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Men to Avoid in Art and Life

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On a serious note, it may offer some hints about gender representation in classical works of art, but first thing first let´s have some healthy laugh. As a reader, I can tell you that what I got from your book was a bittersweet feeling, because on one side I thought that this kind of things, from mansplaining to sexual harassment, happen too much frequently, but on the other side I felt understood like I was not alone fighting that. I think people who love feminism and art will enjoy this. As far as feminism goes, this is strictly playing in the shallow waters, but it still got a smile or two and it was exactly what I needed at the time. Because of the looks on the women's faces and the clearly snarky tone to the book, this was really fun to read. I've been reading a few books lately that I haven't loved (I just DNF'd one), so this felt like a breath of fresh air.

H: As a comedy writer, I’m sure you cannot relate to being in a professional milieu largely dominated by men needing to explain things to you (especially what’s funny), right? Have you ever looked at a female subject in an old painting thought to yourself “same girl” as the (clearly) beleaguered woman quietly seethes in the company of leering men standing way too close? Nicole Tersigni did.I also noticed that in many of the paintings that you chose the titles describe an important couple, but the author just wrote the man’s name and referred to the woman as “his wife”. And that still happens in the articles of the press and many other cases. So, do women have names? Here's a song I wrote called 'If You Can't Orgasm from Vaginal Penetration You're Probably a Lesbian, Linda'."

In The Mansplainer, Barend Graat’s Company in a Garden (1661), which shows a corseted young woman being steered around a garden in front of a rabble of men, attempts to explain away catcalling: “You should be flattered they find you attractive enough to harass.” In The Patronizer, the top-hatted gentleman in Jean Henri de Coene’s Market Gossip (1827) tells the woman ferrying a sizeable basket on her head: “I can see you’re very busy, but I just had to tell you that you’d be so much prettier if you smiled.”Right, it’s so common and it’s not a big deal, like “you’re not being murdered, you’re fine”. But it is a big deal because it happens all the time. Out in the world, we are constantly assessing our interactions with people, like “what is this person going to do?” or ” how is this guy going to react if I say this?”. It’s a constant assessment and it’s tiring: all those little moments build up and people maybe don’t realize that, so that’s why they don’t intervene or say anything. They treat it like it’s normal, but it’s not. The content of the book is hit-or-miss, though there are some clever pairings made between the gorgeous artwork and comments that I've sure most women have heard from some men before. However, we cannot as women say that there is a wrong way to feminism, that can only make suffer the movement. That is to say, yes, this work would have been better if it had been also painted by women, when talking about women, but this is also a beautiful endeavor that is talking about our issues already, and it deserves it's credit for that. H: I think there’s a lot of power in books and media accounts like yours —and another of my favorites, Awards for Good Boys— that manage to wrap feminist theory and everyday lived experience into funny and relatable content. Can you identify aspects of the present moment that have made space for this kind of social critique to get the reception it deserves? This hysterically funny and beautiful little coffee-table book would make a great gift for someone who likes Internet memes, history, or art. Men to Avoid in Art and Life uses works of classic art-from Rembrandt to Vermeer-to illustrate classic and all-too-relatable examples of mansplaining and patronizing." - Goop

That being said, this book is clearly not for everyone. Buy it for yourself or your feminist friends, but avoid sharing it with generally conservative people. As a professional working woman and an educated individual, this book hit home on so many levels. In some cases it was funny - some quotes I have heard word by word not just once. In others, it made me angry and honestly a bit hopeless. A very delicate act of ego-balancing from Men to Avoid in Art and Life by Nicole Tersigni(all images courtesy Chronicle Books) Images from Men to Avoid in Art and Life by Nicole Tersigni. Photograph: Provided by Chronicle BooksWe’ve been over this a million times. You can’t get pregnant if you’re on top. It’s called gravity.” We've been over this a million times: You can't get pregnant if you're on top. It's called gravity"

Some of the paintings-paired-with-comments were indeed bitingly funny, but others were quite hit-or-miss for me, not really outrageous enough to be hilarious. The book tries to "unify" the memes by putting them in categories of "men to avoid" (The Mansplainer, The Concern Troll, The Patronizer etc.), but a good amount of both comments and paintings seemed somewhat interchangeable. The "new" pairing of paintings and comments did make me look more closely at the paintings than I might have otherwise, and they're honestly fascinating in their own right - both for the low-key exasperated women and, more generally, for the types of scenes they depict ("the drawing lesson"? okthen). Hilarious, and will prove a lovely addition to the collection of art lovers and feminists alike. Also a great gift idea.Men to Avoid in Art and Life is a gem, hilariously providing all-too-familiar context for paintings of yore: Look at Vermeer's reply guys! Rembrandt's chronic mansplaining! It's laugh-out-loud funny, if you find women funny, of course, and will almost certainly upset men in both art and life, which is a beautiful gift in and of itself." I promised examples and, hopefully, better late than never. Not being able to show the captions on the painting the way Tersigni has is less than ideal -- but so am I ;)

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