MFA Thesis, June 1995

The Law of Opposites

It is desirable for mankind to create dualities. In doing so, individuals, governing bodies and religious institutions are able to fabricate hierarchies of identities from which they may profit and exercise power. Objects are not powerful images on their own accord; they have to be empowered. Although the ramifications of the language are manifest in the attitudes and ideologies of people, there exists in every case an origin of either mythological or religious nature that defines and reinforces the meaning of the language. In the case of gender specificity, clothing is a symbol that serves as a constant reminder of male hegemony over its opposing counterpart. It is thus through visual icons and language that dualities in our culture are ever reinforced to the point that they are held as truths.

Language and icons also create Social Hierarchies. In the case of gender, these specificities can be traced back to creation myths. In the Judeo-Christian creation story in Genesis, the first being is man created in the image of God. Woman is created afterwards because man desires a companion. As a result of this duality (first, last), man is established as superior to woman who is created as an afterthought. Woman's position in society is further diminished when she is convinced by the serpent to disobey God by eating from the tree of knowledge, the fruit of which she shares with man. As a result of this disobedience, they are both expelled from paradise and made to suffer the evils of the world.

This particular myth is also an example of how language and icons create Political and Religious hierarchies. In the time during which Genesis was being written, the Hebrews were conquering the lands of the Canaanites. This story both served to empower the male Hebrew god Yaweh as well as vilify the female Canaanite serpent goddess Hawah (Eve).

Thus we see the hegemony of men being empowered through the use of language, stories and icons. Dualities that establish such hierarchies are ever present in our society and form the foundations of symbols we see in all facets of artistic expression. However just or unjust these dualities are, it is important to recognize the power these dualities have in defining our conscious ideas of where we as individuals fit within the fabric of society.