Twirly Girl

While in a blacksmith's shop in Ferndale a couple of months ago, I noticed this rather wonderful sculpture. She is called Twirly Girl and she is created by E.B.Chase. I liked her different faces, her implication of movement, and the general sense of confusion. 

There is a sheet of paper attached to her plinth, which explains the process behind her design, from which I shall quote below.

"Twirly Girl is a spinning woman with four faces, which express anger, bewilderment, embarrassment, and satisfaction. 

During the 1970s, ideals and expectations about women, from female and male viewpoints were pushed into the public consciousness like never before. Feminist authors and speakers helped create a new discourse about women's current roles in our society. However, with this attempt to throw off old sexual stereotypes a new flood of advice and popular images were aimed at women, which could often be just as restricting as the previous ones that they were replacing. With such contradictions facing women regarding social standards, making decisions about personal goals and changes could often be a confusing and difficult process. This was the idea that captured Chase's imagination although it would take him a while to discover the artistic shape to represent it.

Fast forward a few decades to 2003 when Chase was working on a staircase railing. He was experimenting with a spiral-like shape when it suddenly caught his attention. It looked like a swirling skirt flowing out from a spinning body. This figure finally gave shape to the ideas that Chase had been working around in his mind since the 1970s. The flowing skirt represented a woman whirling around overwhelmed with the numerous influences flying at her from every direction. What roles in life does she want to attempt and what roles has she been pushed into that she does not want? Whose advice should she take: women's magazines, her friends', feminist authors? How can she change and improve while remaining true to herself? How should she balance her roles and obligations as a wife/mother/daughter/sister with simply being a woman?

While the benefits of feminism have increased women's equality, it has not been a painless revolution. Women still find themselves battling media images and the social status quo, which do not necessarily fit with their own ideas and aspirations. Chase's sculpture, with her four different faces and twirling body, represents different roles women fill (unwillingly or by choice), different directions from which women receive influence, different paths women can choose, and the conflicting emotions that accompany such decisions and stages in life. Twirly Girl is not just a sculpture; she is also a social commentary with historical perspective on what it has been like to be a woman in our culture, as seen through the eyes of an exceptionally talented artist... who happens to be a man."

This piece of art and accompanying message has sat with me for a while. And I am no less ambivalent it now than I was then. You could even say it has got me in a spin. I love the sculpture. I love the fact that a man has considered this to be an issue worthy of interpretation through the traditional 'masculine' craft of metalwork rather than a more classically comprehended 'feminine' craft such as quilting or embroidery. 

And yet I can't help feeling that this is also an example of mansplaining - we know all this and don't necessarily need a man to point it out (even with multiple directions in such an appealing manner). I know that is unfair. Men can be feminists too; generally we welcome them, but should they 'shut up and listen' or continue to draw attention to themselves in 'our' struggle? It's certainly a fraught issue, and despite thinking about it for years, I haven't got an answer. (If I were a man I would have solved the issue by now and moved on - that's flippant, I know. I'm sorry.)

And then there's the name of the piece. Even though in the opening line of explanation we are told that she is a 'spinning woman', she is still called a girl. Every time I hear someone (usually male) refer to 'this girl at work/ in the office/ on the bus/ in the Olympics', I ask them how old she is. If she is over 16, why are they still referring to her as a girl? She is an adult and should be treated with the same respect that we grant to maturity of the male sex. There is a male receptionist where I work. He has a beard. I would never belittle his age, experience and achievements by referring to him as a boy.

There is a clothing outlet in America called Twirly Girl. It sells cute and colourful dresses with full skirts for babies and toddlers to teens. And dolls. Its range includes outfits called Butterflies Rejoice, Singing Sweet Daisies, Mystical Mermaids, Fantastical Rosy World, Dancing Queen, Devoted to Beauty, Hunny Bunny Blossom and Itsy Bitsy Wiggly Watermelon. Don't get me wrong; the dresses are delightful, and there are also frocks with less saccharine names, like I Can Be President, I Can Go To the Moon, and Queen of her Own Kingdom. 

Apparently most of the sales are to grandparents who like to hear their grand-daughters brag that 'Grandma and Grandpa gave me this'. Fair enough. The website states that 'our dresses are pretty unique [sic]. They're very well made and super-colorful and fun. Some have wings. Some are reversible. Others are adorned with long ribbons. And when a little girl starts twirling in her dress, it's showtime!' Exactly. Some little girls like to twirl. They want to show off and they want acclaim. They are performing for an audience. Good for them. I hope they're having fun. 

Please don't ever expect a grown woman to perform for your approval. She is who she is and she does what does. If she is a world-class tennis player, she is an athlete. She is a woman who deserves respect for her ability and her attitude that has brought her to this high pressure point. She should never be asked to 'give us a twirl'. It is demeaning and infantilizing. Women are not girls. Twirling is not spinning. It is not 'just' semantics. 

I really like E.B. Chase's sculpture. I admire his artwork and his rationale. I respect his talent. I am just conflicted by the effect this shape-shifting piece provokes. We may approach this from many different perspectives and arrive at different positions. Is that the point of art, after all? Yes, we all live on the same earth which rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun, and we are all constantly evolving in our opinions and our actions. I hope.