hands covering my breasts. I printed the hands off on fabric transfer paper and ironed them onto a simple white t-shirt. I photographed myself in the Titshirt, again posing somewhat suggestively. While on the topic of tits, I started relating my project to Dolly Parton. January 28th 2016: Dolly’s “look”: “If you’re a star, you owe it to your fans to look like one.”Dolly has this trashy look, she admits it herself. She maxes out, both her image and everything she does. She is extreme. And, her image is one of the reasons she is so well known. But the reason she is respected is because of the person behind the made up disguise.The Beauty Myth talked about how women should be allowed to dress exactly how they like, as long as they are putting on makeup and wearing accentuating clothes because THEY want to and not because of what men want. But that is a blurry line. Because we all desire to be desired. When do you know if you are doing something for yourself or when you are doing it for someone else? We want to be liked and respected. Maybe respect is a big part of it. I grew up listening to Dolly Parton’s music and have always seen her as a role model. When I moved to Sweden I realized that not only did I share this view with fellow Swedes but that the majority of those who looked up to Parton were outspoken feminists. How could someone who seems to build her entire image on the desire to fulfill modern body ideals at any cost be idolized by strong, independent wimmin? After listening to Parton’s autobiography My Life and Other Unfinished Business and reading several articles focused on her “hyper-feminine” image, I began to understand that Dolly Parton has simply used her image to manipulate the patriarchal system to achieve her own goals. She has, both in her musical career and in her star image, used her femininity to challenge social structures within the boundaries of what is accepted (and even desired) of modern wimmin. I saw a trend in my process that I could relate to Parton’s visual expression and wanted to document it, so I dressed myself up in a big curly blonde wig and false eyelashes, stuffed my oversized bra and posed for the camera. One Sunday afternoon, my friend and I went to Drottninggatan with some sidewalk chalk and started drawing. We drew whatever came to mind and many of those who walked by encouraged us to continue. This activity inspired me to look into art in the public realm. I have always felt that art should be available to everyone and not locked inside a white cube for a select audience. I feel that simply making art outside makes it more approachable to a broader public. Continuing on the theme of using my femininity to attract attention, I photographed myself knitting, dressed in lingerie with glued on eyelashes and nails. I titled the image Just a Bit of Casual Knitting. The purpose of the image was to show the obvious clash between the picture and it’s description. It is apparent that I had put effort into looking appealing to the viewer and was not simply relaxing with a handcraft (as that would have been nearly impossible with those nails). It was also a commentary on how much effort people put into projecting a flawless image of themselves on social media. The next image in my #xxxjobb series was of my own bottom dressed in a pair of fuzzy knitted underpants. In You Can Look Butt You Can’t Touch, I contrasted the homely idea of knitting with the daring, young and sexy and also the pure irrationality of wearing knitted undergarments. In the title I incorporated the flatness of the image and the concept of Instagram itself; that the image could please only the visual sense when textiles are in general associated with tactility and real touch. Next in line was Not Your Granny’s Panties, a matching crocheted bra/panty set. In the title of this image, I played with the terms “granny panty” meaning large, nonsexual wimmin’s underwear and “granny square”, a handcraft technique unmistakably associated with the unthreatening concept of a grandmother. By using both these phrases to contrast the image of the young womon in the skimpy underwear, I created a humorous clash. As research for this project, I explored a variety of knitting books focused on raunchy DIY patterns with titles such as Domiknitrix, Naughty Needles, and Sexy Little Knits. The modeled images in Naughty Needles by Nikol Lohr and the titles of the projects (Baby Blue Ball Gag, Felt Up, Mrs. Robinson) all have a jokey feel. It is as if the humor in the pieces make them accessible to people without causing them to feel guilt. Lohr writes, “Usually ball gags are menacing, but knit out of colorful acrylic grandma yarn, they’re downright cute.” Because of the general understanding of knitting as something nostalgic and historically domestic, as soon as knitting is used to create something that doesn’t fit that description, a clash occurs. It is within this postmodern clash that I hope to make my project accessible to a wide audience. While some of the aforementioned books briefly address why they claim the act and the results of knitting are sexy, the majority of my understanding of textile handcrafts as something above and beyond that of hobbies for elderly wimmin comes from Turney’s The Culture of Knitting. Chapter four entitled Unravelling the Surface: Unhomely Knitting informs of how knitting and heteronormative sex are directly related. Knitting as an activity is penetrative; stitches are formed through the penetration of a needle, the tight looping of yarn around it and its withdrawal. The equation of knitting with the sexual act is a theme that permeates the current knitting revival:[...] one can see the irony in knitting as a form of pornography.This new emphasis on knitting as sexually deviant and sexually empowering may well be a consequence of the new feminism, and indeed the ensuing rise of a raunch culture in which women are increasingly reclaiming feminine pastimes whilst expressing their desires in a way which, historically, had been the remit of men. Although I find the comparison of knitting to penetrative sex pretty far-fetched, I feel that it still has enough weight to be mentioned. The fact that Turney has made this comparison and describes knitting as pornography examines a depth of knitting as an act that grants wimmin the opportunity to feel sexy within themselves. With this skill set, wimmin can express their own desires and the humor that so closely accompanies knitting can be used as an excuse or a justification for these expressions. For Fits Like a Glove, I knitted a pair of gloves with extra-long ribbing and connected thumbs and sewed the gloves together to create a bra. Instead of knitting two pieces that looked like gloves, I knitted two actual gloves so that hands could in fact fill them, as the title suggests. I feel that this factor adds a kind of flat tactility as the viewer is able to imagine even clearer how placing ones hands in this position (and vis-a-vis on the breasts of the wearer) would feel. I purposely made the gloves to fit my small “feminine” hands as to not make it possible for the average man to fill the gloves. In this way, I cater to the imagination of the heterosexual adult male viewer, but not the actual touch, as with the concept of the image. If you image search for “sexy knitting” on Google, a selection of pictures of wimmin wearing very little yarn will come up. A few of these images are paintings by Harry Ekman, an American pin-up artist active during the 1960’s. The wimmin in a couple of his paintings are either knitting or unraveling the sweaters they are wearing to reveal the bottom halves of their breasts. I was instantly intrigued by these paintings because they seemed so ridiculous. There was something particular about the images where the models were working with handcrafts that made them feel unrealistic in comparison to the pictures of wimmin on the beach or in the bedroom. I knitted my own cropped sweater and posted an image of myself wearing and simultaneously knitting it (an act which is technically impossible). Perhaps the vintage concept of the pin-up is equivalent to the modern “post-up” on Instagram. Now it was time to figure out how I wanted to present my project. This is what I said to myself: “I have three goals. I want to use simple contrasts (like sexiness and knitting), I want to use humor in the contrasts to communicate (a way to open up my project to the viewer) and I want it to be simple.” I decided I was going to make a short film of people’s hands scrolling through my Instagram images. This I would present indoors, to show my process as part of the exhibit. Based off of my experience of drawing on a public street with sidewalk chalk, I also decided to knit two sun chairs that I would present outdoors, in between the entrances of Konstfack and the Black Building. The fact that I had chosen to be outdoors felt symbolic. I see the strength in working from within one’s boundaries (i.e. inside the white cube or as Dolly Parton does within a male-dominated industry), yet the desire for my work to feel more relaxed and be exhibited where one might actually find sun chairs felt more relevant. I would be present during periods of the Spring Exhibit, sitting in one of the chairs and inviting others to sit in the chair beside me. The knitted body of the chairs would be a silhouette of my body. A “selfie stick” would be present to make it easy for the person to photograph themselves and possibly post the image to their own Instagram accounts under the hashtag #123sexy. In this situation, I plan on asking the person sitting in the chair beside me, “Can knitting be sexy?” Is it a coincidence that every artist that tutors have suggested I look into regarding my work are female? I have chosen to contextualize (S)examensarbete with the work of three acclaimed artists within different fields. I relate (S)examensarbete to both the sculptural and photographical work of Sarah Lucas. Much of Lucas’ work addresses feminine sexuality with a humoristic tone. She uses banal symbolism, just as melons to symbolize breasts, as well as witty and punning titles of her work. Lucas is also often present in her photographs just as I am, posing for the camera. While my imagery identifies with the selfie culture, Sarah Lucas work caters to a more established art scene. When I first started using Instagram as a place to project an alter ego, I immediately received obliging comments such as “Cecilia Sherman” and “The Swedish Cindy Sherman”. I can particularly relate to Cindy Sherman’s photography in (S)examensarbete. In an interview with John Waters in the book Cindy Sherman, Sherman discusses why single-handedly producing all of her own portraits came naturally to her. She expresses a desire she has to pretend to be someone else, someone she does not want to actively be around other people. (S)examensarbete is a way for me to explore other personalities through my own image that I wouldn’t dare actively exhibit. I see similarities between the process behind (S)examensarbete and the French artist Sophie Calle’s work. According to an interview in The Guardian from 2009, Calle did not initially consider her activities to be artwork. She was simply living her life and filling her time. In the beginning of (S)examensarbete, my intentions were purely personal as well. Even after identifying herself as an artist, Calle seems to have very loose boundaries between her role as an artist and her everyday life. I admire this approach to working within the artistic field and hope that my exam project will lead me in this direction. Beyond the realm of art and solo artists, I must also mention the world of public knitting and the term “craftivism” as a whole. In her book Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism, Betsy Greer describes the correlation of craft to activism as such: “The creation of things by hand leads to a better understanding of democracy, because it reminds us that we have power,” and that “the very essense of craftivism lies in creating something that gets people to ask questions; we invite others to join a conversation about the social and political intent of our creations.” (S)examensarbete is about questioning knitting as a form of sexual self-expression and therefore falls under the category of craftivism, however offputting the term may be. I have refrained from mentioning craftivism earlier because I have yet to find a handknitted garment that I honestly find to be sexy, and that’s exactly my point. Through the craftivist movement, we can understand that textile handcrafts can raise awareness to an abundance of sociopolitical issues, but are the products or garments produced aesthetically pleasing or desirable? That being said, I would like to mention the textile artist Magda Sayeg as an inspiration to my work. I stumbled apon her website while researching the “yarn-bombing” group Knitta and there is a certain degree of edginess in Sayeg’s work that I relate to (S)examensarbete. Although I am a huge fan of humor and see it as an important tool, I think Sayeg’s work is an example of how knitting can be a strong form of communication without the use of humor as a main focus. Much of Sayegs work is based on knitting in different objects, such as buses, statues, pilars, etc., and she has done several projects in cooperation with different businesses, like Gap, Toyota and 7-Up. Even if she knits by hand, the ending result does not have the same aesthetic as the DIY movement and that is what attracts me to her way of working with textiles. She seems to take knitting seriously, using it in a professional sense and in my opinion, successfully making knitting appealing. 3.1 Documentation 3.2 Discussion My project as a whole benefited tremendously from the comments and insights from my opponent, Johanna Rosenqvist. Having worked with very similar topics, she understood the purpose and goal behind (S)examensarbete and inspired me to relate my work to established knitting artists and craftivism. Through this, I was able to better understand why I had avoided comparing myself to these topics earlier. I realized that (S)examensarbete is about exploring an aesthetic (sexiness) that I hadn’t seen within the knitting field before. So... can knitting be sexy? During the Spring Exhibit, I sat in one of the knitted bikini chairs and knitted away, with Dolly Parton singing in the background. Due to cold weather, I was forced to sit inside much of the exhibit, next to my video of fingers scrolling through my instagram images. Sometimes I felt embarassed by the pictures on the screen, since I no longer had the virtual world of social media to hide behind. I was there, in the flesh, to see how people reacted. But past this feeling of shame, I also had many interesting discussions with a variety of visitors. I would ask the question, “Can knitting be sexy?”, not necessarily with the intention of an answer, and I would usually recieve a direct response, along with a suggestion or two. One visitor suggested I knit with latex, since latex is the textile directly associated with sex. Others suggested knitting with flashier yarn or bigger stitches. I recieved stories from pubescent years of sexy sweaters and crocheted bikinis and see-through knitted dresses. Several older men told me that they had chosen textile studies instead of woodworking when they were in school and one of them had even been featured in a local newspaper since it was so unusual. I discussed sex, an array of different artists and even Eurovision Song Contest with people I would probably never had an excuse to talk to if it wasn’t for my project. After 10 days of being present at the exhibit and interacting and discussing with visitors, my understanding of the overall consensus is that sure, knitting can be sexy. I’d like to think that (S)examensarbete sparked new thoughts in a few people’s heads about what a traditional handcraft technique like knitting can be. The process-based process behind this project has lead to a better understanding of myself, both personally and as an artist. I have experienced both the freedom in not having a strict goal from day one and I have also felt the insecurity that has followed suit. I have relied on step-by-step plans in the past because they provide stability and a kind of safety net if my inspiration begins to falter. In the future, I see myself continuing to work with a goal in mind, yet forcing myself out of my comfort zone to test new methods as I did in (S)examensarbete, such as interactive pieces where I as the artist am present. 4.0 Bibliography Books Foster, Hal. “Marcay, Calle, Coleman, and Kentridge.” Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. London: Thames &amp; Hudson, 2011. N. pag. Print. Gay, Roxane, and Helena Hansson. Bad Feminist. Stockholm: Bonnier, 2015. Print. Greer, Betsy. Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp, 2014. Print Lohr, Nikol. Naughty Needles: Sexy, Saucy Knits for the Bedroom and Beyond. New York: Potter Craft, 2006. Print. Malik, Amna. Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel. London: Afterall, 2009. Print. Martignette, Charles G., and Louis K. Meisel. “Harry Ekman.” The Great American Pin-Up. Köln: Taschen, 2011. N. pag. Print. Parton, Dolly. My Life and Other Unfinished Business. London: HarperCollins, 1994. Print. Stafford, Jennifer. Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape. Cincinnati, OH: North Light, 2007. Print. Turney, Joanne. The Culture of Knitting. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Print. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: Perennial, 2002. Print. Newspapers/Magazine/Journals Hoggard, Liz. “Naughty Knitting.” Crafts Mar.-Apr. 2005: 38-41. Print. Murray, Derek Conrad. “Notes to Self: The Visual Culture of Selfies in the Age of Social Media.” Consumption Markets &amp; Culture 18:6: 490-516. Print. Wilson, Pamela. “Mountains of Contradictions: Gender, Class and Region in the Star Image of Dolly Parton.” South Atlantic Quarterly Winter 1995: 109-34. Web. Winkler, Elizabeth. “The Manufactured Life.” New Republic Mar2016, Vol. 247 Issue 3: 16-17. Print Websites Jeffries, Stuart. “Sophie Calle: Stalker, Stripper, Sleeper, Spy.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. Sayeg, Magda. “Magda Sayeg’s Portfolio.” Magdasayeg’s Portfolio. N.p., 2013. Web. 06 May 2016. / Förord: Tack till alla kvinnor i mitt liv som har stöttat mig genom denna process; till min mamma, till min andra mamma (Susan), till Kara, till Jordan och, så klart, till Dolly. Sammanfattning: (S)examensarbete är en resa genom vilket jag har ifrågasatt om stickning kan vara sexigt. Det börjar med ett behov av att vara sysselsatt och det fortsätter till att omfatta sociala medier, ett feministiskt syn på kroppen, Dolly Parton, pin-ups, “craftivism”, interaktivitet och humor som en mekanism till att dölja önskan/behovet av att vara sexig. Under vägens gång har jag tillåtit mig själv att lita på processen att föra projektet vidare och det är därför så många aspekter av temat adresseras. Så småningom är jag, konstnären, på plats i det slutgiltiga verket till att fråga publiken om att dela med sig av deras personliga åsikter om stickning och att visa min egen process och förståelse om denna traditionella teknik. Jag kombinerar sociala medier i form av Instagram för att visa en sida av projektet, en modern, omedelbart global form av filtrerad visuell kommunikation, med den performativa aspekten av att vara på plats under utställningen för att sticka och interagera med en “irl” publik. 1.1 Bakgrund Under min tid på Konstfack så har jag försökt förstå varför jag tycker just stickning är så tillfredsställande. I The Culture of Knitting av Joanne Turney så står det, ”Knitting is both fun and sexy, it is humorous and not particularly threatening.” Jag har en diplomatisk personlighet och humor är det främsta sättet jag väljer att kommunicera så det är ganska självklart att jag är svag för en teknik med en liknande beskrivning. Att säga att stickning är sexigt kan å andra sidan väcka frågor. Jag har använt mig av stickning som metod i flera år och under denna tid så har jag förstått att stickning/stickande inte ses som något åtråvärt eller ens en metod för att skapa konst. Stickning anses vara ett tidsfördriv för äldre kvinnor som inte har något bättre för sig och resultaten av denna hobby är varken attraktiva eller praktiska. I denna definition ryms det inte en gnutta sexighet i stickning. Så vad är ”sexig”? Enligt den mindre trovärdiga hemsidan Urban Dictionary, lyder en av de populära definitionerna av ”sexig” så här:“An intangible attribute. You need not be model thin nor movie star gorgeous to be sexy. Sexy is the whole package, including that “certain something” that you can’t quite put your finger on.” Jag måste säga att jag håller med denna beskrivning. Och kanske kan stickning ha denna ”intangible attribute” om den visas på ett lite okonventionellt sätt. I mitt examensprojekt så har jag presenterat textila hantverk på min kropp genom en lins av sociala medier för att se om stickning egentligen kan vara sexigt. 1.2 Syfte och frågeställningar Stickning och humor verkar gå hand i hand. I The Culture of Knitting så introducerar Turney dagens stickning som en postmodern teknik och förklarar att en av de främsta aspekterna av postmodernismen är användningen av humor. “Humour arises as a response to the presumed, expected or anticipated; it challenges and distorts what the audience believes they ‘know’. It is also disrespectful, rejecting traditional niceties and etiquette in order to make a challenging and witty statement.” Detta är en av anledningarna till varför stickning är en så stor del av mitt konstnärskap: stickning har ett inbyggt sinne för humor. Humor är ett sätt för folk att överskrida sociala gränser och kommunicera och jag strävar efter att använda detta i mitt konstnärskap. Konst som kan kommunicera med en mängd olika människor har en särskild styrka, oavsett hur enkelt konceptet kan vara. I mitt examensprojekt så har jag kontrasterat den populära förståelsen av stickning och virkning som utdaterade och avtändande, med bilder av denna teknik som ung, sexuell och därmed åtråvärd i det moderna samhället. Syftet med detta projekt är att använda en humoristisk krock till att bjuda in betraktaren in i verket och ställa frågan, ”Kan stickning vara sexigt?” Även om jag har använt mig av olika textila tekniker i skapandet av bilderna så ligger fokuset i projektet på stickning. Jag har valt att kort beskriva stickning som ett feministiskt begrepp men kommer att koncentrera mig på aspekterna av humor och sexighet. Jag är med i alla bilderna, då detta projekt har varit en utforskning av min relation till stickning och selfiekulturen. I (S)examensarbete har jag utgått från en vuxen publik av alla kön som bor i samma samhälle som jag där vi är matade dagligen med bilder och sociala media. 1.3 Metod Jag har valt att använda mitt examensarbete som en möjlighet att bryta rutinerna i mitt konstnärskap. Tidigare har jag jobbat med långsiktiga projekt med ett litet utrymme för utforskning i processen. Mitt sista projekt på Konstfack känns som den ultimata chansen att omdefiniera mitt sätt att närma mig konsten. Jag har därmed valt att ha ett löst tema som handlar om att använda mig av min skicklighet och min kropp för att visa på sexighet. Jag har tillåtit mig själv att lyssna på min magkänsla och fokusera på processen, inte resultatet. Detta koncept har skapat en spänning i mitt projekt som har påverkat sättet jag jobbar på och mitt val av format i denna uppsats. Jag har ärligt skildrat min process och har inkluderat delar av min personliga dagbok för att förstärka känslan av äkthet. 2.0 Huvudtext I december 2015 så påbörjade jag en process jag kallade Becoming Conscious. Det var en plan som jag utförde steg för steg för att bli mer medveten om de dagliga val som tillsammans utgjorde mitt liv. I månadsskiftet till januari så hade jag gjort några förändringar så som att bryta en långvarig relation, vara mer uppmärksam på hur jag klädde mig och borsta tänderna med min vänstra hand. Jag insåg att mitt medvetenhetsprojekt hade blivit mer fokuserat på min fysiska kropp och jag började referera till arbetet som The Conscious Body. 2 januari, 2016: I’m also glad I’ve started photographing my body once a day, starting January 1, 2016. I hope that I will continue with this process as well for atleast the remainder of this project and ultimately every day 2016, 366 days to make a 366 image GIF/video. That would be an awesome project. This project is a lot about the body, my body. It’s about listening to it, dressing it, taking care of it, presenting it, piercing it. Jag kan relatera direkt till Roxane Gays tankar i boken Bad Feminist. I hennes essä Reaching for Catharsis undrar Gay om kroppsfixering inte bara är en del av att vara människa eftersom vi aldrig kan undvika vår fysiska form. Jag håller med om att vi mer eller mindre är tvingade att fokusera på våra kroppar och när jag förstod detta så ledde det mitt projekt i samma riktning. Under en diskussion under en kurs började jag sticka endast för att ha något att sysselsätta mina händer med. Efter en timme av tankelöst stickande kom jag på mig själv och bestämde mig för att förvandla min planlösa stickning till ett par byxor. Dessa byxor tände en tanke i min process. 20 januari, 2016: I can’t decide if I should post the picture I took of myself in the knitted pants on instagram or not. I mean, you can’t see my face, but you see that I’m wearing a red push up bra and a red stringy thong and sky high glittery golden heels.Maybe part of my exam project is about not being afraid of expressing my body.My gut is telling me to do it. [...] I mean, it’s my body. I can do whatever I want with it. Till slut lade jag upp bilden och den fick positiv respons av mina vänner och klasskamrater. Jag visste att många av de som hade ”gillat” bilden var starka kvinnor och andra feminister och det var skönt. Jag hade varit rädd att dessa kvinnor hade trott att jag bara poserade och använde mitt utseende för att få uppmärksamhet och bekräftelse men de verkade acceptera bilden. Vad var det som gjorde denna bild annorlunda från andra unga kvinnor som visar extra mycket hud på Instagram? Var det det faktum att de kände mig och visste att jag gjorde det med en ironisk underton? Var det för att jag hade på mig färgglada stickade byxor, i kontrast till de sexiga skorna och trosorna och den typiska spegel-selfien? Efter denna initiala bild så började jag utforska Instagram eftersom jag publicerade bilden genom detta medie. I artikeln The Manufactured Life av Elizabeth Winkler introduceras vi till Instagram som vår senaste form av bedrägeri. Winkler förklarar att de poserade bilderna styr våra dagliga liv i den mening att om du inte lägger upp en bild på dig när du gör något så har det inte hänt. Andra måste se vad du gjort och erkänna din handling och dess presentation genom att ”gilla” din bild. I Notes to Self: The Visual Culture of Selfies in the Age of Social Media så fördjupar sig Derek Conrad Murray I “selfien” och hur denna typ av bild domineras av unga kvinnor. Murray ser detta självuttryck från två vinklar. Selfien kan vara: ett sätt för folk med lågt självförtroende att desperat söka bekräftelse och/eller: en metod för kvinnor att ta kontroll över hur de blir sedda i en mansdominerad värld och hitta sin inre feminina sexualitet. Jag relaterar båda dessa texter till mitt examensarbete. Initialt så ville jag bara visa vänner och familj det jag jobbade med som ett slags bevis. När jag såg kontrasten mellan den vilseledande verkligheten som digitala bilder porträtterar och det äkta handgjorda subjektet så bestämde jag mig för att använda mig av Instagram som ett redskap i min process. Instagram är ungt, modernt och sexigt. Att lägga upp mina bilder i detta sociala medie skulle kontextualisera dem med bilder på andra avklädda unga kvinnor. Skulle mina bilder också vara sexiga eller skulle det faktum att jag var iklädd hantverk hämma denna känsla? För att utforska dessa tankar vidare så började jag undersöka relationen mellan kvinnor och deras utseende. Jag läste den fantastiska boken The Beauty Myth av Naomi Wolf. Wolf förklarar hur skönhetsidealet som tvingas på kvinnor är den främsta anledningen till varför vi fortfarande inte är behandlade som lika. Wolf diskuterar ”skönhet” i relation till en mängd ämnen som våld, religion, porr och ätstörningar. På andra sidan i boken, tidigt i inledningen, så skriver Wolf i tydlig text, ”What I support in this book is a woman’s right to choose what she wants to look like and what she wants to be.” I det sista kapitlet så upprepar Wolf sin mening. “I am not attacking anything that makes women feel good; only what makes us feel bad in the first place. We all like to be desirable and feel beautiful.” Efter att ha läst detta så ville jag fortsätta utforska mitt projekt i relation till min kvinnliga kropp. Nästa bild jag la upp på mitt Instagramkonto under temat #xxxjobb var ett verk som heter Titshirt. Jag hade tagit en bild på mina egna händer som täckte mina bröst. Jag skrev ut händerna på tygtransferpapper och strök på dem på en enkel vit t-tröja. Jag fotograferade mig själv i Titshirt, återigen poserande något utmanande. I fortsättningen av bröst-temat så började jag relatera mitt projekt till Dolly Parton. 28 januari, 2016: Dolly’s “look”: “If you’re a star, you owe it to your fans to look like one.”Dolly has this trashy look, she admits it herself. She maxes out, both her image and everything she does. She is extreme. And, her image is one of the reasons she is so well known. But the reason she is respected is because of the person behind the made up disguise.The Beauty Myth talked about how women should be allowed to dress exactly how they like, as long as they are putting on makeup and wearing accentuating clothes because THEY want to and not because of what men want. But that is a blurry line. Because we all desire to be desired. When do you know if you are doing something for yourself or when you are doing it for someone else? We want to be liked and respected. Maybe respect is a big part of it. Jag växte upp med Dolly Partons musik och har alltid haft henne som en förebild. När jag flyttade till Sverige så förstod jag att svenska feminister också gillade Parton. Hur kunde någon som verkar bygga hela sin ”look” på en önskan att uppfylla alla moderna kroppsideal vara förebild för starka, självständiga kvinnor? Efter jag lyssnade på Partons självbiografi My Life and Other Unfinished Business och läste artiklar med fokus på hennes ”hyperfeminina” image så började jag förstå att Dolly Parton helt enkelt har använt sitt utseende för att manipulera patriarkatet för att uppnå hennes egna mål. Hon har, både i hennes musikaliska karriär och i hennes ”look”, använt sin femininitet till att utmana sociala strukturer inom ramarna för det som är accepterat (och även åtråvärt) for och av moderna kvinnor. Jag såg en trend i min process som jag kunde relatera till Partons visuella uttryck och ville dokumentera det, så jag klädde upp mig i en stor lockig blond peruk och falska ögonfransar, fyllde min stora bh med strumpor och poserade för kameran. En söndagseftermiddag var jag och en vän på Drottninggatan och vi började måla med gatukritor. Vi ritade vad som helst som vi kom att tänka på och många som gick förbi uppmuntrade oss till att fortsätta. Denna aktivitet inspirerade mig till att undersöka konst för allmänheten. Jag har alltid känt att konst borde vara tillgängligt för alla och inte inlåst i en vit kub för en utvald publik. Att helt enkelt placera konst utomhus gör det mer tillgängligt för en bredare publik. Jag fortsatte med temat i att använda min femininitet för att bli uppmärksammad och fotograferade mig själv stickande, iklädd sexiga underkläder med påklistrade naglar och ögonfransar. Jag döpte bilden till Just a Bit of Casual Knitting. Syftet med bilden var att visa på den tydliga krocken mellan motivet och dess titel. Det är tydligt att jag försökte vara snygg på bilden och att jag inte bara hade en avslappnad stund med lite handarbete (eftersom det inte hade varit möjligt med de naglarna). Bilden var en kommentar på hur mycket möda folk lägger ner på att visa upp en felfri bild av sig själva på sociala medier. Nästa bild i serien #xxxjobb var en bild av min rumpa iklädd lurviga stickade trosor. I You Can Look Butt You Can’t Touch så kontrasterar jag den husliga ideén om stickning med det vågade, unga och sexiga och samtidigt det ologiska i att vara klädd i stickade underkläder. I titeln kombinerade jag bildens platthet med Instagrams koncept; att bilden bara kan tillfredsställa det visuella när textilier är generellt associerade med taktilitet och äkta känsla. Sedan kom Not Your Granny’s Panties, ett matchande underklädesset. I titeln leker jag med termerna “granny panty” som är stora, icke-sexuella trosor och ”granny square”, eller mormorsruta, en handarbetsteknik som oundvikligen associeras till den ofarliga idén om en mormor. Båda dessa fraser står i kontrast till den unga kvinnan i utmanande underkläder. För att utforska ämnet vidare så har jag läst en del stickningsböcker med sexiga “gör-det-själv”-mönster med titlar som Domiknitrix, Naughty Needles och Sexy Little Knits. Bilderna på plaggen man själv kan sticka i boken Naughty Needles av Nikol Lohr och titlarna på dessa plagg (t.ex. Baby Blue Ball Gag, Felt Up, Mrs. Robinson) har alla en humoristisk underton. Det är som att humorn i mönstren gör dem tillgängliga för människor utan att de behöver känna skam. Lohr skriver, ”Usually ball gags are menacing, but knit out of colorful acrylic grandma yarn, they’re downright cute.” För att stickning tolkas som ett nostalgiskt och historiskt sett husligt pyssel så uppstår en inre konflikt när man använder stickning att skapa något som inte uppfyller den beskrivningen. Det är i denna postmoderna kontrast som jag hoppas på att kunna nå ut till en bred publik. Vissa av författarna till böckerna jag nämner ovan beskriver varför de tycker stickning är sexigt men merparten av min förståelse för textila handarbeten som något utöver sysselsättning för äldre kvinnor kommer ifrån Turneys The Culture of Knitting. Kapitel fyra, Unravelling the Surface: Unhomely Knitting, berättar om hur stickning kan relateras direkt till heteronormativ sex. Knitting as an activity is penetrative; stitches are formed through the penetration of a needle, the tight looping of yarn around it and its withdrawal. The equation of knitting with the sexual act is a theme that permeates the current knitting revival:[...] one can see the irony in knitting as a form of pornography.This new emphasis on knitting as sexually deviant and sexually empowering may well be a consequence of the new feminism, and indeed the ensuing rise of a raunch culture in which women are increasingly reclaiming feminine pastimes whilst expressing their desires in a way which, historically, had been the remit of men. Även om jag har svårt att hålla med om att stickning är som penetrerande sex tycker jag ändå att jämförelsen är värd att nämna. Turney beskriver stickning som pornografi och går in på djupet där hon förklarar att stickning ger kvinnor chansen att känna sig sexiga inom sig själva. Med stickning som hantverk så kan kvinnor uttrycka sina egna lustar och humorn som står stickningen så nära kan användas som en ursäkt eller ett försvar för dessa uttryck. I Fits Like a Glove så stickade jag ett par handskar med extra långa muddar och ihopstickade tummar, sedan sydde jag ihop handskarna till en bh. Istället för två stickade delar som ser ut som vantar så stickade jag två faktiska handskar så att händer skulle kunna fylla dem, precis som titeln antyder. Denna faktor adderar ett slags taktilitet så betraktaren kan föreställa sig ännu tydligare hur det skulle kännas att ha sina händer i den positionen (och då på bärarens bröst). Jag stickade medvetet vantarna att passa mina små ”feminina” händer så att det tekniskt sätt är omöjligt för en genomsnittlig vuxen man att få in sina händer. På detta sätt tillgodoser jag den heterosexuella mannens fantasi men inte den faktiska känslan, precis som konceptet med motivet. Om man bildsöker på ”sexy knitting” på Google så kommer det fram ett urval av bilder på kvinnor som är klädda i väldigt lite garn. Vissa av dessa bilder är målningar av Harry Ekman, en amerikansk pin-up konstnär som var aktiv på 1960-talet. Kvinnorna i några av hans målningar har på sig en stickad tröja som de håller på riva upp eller sticka vidare på så att man ser den undre delen av deras bröst. Dessa bilder väckte ett omedelbart intresse hos mig eftersom de kändes så komiska. Det fanns något i bilderna där kvinnor handarbetade som fick dem att kännas orealistiska i jämförelse med liknande bilder av kvinnor på stranden eller i sovrummet. Jag stickade min egen korta kofta och la upp en bild på mig själv iklädd och stickande på den (något som tekniskt set är omöjligt). Kanske det gamla konceptet av pin-up är dagens motsvarande ”post-up” på Instagram. Nu är det dags att se hur jag ska presentera mitt projekt. Så här resonerar jag med mig själv: “Jag har tre mål. Jag vill använda enkla kontraster (så som sexighet och stickning), jag vill använda humor i kontrasterna till att kommunicera (ett sätt att öppna upp projektet för betraktaren) och jag vill att det ska vara enkelt.” Jag har bestämmt att jag ska göra en kort film av folks händer som bläddrar igenom mina Instagrambilder. Detta ska jag visa inomhus för att visa på processen bakom projektet som en del av utställningen. Baserat på erfarenheten jag har av att rita på Drottninggatan så ska jag sticka två solstolar som jag ska presentera utomhus, mellan ingångarna till Konstfack och Svarta Huset. Det faktum att jag vill vara utomhus känns symboliskt. Jag ser styrkan i att jobba från utifrån ens begränsningar (t.ex. inne i den vita kuben eller som Dolly Parton gör inom en mansdominerad industri), men viljan att visa mitt arbete i en mer avslappnad miljö där det är mer naturligt att se solstolar känns mer relevant. Jag ska vara på plats under bestämda tider av Vårutställningen, sittandes i ena stolen där jag bjuder in besökare att sätta sig med mig. Den stickade delen av stolen kommer att vara en silhuett av min kropp. En ”selfie stick” ska finnas på plats för att göra det enkelt för folk att fotografera sig själva och möjligtvis lägga upp bilden på deras egna Instagram konton under hashtaggen #123sexy. I denna situation så ska jag fråga personen bredvid, “Kan stickning vara sexigt?” Är det en slump att mina handledare har rekommenderat att jag kollar upp endast kvinnliga konstnärer i relation till mitt verk? Jag har valt att kontextualisera (S)examensarbete med tre olika konstnärskap. Jag relaterar (S)examensarbete till både det skulpturala och fotografiska verk av Sarah Lucas. Mycket av Lucas verk tar upp ämnen som feminin sexualitet med en humoristisk ton. Hon använder banal symbolik, så som meloner att symbolisera bröst, och vitsiga ordlekar i hennes titlar. Lucas är också ofta med i sinna fotografier, precis som jag, poserande framför kameran. Mitt arbete kan identifieras med selfie-kulturen då Sarah Lucas är mer en del av konstscenen. När jag började använda Instagram som en plats att visa ett alter ego så fick jag omedelbart kommentarer som ”Cecilia Sherman” och ”The Swedish Cindy Sherman”. Jag kan särskilt relatera till Cindy Shermans fotografier i (S)examensarbete. I en intervju med John Waters i boken Cindy Sherman så diskuterar Sherman varför hon producerar alla hennes porträtt helt själv. Hon beskriver en lust i att låtsas vara någon annan men hon vill vara sig själv när hon är med andra. (S)examensarbete är ett sätt för mig att utforska andra personligheter genom min egen image som jag inte har vågat visa för andra. Jag ser liknelser mellan min process i (S)examensarbete och Sophie Calles konstnärskap. Enligt en intervju i The Guardian från 2009 så ansåg inte Calle att det hon höll på med var konst i början. Hon levde helt enkelt sitt liv och fyllde sin tid. I början av (S)examensarbete var mina avsikter med projektet också rent personliga. Även efter att hon identifierade sig själv som konstnär så verkar Calle ha väldigt lösa gränser mellan sin roll som konstnär och sitt vardagliga liv. Jag beundrar detta sätt att jobba med konst och hoppas att mitt examensarbete kommer att leda mig i samma riktning. Bortom konst och solokonstnärer, måste jag också nämna världen av offentlig stickning och termen “craftivism” som helhet. I sin bok Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism, beskriver Betsy Greer korrelationen mellan konsthantverk och aktivism som sådan: “The creation of things by hand leads to a better understanding of democracy, because it reminds us that we have power,” och att “the very essense of craftivism lies in creating something that gets people to ask questions; we invite others to join a conversation about the social and political intent of our creations.” (S)examensarbete handlar om att ifrågasätta stickning som ett sätt att uttrycka sig själv sexuellt och därför faller det under kategorin craftivism, även om jag kan ogilla termen. Jag har avstått från att nämna craftivism tidigare eftersom jag har ännu inte hittat ett handstickat plagg som jag ärligt skulle kalla sexig och det är exakt det jag menar. Genom craftisvism rörelsen förstår vi att textilahantverk kan öka medvetenheten till en oändlig mängd av sociopolitiska frågor, men är de produkter eller kläder som kallas för craftivism estetiskt tilltalande eller önskvärda? Med detta sagt, skulle jag vilja nämna textilkonstnären Magda Sayeg som inspiration till mitt arbete. Jag hittade hennes hemsida när jag kollade upp “yarn bombing” gruppen Knitta och det finns en viss grad av skarphet i Sayegs arbete som jag relaterar till (S)examensarbete. Även om jag älskar humor och ser det som ett viktigt verktyg, tror jag att Sayegs arbete är ett exempel på hur stickning kan vara en stark form av kommunikation utan att använda humor som ett huvudfokus . Mycket av Sayegs arbete går ut på att sticka in olika saker, till exempel bussar, statyer, pelare, osv., och hon har gjort flera projekt i samarbete med olika företag, så som Gap, Toyota och 7-up. Även om hon stickar för hand så har slutresultanten inte samma estetik som DIY rörelsen och det är det som lockar mig till just hennes sätt att förhålla sig till textil. Hon verkar ta stickning på allvar, att använda tekniken professionellt och enligt min mening, lyckas göra stickning tilltalande . 3.1 Dokumentation 3.2 Diskussion Mitt projekt som helhet gynnades enormt från kommentarerna och insikterna från min opponent, Johanna Rosenqvist . Eftersom Rosenqvist har arbetat med mycket liknande ämnen så förstod hon syftet och målet bakom (S)examensarbete och inspirerade mig till att relatera mitt arbete till etablerade stickkonstnärer och “craftivism”. Genom detta kunde jag bättre förstå varför jag hade undvikit att jämföra mig till dessa områden tidigare. Jag insåg att (S)examensarbete handlar om att utforska en estetik (sexighet) som jag aldrig tidigare sett i stickningsfältet. Så ... kan stickning vara sexigt? Under vårutställningen satt jag i en av de stickade bikini-stolarna och stickade, med Dolly Parton sjungandes i bakgrunden. På grund av det kalla vädret var jag tvungen att sitta inne en stor del av utställningen, bredvid min video av fingrar som bläddrar genom mina Instagram bilder. Ibland kände jag mig generad av bilderna på skärmen, eftersom jag inte längre hade den virtuella världen av sociala medier att gömma mig bakom. Jag, i kött och blod, var på plats för att se hur folk reagerade. Även om jag kände lite skam hade jag också många intressanta diskussioner med olika besökare. Jag frågade, “Kan stickning vara sexigt?”, inte nödvändigtvis med avsikten att få ett svar, men jag fick oftas ett direkt svar tillsammans med ett förslag eller två. En besökare föreslog att jag borde sticka med latex, eftersom latex är ett material som kopplas direkt till sex. Andra föreslog stickning med flashiga garner eller större maskor. Folk berättade om tonårens sexiga tröjor och virkade bikinis och genomskinnliga stickade klänningar. Jag fick höra av flera äldre män att de hade valt syslöjd istället för träslöjd när de gick i skolan och en hade även blivit omnämnd i en lokaltiding eftersom det var så ovanligt. Jag kom även in på diskussioner om sex, en rad olika konstnärer och även Eurovision Song Contest, med personer jag förmodligen aldrig hade haft orsak att snacka med annars. Efter 10 dagar av att vara närvarande vid utställningen då jag interagerade och diskuterade med besökare, så förstod jag att de flesta tyckte att visst kan stickning vara sexigt. Jag vill tro att (S)examensarbete satt igång nya tankar om vad en traditionell hantverksteknik som stickning kan vara. Den process-baserade processen bakom detta projekt har lett till en starkare förståelse av mig själv, både personligen och som konstnär. Jag har upplevt både frihet i att inte ha ett strikt mål från dag ett och jag har också känt osäkerhet i följd av detta. Jag har förlitat mig på steg-för-steg planer i tidigare projekt eftersom de ger stabilitet och ett slags skyddsnät om min inspiration börjar vackla. I framtiden lär jag fortsätta att arbeta med ett mål i sikte, och tvinga mig ut ur min komfortzon för att testa nya metoder som jag gjorde i (S)examensarbete, såsom de interaktiva delar där jag som konstnär är närvarande. 4.0 Källor Böcker Foster, Hal. “Marcay, Calle, Coleman, and Kentridge.” Art since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. London: Thames &amp; Hudson, 2011. N. pag. Print. Gay, Roxane, and Helena Hansson. Bad Feminist. Stockholm: Bonnier, 2015. Print. Lohr, Nikol. Naughty Needles: Sexy, Saucy Knits for the Bedroom and Beyond. New York: Potter Craft, 2006. Print. Malik, Amna. Sarah Lucas: Au Naturel. London: Afterall, 2009. Print. Martignette, Charles G., and Louis K. Meisel. “Harry Ekman.” The Great American Pin-Up. Köln: Taschen, 2011. N. pag. Print. Parton, Dolly. My Life and Other Unfinished Business. London: HarperCollins, 1994. Print. Stafford, Jennifer. Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting into Shape. Cincinnati, OH: North Light, 2007. Print. Turney, Joanne. The Culture of Knitting. Oxford: Berg, 2009. Print. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York: Perennial, 2002. Print. Tidningar Hoggard, Liz. “Naughty Knitting.” Crafts Mar.-Apr. 2005: 38-41. Print. Murray, Derek Conrad. “Notes to Self: The Visual Culture of Selfies in the Age of Social Media.” Consumption Markets &amp; Culture 18:6: 490-516. Print. Wilson, Pamela. “Mountains of Contradictions: Gender, Class and Region in the Star Image of Dolly Parton.” South Atlantic Quarterly Winter 1995: 109-34. Web. Winkler, Elizabeth. “The Manufactured Life.” New Republic Mar2016, Vol. 247 Issue 3: 16-17. Print Hemsidor Jeffries, Stuart. “Sophie Calle: Stalker, Stripper, Sleeper, Spy.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 23 Sept. 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2016. “Sexy.” Urban Dictionary. Fuckup, Screwed, Fucked, Gawd, Shit, 17 Oct. 2006. Web. 23 Mar. 2016.