Feminist Design Methodology: Considering the Case of Maria Kipp Page: 17
View a full description of this thesis.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
women designers, despite its sometimes problematic sublimation of craft, native
traditions, and genres that have been fighting for recognition as "art" not design.26
One of the most recent and insightful commentaries on the state of feminist
design studies tackles Rothschild's Design and Feminism and the Bard project including
the exhibition, catalogue, and scholarly journal, all published in 1999-2000. In
"Reshaping and Rethinking: Recent Feminist Scholarship on Design and Designers,"
2001, Carma R. Gorman described the fragmented state of feminist interventions in
design history. She called for a "reshaping and rethinking" of epistemologies and
methodologies-citing inconsistent definitions of design, craft, and art, and techniques
that reinforce ideas of "feminine" stereotypes and difference.27 Gorman's essay is useful
because it provokes and challenges texts by authors now firmly established as
"authorities" on feminist design scholarship, such as Buckley and Pat Kirkham, thus it
does not permit past scholarship to dominate or the dialogue to sit still.
Art History and Feminism
The work of feminist design historians has benefited from scholarship linking art
history and feminism; one thinks especially of essays by Griselda Pollock, Rozsika
design and designer, Carma R. Gorman, "Reshaping and Rethinking: Recent Feminist Scholarship on
Design and Designers," Design Issues 17, no. 4 (Autumn 2001): 72-88, see 77-80.
26 See the bibliography for reviews of the Bard exhibition and catalogue. Patricia Mainardi, "Quilts: The
Great American Art," The Feminist Art Journal 2, no. 1 (Winter 1973): 1, 18-23; reprint in Feminism and
Art History: Questioning the Litany, eds. Norma Broude and Mary Garrard, (New York: Harper and Row,
1982), 331-46 (page citations are to the reprint edition). In Mainardi's article, she states quite clearly that
quilts should be considered fine art, equal to the paintings of the period produced by men, see page 344.
In the introduction for the anthology that includes Mainardi's article, Feminism and Art History:
Questioning the Litany, Norma Broude and Mary Garrard reiterate this point as central to Mainardi's text.
However, in Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000, Kirkham and Walker claim the same essay as a
source verifying quilts as part of design history, see page 78.
27 Gorman, "Reshaping and Rethinking: Recent Feminist Scholarship on Design and Designers," 76-77.
Gorman challenged the author's accountability for interview questions with built-in gender biases and
whether the questions would have been asked, or even appropriate to be asked, of men designers. For17
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This thesis can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Thesis.
Lawrence, Anne. Feminist Design Methodology: Considering the Case of Maria Kipp, thesis, December 2003; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5538/m1/21/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .