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| Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party |
Along with the book, our excellent facilitator invited us to discuss Judy Chicago's sculpture "The Dinner Party." What is it? First off, Judy Chicago is a feminist artist sometimes noted for vaginal forms in her work. "The Dinner Party" has plenty of vaginal symbolism.
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| Table Setting for Susan B. Anthony |
It's an icon of the 1970s feminist art table (triangle) with 36 place settings honoring women throughout human history who were smart, brave "take no prisoners" kind of gals. In addition, the floor and walls show us 999 additional women who changed things for us, again from pre-history to the 20th century .
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| The Floor |
Of the 36 at the dinner party, most of them were writers. The following five are my favorites:
Hildegard of Bingen - 1098-1179. Hildegard was a nun who couldn't be contained. She saw visions. She was a writer at a time when nobody could read. She wrote three volumes of visionary theology, two on medicine and the oldest surviving morality play "Ordo Virtum." And, oh yeah, she invented two languages.
Anna Maria van Schurman - 1607-1678 Anna Maria was a German born Dutch painter, engraver, poet, scholar and defender of female education. She spoke 14 languages.
Mary Wollstonecraft - 1759-1797 Mary was a writer, philosopher and advocate for women's rights. She died at age 38 and was not fully recognized for her work partly because of her unorthodox lifestyle. (She had a couple of affairs.) Mary's daughter, Mary Shelly wrote the novel Frankenstein.
Sojourner Truth - 1797-1883 Sojourner started out a slave but became an early abolitionist and women's rights activist. Look up her "Ain't I a Woman?" speech if you want to be amazed by Sojourner Truth.
Emily Dickinson - 1830-1886 Emily lived her life as pretty much of a recluse but her poetry still changes lives - including mine.
Sarah and Angelinia Grimke did not make it to the table but their names are written on the floor.
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