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After our first class together, and learning more about the slide we saw initially, it occurred to me that many of us attempted to "gender" the faces on the plate. It just feels like as a society, we more often than not are trained to feel more comfortable if we can label or assign uncomplicated, simple identities (goes back to the dichotomy of male/female) to others individuals. Or at least that's what I'm thinking...

After hearing that Sojourner Truth's plate was that of the only woman of color at the table (at least that's what I seemed to hear in class), and also that hers lacked the 3rd dimension and content that the others had, I was feeling disappointed. I had to bear in mind, however, that it seems like the advent of multicultural/multinational feminism feels like it is a more modern concept. In any case, it felt disappointing that there was some type of stratification present in the media at "The Dinner Party." The fact that all of the plates were shaped into vulvas except for Sojourner Truth's shows that Judy Chicago, whether intentionally or unintentionally, made some type of differentiation between Truth & all of the rest of the women represented at the table. Why couldn't Chicago find a way to make the representation more diverse? More vibrant? I'm not trying to undermine the accomplishments or influence of the other women represented at the table, but wouldn't the magnitude of the display only have been greater if there could have been more of a wide array of achievements/interests/backgrounds?

Also, thinking about the idea of BMC of a 1st wave feminist institution, I can't decide how I feel about that. I know that when I was applying to college, I considered attending BMC because of the idea of women studying/achieving/living in community with women was a really powerful idea. I didn't think of it at all in terms of men. But after raising that, does that mean that women studying in league with men can't have as powerful an experience in academia when we're thinking in terms of some woman-identified feminism? I don't know if that question makes sense, so feel free to call me out on it if it doesn't, haha.