YOU ARE NOT YOURSELF.

At the forefront of this shift was the work of conceptual artist Barbara
Kruger, known for her bold text art critiquing consumerism and mass
media.
By taking a closer look at one of her works, entitled You Are Not
Yourself, we can see this ideological shift in feminism come into play
through the genius of Barbara Kruger, as well as how she employs
language and typography to make the viewer question even their own
identity.
Kruger’s work reflects the consumerist media’s discovery of the
formative power of images, but she uses this theory for a political end
goal.
Kruger developed her signature look: high-contrast black and white
photographs with words set in bold block-shaped font superimposed
on top. The phrases are usually short and simple but packed with
meaning. What makes this format so effective is its simulation of media
imagery: the black and white photos are similar to those found in
newspapers and tabloids, while the bold, simple words seem very
dictatorial, lending credibility to the statements.
This was especially important in the 1980s as postmodern ideas
incorporated themselves into feminist thought: ideologies were
changing, and Kruger’s work was at the forefront in showcasing this
transformation.
Ideologically, the rise of the feminist art movement in the 1960s and
1970s sought to reclaim the female identity while preserving what they
believed were the fundamental differences between men and women.
Feminist artists during the seventies explored the shared, collective
experiences of women as a means to understand themselves as
individuals. A lot of this exploration dealt with the female body, which
had become a symbol of passivity and objectification.

Barbara Kruger’s 1981 montage You Are Not Yourself expressively

illustrates these concepts in her classic style. A woman peering into a
broken mirror, holding one of the fragments between her fingers, is
shown with the superimposed words “You Are Not Yourself” on
top. The shattered mirror distorts the woman’s image, thereby rendering
the representation of herself as a female in society visibly altered; she is
no longer herself as a society can define her. Thanks to the many
standards and often conflicting roles that women are held to in their
community, a woman’s self-reflection can, in many cases, lead to the
realization that she is fragmented and, therefore, not herself.

Kruger calls attention to the implicit assumption of femininity as

a contextual ideal; a word does not have meaning without
constructs or concepts, and the same goes for gender. The
biological gender differences have no meaning until they are
discussed and framed in a way that makes them meaningfully
different. Furthermore, one’s sense of self is subject to
something else, which means that perhaps, you never can truly
be yourself.
You Are Not Yourself more specifically addresses the identity of
women in the context of society and how their field of
representation must be changed if they hope to break out of
sexist constraints. The “control and positioning of the social
body” is instrumental in producing a normal member of society
who can fit well into its ideological, social, and economic
orders. Kruger seeks to redefine the human subject in terms of
social forces. In her work, she does so by accentuating the
stereotypes and representations accompanying femininity to
manifest a change. Additionally, Kruger questions the
positioning of the social body; she explores how individuals are
formed by society and how public customs and mores dictate
who they are. Individuals always exist in something else; it is
impossible to be without outside influences.
Kruger uses the bold font to lend an authoritative voice to the
text and employs personal pronouns to draw the viewer into
the conversation, thus rendering the spectator no longer
independent of the discourse.
Words are powerful, and they can subjugate us. Kruger makes
the “not” very small in the centre, with white letters on a black
background, which is the reverse of all the other words’
formatting. She does this so that, from far away, the image
could read “You are yourself,” tricking the viewer into believing
a different message is told by the work, thus demonstrating the
importance of outside context when determining the qualities
of self.
You Are Not Yourself is a call for the audience to become aware
of their subjectivity as individuals. We are merely a
representation of ourselves and only exist through the eyes of
others. You Are Not Yourself speaks especially to the construct
of gender in society and how it affects the female identity

In "Digging," we encounter three generations of men from the

same family. The speaker thinks back on his father and
grandfather. We can observe the similarities across generations
(they all put in a significant amount of effort and embrace hard
work) (the speaker has chosen an entirely different line of work
from his father and grandfather). The speaker also makes
comparisons to the men who came before him; he is a little
uneasy about breaking family tradition by choosing to become
a writer rather than a person who works the farm. . His family's
identity is heavily influenced by farming, thus our speaker must
consider how he fits in the family where he plays a completely
different role.
He recalls his father and grandfather in the peat bog and potato
field, and it appears that these memories had a significant
impact on how his identity as he grew up. He then realizes that
he is not like them. At the end of the poem, the narrator
discovers that in some ways, he is similar to his father and
grandpa. The speaker appears more assured in his identity. The
speaker is confident in who he is and his skills. That he is
making his way although he is aware of his heritage.
The speaker in "Digging" undoubtedly admires his father and
grandfather. He admires their skills and works ethic. You get
the impression that our speaker genuinely wants to be like
them, even though, as a writer, he will never be. Even as an
adult and despite having chosen a different career path, the
speaker's adoration for them seems to have started when he
was very young. Even though his work is different from theirs,
he may try to work just like his father and grandfather.
He grows up looking up to them, and his admiration influences
how the speaker is in his adulthood.
The speaker has incorporated traits from his father and grandfather,
whom he respects, into his line of work.

My father, digging. I look down (5)

And right away, we know what occupies his mind. The speaker's
identity is shaped by how he sees his father.

Bends low comes up twenty years away (7)

Now we can see further into the past, to where the speaker's
identity began to take shape as a young boy, helping out his old
man in the potato fields.
My father, digging. I look down (5)
It seems our speaker has always had a careful eye on his father
and grandfather, and that he's looked up to them for his entire life
– even now as a grown-up.

My grandfather cut more turf in a day

Than any other man on Toner's bog. (17-18)
Same question for his grandpa: does he admire the guy for his
hard work, for his skill, or both?

But I've no spade to follow men like them.

In this line, the speaker both puts himself down (a sort of "I'm not
as good as those guys" comment) and praises his father and
grandfather. It's a strange combination, but it makes sense when
you consider the unique situation in which he finds himself.