




Feeling Deprived AF
The following essay provides a commentary on the negative impact the male gaze has relating to objectification of the female nude, and oppression of women. The male gaze is provided through various Art movements; including Fauvism, the Brücke, and Cubism.
30 March 2017
The Artistic Oppression of Women
The study of art history provides a strong argument in proving controversial perspectives surrounding the role of women. The various art movements which have transpired during the reign of mankind depend heavily on the depiction of the surrounding environment. The forms, or lack of forms, captured by the artist become a representation of their modern world. In recent times, Modernity brought fourth the study of nude models and the female form. Male artists become the venerated figures of the History Cannon – thus, they are worthy of the title ‘genius’. Women were left to the side, and for many years, were rejected the opportunity to study art academically. The female nude – representing the respective cultural growth in prostitution and courtesan women – is designed for the eyes of male artists to feast upon and reproduce. The changing world reflects its values through the physical representation of the oppression of women captured by the male gaze of the artists amid the Twentieth Century. Notable figures of the History Canon who depict the oppression of the female form include the Fauvist pioneer Henri Matisse, the Brücke artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and the Cubist genius, Pablo Picasso.
Courtesy of Shayla Hickerson, Addictive Oils, 2017
Held between your lips,
You breathed in the scent of my minty kisses.
Courtesy of Shayla Hickerson, Power Drink, 2017
My atoms shook aggressively
with the adrenaline,
That forced its way through my veins
As you awaited my climax.
My bloodshot eyes looked out for you.
Quench my thirst.
I yearn for your taste.
Courtesy of Shayla Hickerson, Iced Frap, 2017
You were cold to the touch,
Yet my lips quivered
With the thought
Of your taste lingering
On my tongue.
Bananas have been used as sexual metaphors for ages. Is it the shape? Is it the colour? Is it the resemblance to the male genitalia? All we know at Deprived, is that bananas, lollipops, and any other phallic symbol doesn’t have us second-guessing as what to your crypted text means.
Nice Melons! How many times have you heard that while walking around the grocery store with some nice, ripe watermelons, cantaloupes or honey dew in-hand? For the team at Deprived, we’ve heard it too many times to count! Whether its using melons, peaches or any other object as a euphemism for the female body, it doesn’t make the objectification any more pleasant.
“I call this one Orange Toxicity. The message in this is that words can affect and poison. That a negative or toxic person can change your being. Your composure, mood, quality of life.”