Alternate Universe 04: We Want The Moon

Meditations on a Tate Britain exhibition of Women in Revolt

Hi there. Welcome to Active Faults.

Recently I went to see “Women in Revolt!”, a Tate Britain exhibition showcasing Art, Activism and the Women’s movement in the UK from the 70s to the 90s. It “shines a spotlight on how networks of female artists used radical ideas and rebellious methods” to fuel the women’s liberation movement at the time. 

Prefacing this review I almost apologised for making the “trivialising” association between these artworks and fandom, but held myself back. I want to emphasise the political significance and cultural radicality of both without diminishing either. Being a fan in a patriarchal society is an offence. Let me reiterate how.

Fandom has been and is a female-dominated space, across subcommunities and national borders. Conversations in such a sphere confront the desires and lived experiences of the female, of all ages, races and backgrounds, at all times. That, in itself, is a rare occurrence almost unseen elsewhere. 

I loved this particular placard below and for those of you who’ve read Y/N, it is an uncanny echo of it:

Being a fan means asking for more. It is about discovering and expressing an emotional need previously inexplicable and deemed unpresentable by societal norms. It means not settling for mediocre men and sub-par relationships that do not bring satisfaction comparable to being a fan. Sometimes, it means boycotting traditional roles enforced upon women of child-bearing age to prioritise our enjoyment over duties. 

“Mother and Child at Breaking Point”, Maureen Scott

“Bear it in mind”, Su Richardson, 1976

This piece reminds me of G(I)DLE’s song “Wife”, that was released earlier this year. Its lyrics, sang from the perspective of an obedient housewife, talk of cooking, cleaning, sexually pleasuring the husband and enjoying a cream soup (believed to be an euphemism for cum by many). Since then, it has received so much criticism for being overtly vulgar, celebratory of the “tradwife”, objectifying women and pandering to men. To me, this is precisely its point. The song ridicules by becoming the ridiculous itself.