gender, sexuality, and video

Jennifer Montgomery's presentation today was really interesting. Her 2nd piece of work (I don't recall the names of any of these pieces at this point...) delved into very provocative subject matter that was simultaneously striking and disturbing. The work chronicled coming of age and female sexuality, as well as the issue of control. Not only did it deal with sexuality in a general term but seemed to focus on unconventional sexual fantasies and explorations that are often kept quiet within the boundaries of acceptable conversation. Society is more accepting of the discussion of male sexuality, whether it's because of porn notoriety, male's supposedly "dominant" role in culture, or simply because girls most be feminine and submissive. Regardless, Montgomery tackled uncomfortable topics, and depicted upsetting situations very graphically.

I strongly believe that this is something that needed to be tackled. I applaud Montgomery in her unwavering commitment to revealing the incredible awkwardness of female adolescent sexuality. It's been hiding below the surface for way too long. I grew up in a very conservative, Christian home where I was pressured into signing a purity contract on my 13th birthday. Sexuality was for marriage ONLY. Imagine how guilt-ridden I was throughout my teenage years as I grappled with coming of age, being attracted to males, and struggling to determine whether or not I had similar feelings for the female gender?! Even as I am now an adult, making an adult decisions, and decidely straight in my affections, I am still dumbfounded at how incredibly embarrassing and clumsy it is coming to those conclusions, especially behind closed doors so to not disturb conventional expectations to which I must adhere.

Whether or not she was chronicling her own sexual exploration was left debatable, but I feel that she earnestly created a piece to which self-accepting girls can relate. Primal inhibitions are very real and need to be addressed--not hidden underneath a blanket of correctness.



Otherwise, I didn't find her other two works all that particularily interesting. I couldn't really formulate an entire opinion regarding the first piece as it was cut off, but I really didn't find the last work very fascinating. The interviews were so boring to me. I don't know these people that she's interviewing and I don't really care to watch an hour's worth of footage watching them talk about their personal lives and maybe a couple minutes about film. It would be like if I went out and recorded conversations with some of my good friends from the music scene across the country and then making a bunch of people watch it. If you're outside our little scene, you will probably not enjoy it as we'll be talking about unfamiliar people and events that only people in our particular group would understand. Therefore, I thought the last film was very exclusive and above my range of interest.