Journal #2

Affirmative Action

Acrylic on canvas

Jerry Kearns

The work of art depicts a woman who is dressed in a knee-high skirt. She is is avidly digging at the ground apparently picking up slop with a pointed shovel. She looks very determined judging by the scowl on her face and her mouth which is set in hard lines. She also is wearing a pair of high-heels which clashes with the picture. There is a city in the background. The pictures background is also very vibrant and colorful. I believe the author did this to grab your attention and make you focus on the piece. By doing this you first look at the painting, then you discern what the painting is getting at, which doesn’t take long. The painting really plays into the emotional side of you seeing this woman breaking her back just as any man would do.

                This piece was obviously created during the woman’s civil rights movement which occurred around the turn of the century (1900). Women were not really believed to be able to work at this point. They were taught and told to stay at home, cook dinner and do laundry. Even if they did work they were not paid the same amount even if they were doing the same work as a male counterpart.  This piece is trying to get the point across that woman can do work to. This woman is dressed very nice but seems to be trying her hardest to work and fit in. I believe this is showing that while woman may dress to impress, it doesn’t mean they also can’t get down and dirty with some labor. They wanted equal rights and the same pay for jobs. They could not believe that the same work could be done between a man and a woman and the pay would be half.

This painting is definitely persuasive. When you look at it, you have some sympathy for this woman who appears to be working very diligently in what looks like harsh conditions.  The painting was created for this sympathy factor. It is supposed to change your mind about women’s role in this world. It is saying they are not only good for cooking and cleaning but that they can actually do most things just as well and deserve a chance. This time was a time of struggle. Woman had to marry rich to go anywhere. And usually with that you had to have looks to score a man with money. That has even carried over into this day and age. Look at all the actresses, they are beautiful and almost all of them are fake. From fake boobs to surgery on almost every part of their body. Sex sells, that’s just the only way to put it. Women in that age though tried to change that whole philosophy around. They tried to start a revolution against it for equal rights and even more so to be thought of as equals.  This piece captures all of that in one painting.