LINDA: Marion, let me ask you: Do you think, that there are male and female viewpoints?
MARION: I even know that they exist, because we are heavily controlled by our hormones as men and women. And we have entirely different hormone systems in our cycles. They are only similar at the beginning and at the end of our lives. That’s how these hormones steer different needs. The results of these needs are sex and then especially children, who will also have different needs. So, the viewpoint concentrates on different things, because it comes from different parts or horizons of our personalities. That’s the biological background with the brain and the hormones. But I also study the aura and the energy circles of the body. That’s where chakras come into play and the energy flow. Old knowledge says that men and women have the same chakras but on a sexual level it works in a way in which the first chakra is the male one, from which the male sexuality derives. And the chakra of women, which has to be opened and touched through sexual communication, is the fourth chakra, the heart chakra.
LINDA: Really?
MARION: That’s why men and women start from an entirely different point. Therefore, the whole process of communication is different. Also, if they think about it, the focus is totally different. Because the focus is different, the viewpoint is also different in a way – or at least what the gaze manifests is different: Men and women view different things.
LINDA: So, the biological reaction of the body reacts differently to different stimuli?
MARION: These two aspects are only the biological ones. Then there are the culture aspects where women and men were differently raised and have different responsibilities. Men were soldiers or warriors, while women took care of the children. Here again a man will focus on different things. He protects all the time, that’s why he observes everything to see if there’s a danger, while the women take care of the little things and rely on the watchful eyes of the husband. That’s why many women can’t see everything. They only see what they focus on but they don’t see everything, while many men see a lot of details.
Of course, there’s a different culture, in which men and women have similar duties or at least could have the same. A man can stay at home and a woman can be a handyman. This brings us closer together, but the hormones and the biological functions as well as the sexual communication can’t be changed by us, they are defined by nature.
LINDA: Are you an artist?
MARION: Yes, I think I’m an artist. I would like to be able to put a lot more time into it. I think my biggest gift is to compress great concepts into a couple of words – when I have time and when I have the right feeling for it. But sadly, I can’t always do it, the way I want it. I think I can express many important things but if I don’t write them down the moment they come to me, they are forgotten.
LINDA: To answer to these words: That’s the reason why many artists make such an effort to work only as artists, because many of them have no skills which can be transferred into other areas and then they lose focus.
MARION: Exactly. They only have one idea once and it won’t repeat itself. This insight will be there only once. But on the other hand: If I could dedicate most or all of my time to the art, it would also be stress because then I would have to create a product. And then maybe it wouldn’t be that good. This way, the few products which I can create are very on point because they are so precious to me that I take time for them.
LINDA: Yes, I think, that’s the thing. We live in this culture, in which so many people can carry their ideas into the world. It was actually very shocking and very encouraging for me in the last years that so many people can offer so many ideas in such a fast speed. The question is: Where do I fit in? And can I have enough ideas to compete with all the ideas there are? And I think I have reached the point where I may produce the strongest and most important ideas. One can assume that in our current culture our ideas will come to life permanently. If an artist was famous from 1900 till fifteen years ago, you expected that he was supervised, so that the people could see what the artists did and everything. This was a culture where you had to show it because otherwise no one came to see what you were doing. No artist could be present all the time. Today we live in a different time, an interesting time. And I wonder what role this much visibility of this much art plays. What role does the gaze play? Do you have an answer to this?
MARION: I think that the gaze is a lot more educated. Do you remember the indigenous people who couldn’t see the ship because they had no concept of the ship – the ship was there and they couldn’t see it? Today the people see a lot more than what they’ve seen earlier. And with the spiritual aspect which comes more into our life and is allowed to be more in our life they can even feel more. So, they see more in its entirety. So, I think that these multidimensional aspects of art are being absorbed by more and more people. And that’s why now we can have a very colorful communication. The only problem I see is that we are under stricter and more repressive mind control by the media. And I think this is the most encompassing and most intensive the manipulation has ever been. That’s where I see a danger. This was created to control us – definitely to prevent that multidimensional thinking frees us, that we are no longer under control. That’s why I think it’s our responsibility to relieve the people more and more of this manipulation. And I think, then we would be unstoppable – except if this manipulative group somehow destroys the world.
LINDA: Yes, I mean one of the discussions is surely that the advertisement world has a male gaze. What do you think?
MARION: Definitely. And I think that a quota for women of at least 40 or 30 percent is very important to free everyone from this repressive male system.
LINDA: Yes, I agree.
Pictured is Marion Schneider. The interview was made by Linda Troeller.