Bella Blog #2

(originally posted on April 16 2015)

I am heavily compelled to write about Kate Durbin's Vimeo. Reading the articles about Kate Durbin gave me a little sense of what the projects she worked on were like, and the Skype interview with her gave me and even better notion. But what really intrigued me and really brought the project to life in my mind was the Vimeo video we watched for homework.

Watching the Vimeo video brought her Skype interview to life in an impactful way for me. When watching her video, all I could think about were her many comments about her work, her inspiration, her purpose, all her insights, all her stories that she told us about the project. When she told us about the simple instructions that she gave the actresses, it was powerful to see them play out in film. It was really interesting to see the public react, however strong and vulgar it could be though. 

I think what really struck me was the tearful eye make up and the stickers. I think they effectively contradicted everything that society says--in an immense juxtaposition. Society labels females with an expectation of beauty, slapping on gender performativity. This was represented through the hello kitty stickers. Society also hurts these women. It makes them feel like they are outliers, when there is no median. Thus, exemplified in the dark, streamed eye makeup. 

I wonder what little girls thought when they saw these women. I wonder what the women thought when they saw little girls.