Gender and Jewelry: A Feminist Analysis.
Russell, Rebecca Elizabeth Ross.
2010
- Jewelry responds to our most primitive urges, for control, honor, and sex. It is at once the most ancient and most immediate of art forms, one that is defined by its connection and interaction with the body. In this sense it is inescapably political, its meaning bound to the possibilities of the body it lies on. Indeed, the fate of the body is often bound to the jewelry. This paper aims to look at ... read moregender and jewelry in order to gain some understanding into how jewelry is constructed by and constructs not just a single society, but human societies. It will explore how societal traditions that have sprung up around jewelry and ornamentation have affected the possibilities available to women, determining which have served women well and which are constrictive and destructive. I contend that not all forms of ornamentation and jewelry rely on the construction of to-be-looked-at-ness, that there are rather several overlapping motivations that function to situate the wearer in society, alternately broadening and limiting the social options available. Jewelry is not only a symbol, but often the means of determining the possibilities of an individual's course through life and through a specific society. I would argue that while many cultures have indeed constructed gender to function in an active/passive dichotomy as delineated by Simmel, it is fully a construction, a performance of acceptable gendered characteristics rather than a reflection of men or women's essential nature. Additionally, the passive connotations of to-be-looked-at-ness can be fought and overcome through traditions that privilege the wearer over the viewer of jewelry, the erstwhile tool of oppression transformed into a method of resistance. I aim to show how these shared motivations can be understood as distinct frames for understanding the social function of jewelry across different cultures and time periods. More than one frame may be applicable in a given locus of tradition. I propose that jewelry can function as a means and symbol of physical incapacitation and ownership, a representation of wealth or honor, and a means of physical and conceptual emancipation. This study also examines the work of contemporary jewelers creating feminist jewelry, including my ownread less
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