Guest of Cindy Sherman

I went to see the movie Guest of Cindy Sherman. last night.
It was an interesting film, and I am glad I saw it- but rather than recount it here, I liked the review given by ArtFagCity blog.
Although it was a portrayal of what is was like to be Cindy Sherman's partner during her meteoric rise to fame during the 1990's, it seemed to me to portray an inner sadness and also highlight the lack of personal fortitude of the director/partner.

What concerned me most about the film was the reinforcement of gender stereotypes with regard to domestic partnership or marriage. Some thoughts:

When women are in the role of a "supporting wife", their marriage is more or less deemed successful by the larger community- a strong man, a good provider, a supporting wife, perfect life. In my experience as a wife and woman making art and living in New York City, there is not a lot of mention of a woman's own careers, a woman's own independence, a woman's own life separate from being wife, mother, negotiator, bill payer, laundry do-er, washer, mender, etc. (see previous posts about On Any Given Day poem).

I could just be projecting from my own domestic situation a little, but the movie did illicit that reaction...

So, when the supporting partner in a relationship is a man - and in this case, someone who seems to have remora tendencies from the beginning -feeling of emasculation, lack of self worth, and identity issues come to the forefront and discussed as though they are something new - they can't seem to deal with their more submissive role. But this hierarchic assumption of authority is still the fundamental thing that maintains inequality at home and in the community!

With women I know and have grown up with, I find it is still commonly accepted and even something to be proud of to be a "woman who doesn't work". New York City certainly is not easy to live in as a single person, let alone a wife and mother. To be a woman whose husband can afford to keep her at home, to raise a family, etc. is something that I see many women aspiring to, often at the expense of their own careers and own identities.

Sadly, movies continue to reinforce this inequality, which illustrates how we have not been able to move past this issue.