Reflection Feminism; A Report on Margaret
Yiyang Cheng
University Of Wales Trinity Saint David Research Repository 2025 DOI: 10.82227/repository.uwtsd.ac.uk.00003670 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that a recurring lucid dream, which inspired the artwork Margaret, symbolically rendered personal experiences and stories heard about others into characters and events that reveal the social status of women. The author contends that revisiting the dream after waking allows exploration of power dynamics, objectification, marginalization, isolation, and resilience, and of why solutions to the dream's dilemmas could not be found within the dream itself. |
Abstract
Ever since fascinated by Inception (2010) as a child, I have been training my ability to have lucid dreams, a skill that one being able to tell whether they are in a dream and control things (Van Eeden, 1913, pp.435-439).Although I have not mastered the ability to control my dreams consciously, the vividness and detail have grown, giving me many inspirations for both storytelling and reflection.These dreams often are scenarios that are ridiculous to my waking self because of the unreal and illogical it showed, leading me to question why my subconscious behaves in such way.Moreover, it led me to analyze the relationship between conscious and unconscious thought, as well as the narratives created by my mind.Thus, in this report, the dream described above, which directly inspired my work Margaret during the Confirmative Praxis period, will be repeatedly mentioned and analysed.Even the dream occurs to me in Thought Experiment period, which is a long time ago, the fear, isolation, and the struggles women face still impact me.Experiencing these emotions from a first-person perspective, I revisited the dream repeatedly after waking, trying to seek better solutions to its dilemmas and exploring why I could not come up with these solutions in the dream.Besides, the dream involved not only my personal experiences but also stories I have witnessed or heard about.My brain conjures up these incidents into symbolic characters and events that revealed the social status of women.This report and the artwork Margaret are the reflection of the dream, exploring themes such as power dynamics, objectification, marginalization, isolation, and resilience.This report will start by looking into the plot of the dream, focusing on revealing a series of challenges faced by women as they navigate in personal, social and academic realms.