This page speaks to the relationship in marriage of men and women. It is as close as I can figure it different from Grunge that seems to have Victorian elements.
In the 19th Century, there were strict protocols for the genders. When world War II happened, women had to take the jobs that their husbands left to go to war. They became more independent. Once a woman was married, her ownership went from father to husband. She could not vote, she could not own property, and she was not considered a legal person.
But, when the men came home, women were relegated back to the house and traditional norms were placed on them and the norms were bombarding society with Happy Homemaker roles.
Single women in the 1950s, if they wanted to stay working stay single, were said to be plain, spinsters, angry, having penis envy, and man-haters. Most single women had a great deal of guilt because they were not married and married women, while it was okay for them to do certain jobs, they suffered the burden of being shameful for not staying hoe to cook, clean, be pregnant, take care of children, and kotow to their husbands.
In the 1960s, gender roles became more flexible, women who worked domestic jobs, child-care for others, cleaning and cooking for others, and society moved towards the Equal Rights Amendment.
Thus, the symbolism on this art journal page is there to have a say about equality, or lack thereof, until, really, the 1960s.
But, even in the 1960s we were expected to finish high school and just get married and be a wife and a mother and take care of a house. In my case, and for those in my homeland area, most of our fathers turned from us because now we were someone else’s responsibility. Since my adoptive parents were old enough to be my grandparents, they held the belief that, a woman made her bed and now she must lie in it. We were not saved from abusive relationships. It was seen to be the woman’s fault if a man strayed. The woman was supposed to defer to the man, as she had to her father. It did not help that the religion, of my area, was still Patriarchal, and society was Patriarchal, and there was a great tug of war going on between the women’s Libbers and the societies who had a hard time with change. In fact, women had a hard time with the change too. It became a struggle for both man and woman to work, daycares had to be set up, and it became more and more accepted that women could work out of the home. Still, the ideology that a child that goes wrong is somehow the mother’s fault and still if a marriage ends the woman has to fight the fight to get out. Yes, she can get 50/50 and, yes, it is still a given that most women get the kids in the marriage and the man perms his hair, buys a red sports car and finds a new young playmate. The gears are slow to turn.
On my page you see the wedding, the embroidered flower symbolizes the dried flowers of the wedding bouquet, the eye in the ring is that we see, now, how far we have come but also, still the discrepancies. The measuring tape suggests the short time span it has been since women even got the vote. And, in man dominated relationships, there is still the belief that my ex said to me when I said I was leaving him, “But, I bought and paid for you with the marriage license.” I guess I was only a one cow woman - $5.00 is what it cost him. The cage is the symbol, but notice, it is empty... some chick fled the nest.
What makes this steampunk? The gears, the antiquated thought and ideology that still resides in the dark hearts of some men. Those of us who are Crones have lived through being raised by parents still with the Victorian sense of right. We have had to struggle past guilt and shame to stand up and say we can do it all on our own.
©Carol Desjarlais 2.21
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