The Man Suit experiment

This was more of a personal thing...something I've wanted to do for a very long time, but needed the right environment for it to feel accurate in.  It was important for me to really know some of the people involved, as much as is was for me to have a random audiences reaction as well.

This is me on a more....'daily' basis

I enjoy taking my kids on adventures...no matter where that might be; and shooting 100's of photos in a few hours just so I can bring them home to play with them some more.  I'm very into the outdoors, nature, real life and of course, art...though for me, everything seems to be art: I think that's why I love photography so much, because I can capture all of the beautiful art I see.

I've spent the past two years working on my education on a regional campus of OSU.  I have so enjoyed my time there and have met so many wonderful artists and scholars, as I transfer to main campus I will take many with me in my heart.  I've experienced changes within myself that are so dramatic that even I sometimes surprise myself, yet often still feel underestimated and overlooked by most.  I work hard, push myself to focus on my dreams and realize the importance of still reaching out to people...even if I'm stressed, because that's a big part of who I am...and it actually decompresses my stress level to know I've touched someone else in some way...left a positive piece of myself behind to hopefully lighten their own load...my need for that interaction is crucial to my creativity and hopefully sends out a positive energy that will encompass me as well, especially through my dark times.

For the past year I've been taking a lot of core art classes: drawing, life drawing, 2D and then 3D...all outside of my photography realm, though I was also able to take digital manipulation and 4D, which is the video work dealing with time.  For the most part, I've run around in jeans and t-shirts, crazy little outfits I've thrown together because I do believe that everything is art, so I do like to make a statement with how I dress.  That's just another part of who I am, color & style do represent a mood...a place sometimes...and its something I'm aware of...while most tend to see it more as an artistic quirk, dismissing me as perhaps a 'flake'.

BUT...I have a male instructor I've worked with...several...but a few have struck me as 'closet chauvinists'...some just as snobs...others who are just a bit insecure and come off as chauvinistic.  All stereotypes I've encountered in both men and women, but for me became a more personal issue as of late.

Much through the encouragement of a few wonderful instructors and one female instructor in particular, I found the strength to push on. I pushed beyond each bat of an eyelash, or ego stroke I watched that got all of the younger girls 'recognized' and it drove me insane.  The thought of using that as a way to further yourself is beyond frustrating.  I work hard...won an art award, have one of my pieces end up in the recognized art collection of the President of our University and still...no notice is taken, influential men still have no idea of who I am, and if they do, they don't acknowledge it.

I began to watch the way the system around me was overlooking many extremely valuable women who basically run campus...I began watching who was noticed, why and how.  A disturbing trend of false recognition for the purpose of self gain was all around me.  Granted, I know this goes on everywhere, the good with the bad...and I wouldn't change my choice of education for anything...OSU is a fantastic school.  But I felt the need to make a bold statement...something that said....take notice...and never underestimate the power of any human being...the end result can be quite humbling.

Enter the Man Suit

    

The idea of the Man Suit experiment hit me as the quarter came to an end.  I knew, as I worked the last night of the gallery for the graduation ceremony, that the perfect stage would be set to play-out this performance piece that had generated from feelings of being disregarded by 'powerful' men whose influence in a budding artist are an important part in their success in the academic realm of things.  To be a successful artist, people have to know your work, know your name, you need to win awards, have your art be seen...for me to define it is difficult, but for my art to really reach the masses, exposure is important: if you can't be known in a small pond...what are your chances of being known in an ocean?  The idea that these men were in some way standing in the way of my dream set fire to something inside of me.  Sure...they'd reached a certain level...to some degree a very high level of stature...but what right did they have to be dismissive of myself or the other powerful women around them?

The outfit itself was chosen with very specific purpose.  One...I did not want to be a man...I wanted to carry off a presence that men relate to with a sort of personal stature.  A fine cut suit...but, I wore black lace beneath it and a pair of killer heals because the fact that I am a strong woman needed to be obvious, giving myself an eye to eye level, sometimes towering level commanded a level of attention in itself.  No jewelry other than my wedding rings...a minimal amount of make-up...and that short sexy haircut that projected masculinity yet somehow inspired sexuality. Short hair on a woman...such a cliche you would think...but I did detect a question of sexuality, which I'd predicted, but I also found that my presence caused a resonant mood of nervousness among all of the men that I encountered.

Staying true to self...

While stature & presence were provided through an outfit, I felt it important to continue to just be myself.  I'm by nature a very outgoing and down to earth type of person.  The same person most of these people had met or seen at some point over the years on campus...the only difference was the way I was dressed.  I found it extremely interesting:  My female instructor liked the get up...wasn't aware of my intentions...but I did notice her noticing throughout the evening the odd reactions of the people around us...I'm not sure she was making the same connection as I was, but she did mention a few odd behaviors.  

I was suddenly being seen as a dominant presence, looked at, talked about, stared at from a distance and approached directly by those exact men who had up until then...basically overlooked me.  It was an interesting turn of events on many levels.  Both men & women tended to keep a certain distance from me.  All seemed interested in who I was...why I was there...but the men seemed skittish and only the educated women in the crowd felt sure enough to approach me with dialogue...unless they had known me prior to the event...those women seemed to want to be connected to me somehow...just by being in my presence they somehow achieved some of their own recognition.  I focused on the event...narrowing in on the graduates, congratulating them and their families, keeping things professional...representing our art department in a manner that showed respect for the work these men & women had put forward to achieve this moment...they deserved that.

It was the oddest sensation in the world.  Surely I proved a point with those men...if it goes anywhere...that's anyone's guess.  But I discovered the power behind being a successful and professional woman. I found the blend between how to maintain who I am while carving my path to success.  I've learned how to make people take notice and forced them to see beyond the cover most people project...I feel like if nothing else, they will remember Susan Komer, the professional artist who earned her respect as a strong, intelligent, talented and kind woman.

Such a simple thing...such a dynamic sense of power and respect...I strongly encourage any women who has never sported the man suit to do it...at least once.  I don't know how much others notice...but your own sense of strength will shine through...reminding even you...what you're capable of.