Banksy, an anonymous graffiti artist from Bristol England, combines dark humor and graffiti to express his political and social views. Using bridges, walls, streets and buildings as canvases, Banksy uses the unique method of stenciling to produce his images. Banksy picked up on the style after seeing art by Blak le Rat, the first artist to use stencils in the underground scene in Paris. Banksy’s art can be analyzed and critiqued in many ways; however, some of his feelings about gender in society isn’t difficult to pick up. In one of his more well-known pieces, Boarded-Up, Banksy reveals some of the differences in each gender and critiques the relationship between men and women, whites and blacks, middle and lower class.
Boarded-Up depicts a young girl just finished creating a house with a crayon and expressing her imagination, she watches as a carpenter with a toolbox boards up the front door of the house. The expression on the girls face seems to show both her awe and her hurt as her young imagination, dreams and visions are being suppressed by a man driving nails right through it.
Men and women are very different in a lot of ways which can be seen in many aspects of life. Women tend to be more creative and expressive of their ideas. In the image, this is shown because the girl is holding a crayon, which represents females’ desire to be imaginative. The crayon she holds is her tool to make her voice heard, show her feelings and make her point. The boarding up symbolized man’s efforts to silence women. This happens in politics and higher power positions in today’s working world. Banksy is defending women because women are depicted as an innocent, helpless girl while men are being depicted as a rugged figure working against the little girl.
Along with the crayon, her backpack also represents women’s ambitions. For a long time, women weren’t encouraged to be educated or work outside the home; they were confined to their roles as homemakers and mothers and were unable to break from the status quo. This could be the very reason why more than half of today’s college students are women, because they value the opportunity more. Banksy must be a man for equality since he is publicly defending women and this clearly is an issue he has with society.
Men tend to be more destructive while women are more creative. Women are more expressive and full of imagination and men tend to shy away from such expression. For a man to behave as a woman does he is making himself susceptible to scrutiny. Men shy away from such scrutiny because they are more concerned with being accepted among peers than women are. In Rereading America, the idea of men having four main attributes holds true in almost every situation of a man’s day-to-day life. Displaying success and high status, toughness and avoiding femininity are what drive the male schema. This concept is reflected in Boarded-Up through the actions of the worker. He is putting nails into a board over the door that gives the girl access to her dreams and her imagination. The boards are men trying to cover up what women are trying to create and trying to dream up. The nails secure the oppression. Although obvious discrimination such as women’s suffrage and the right to education are no longer banned, men still try to keep women away from their positions and try to silence their counteracting voices.
Besides the gender slams made through Banksy’s satirical art, he also pokes at race. The little girl appears to be Black. The fact that he chose a young African-British girl says something in itself. Blacks have, for centuries, been denied education, civil rights and respect. Because they suffered from such extreme discrimination and racism, taking advantage of the tools they now have is very important. The little girl uses the crayon to illustrate her attempts to build a middle-class life and achieve social acceptance. She draws a picture of a house, showing that she has aspirations she would like to fulfill one day. Her backpack shows her eagerness to learn. Given the fact that African-Americans haven’t always been handed an education, capitalizing on the right to education is highly valued.
In the same way men try to silence women and they way whites try to oppress blacks, the government tries to cover up Banksy’s art. His art is painted over and covered up. The government wants to shut down any unrest Banksy’s art may cause and eliminate any outlandish ideas. He is a champion for the lower class and exposes the ugly truths about our “advanced societies.”
Boarded-Up depicts a young girl just finished creating a house with a crayon and expressing her imagination, she watches as a carpenter with a toolbox boards up the front door of the house. The expression on the girls face seems to show both her awe and her hurt as her young imagination, dreams and visions are being suppressed by a man driving nails right through it.
Men and women are very different in a lot of ways which can be seen in many aspects of life. Women tend to be more creative and expressive of their ideas. In the image, this is shown because the girl is holding a crayon, which represents females’ desire to be imaginative. The crayon she holds is her tool to make her voice heard, show her feelings and make her point. The boarding up symbolized man’s efforts to silence women. This happens in politics and higher power positions in today’s working world. Banksy is defending women because women are depicted as an innocent, helpless girl while men are being depicted as a rugged figure working against the little girl.
Along with the crayon, her backpack also represents women’s ambitions. For a long time, women weren’t encouraged to be educated or work outside the home; they were confined to their roles as homemakers and mothers and were unable to break from the status quo. This could be the very reason why more than half of today’s college students are women, because they value the opportunity more. Banksy must be a man for equality since he is publicly defending women and this clearly is an issue he has with society.
Men tend to be more destructive while women are more creative. Women are more expressive and full of imagination and men tend to shy away from such expression. For a man to behave as a woman does he is making himself susceptible to scrutiny. Men shy away from such scrutiny because they are more concerned with being accepted among peers than women are. In Rereading America, the idea of men having four main attributes holds true in almost every situation of a man’s day-to-day life. Displaying success and high status, toughness and avoiding femininity are what drive the male schema. This concept is reflected in Boarded-Up through the actions of the worker. He is putting nails into a board over the door that gives the girl access to her dreams and her imagination. The boards are men trying to cover up what women are trying to create and trying to dream up. The nails secure the oppression. Although obvious discrimination such as women’s suffrage and the right to education are no longer banned, men still try to keep women away from their positions and try to silence their counteracting voices.
Besides the gender slams made through Banksy’s satirical art, he also pokes at race. The little girl appears to be Black. The fact that he chose a young African-British girl says something in itself. Blacks have, for centuries, been denied education, civil rights and respect. Because they suffered from such extreme discrimination and racism, taking advantage of the tools they now have is very important. The little girl uses the crayon to illustrate her attempts to build a middle-class life and achieve social acceptance. She draws a picture of a house, showing that she has aspirations she would like to fulfill one day. Her backpack shows her eagerness to learn. Given the fact that African-Americans haven’t always been handed an education, capitalizing on the right to education is highly valued.
In the same way men try to silence women and they way whites try to oppress blacks, the government tries to cover up Banksy’s art. His art is painted over and covered up. The government wants to shut down any unrest Banksy’s art may cause and eliminate any outlandish ideas. He is a champion for the lower class and exposes the ugly truths about our “advanced societies.”
I like how you chose to write about Banksy and his artwork, I was thinking of doing the same thing. I like how you describe the Bansky's work.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you diverted from a video a chose to write about a photogragh. Great essay. It shows you took the time to write this.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote on Banksy's art. I like the perspecive you took on it. I think what you said about woman being createive goes along with their tendency to befriend, rather than to fight. I thought it was interesting how you said that the government tries to silence his art cause it shows the truth.
ReplyDelete