"Don't Iron While the Strike is Hot"

This timeline provides a sociohistorical context for Arlene Gottfried, 1972, Eddie Sun's Friend Ironing

Rosenberg, David. “To Get These Raw Photos of NYC in the ’70s and ’80s, All She Had to Do Was Ask.” Slate Magazine, 7 Nov. 2014, slate.com/culture/2014/11/arlene-gottfried-sometimes-outrageous-looks-at-the-vibrancy-of-new-york-city-in-the-1980s-photos.html. Accessed 9 April 2025.

Timeline

Why?

circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

When trying to take into account all that this image has to offer, these events and many more can help the world to understand Arlene Gottfried and her work. This image in particular, Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing, was taken in 1972, just two years after the August of 1970 Women’s Strike. Understanding this strike would also help us to understand that this image is too fighting back against traditional roles that the strike was. The August of 1970 strike was labeled as the largest since the original strike in the early 1900s, when women were fighting for the right to vote. This strike, and the fight that women in the time were having, is represented in this image with how May Wong is dressed as the traditional housewife. This role was one that many women to get away from, and were fighting against. I also wanted to take into account that Arlene Gottfried made it her mission to capture people as they are, and in Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing she managed to do just that. Gottfried loved to wander, and explore, and her work captured wherever she found herself ending up. May Wong in this image was just as she was, she was getting ready, and Gottfried captured her in the middle of it.  


Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Caitlyn Nelson

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For Arlene Gottfried

circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

Arlene Gottfried was a photographer from the 1960s-until her death in 2017. She kept her focus mainly in New York and aimed to capture the lives of New Yorkers when their masks were off and their humanity was out. In an interview with TIME Magazine in 2011, Arlene Gottfried stated that her works due to a “lifetime of wandering.” Gottfried captured her subjects a wide range of vulnerability, including happy or sometimes even in vulnerable positions. Gottfried was most well known for capturing people of minority in these vulnerable positions. She has many famous pieces, some of which include Couple, which was taken in the late 1970s and featured an interracial couple; and Amores, which was photographed in the 1980s and featured two Puerto Rican male lovers cuddled up. Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing features a woman of Asian descent, and Gottfried photographed her while she was in the middle of getting ready as part of an agreement. This photograph, and many others, can be used as examples of Gottfried trying to capture the world for what it is and what it has to offer. Many of these photographs were ‘in the moment’ and she just told them to stay, much like in her photograph Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing. 


Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Caitlyn Nelson

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Of Choice

circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

While the image wasn’t planned to look the way that it does, there’s quite a few things in the image that give away what the time period is. This image was taken in 1972, and right off the bat her hair is a dead given away. Women were typically known to have their hair curled and pinned up. Her tights are another thing, most women wore them to be considered more modest. In the 1970s, the feminist movement reached an all time high in history by this point. In August of 1970, the Women’s Stike for Equality also became very big and very fast. This particular strike was held on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage, and was used to demand further equality. At this protest, signs were being held that stated “Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot” and “Don’t Cook Dinner – Starve a Rat Today.”  Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing is a great comparison to the time period and to the strike and what was happening for women at the time. May Wong is presenting in a way that presents the idea of a “traditional housewife,” and during the 1970s this was being fought back against extremely hard. Wong is literally ironing in the photograph, however she’s naked which was a big no as well. This could also be interpreted as fighting for women's rights, and fighting against those traditional roles.


Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Caitlyn Nelson

Loading

For May Wong

circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

The name of the subject in the image is May Wong. Arlene Gottfried and May Wong had a mutual friend by the name of Eddie. Arlene Gottfried had actually met Eddie while attending college. It is unknown how May Wong knew him. Wong was introduced to Gottfried by Eddie in the early 1970s, after he learned that Wong had been looking into making a portfolio and stated she wanted to model for Gottfried. Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing was taken in Arlene Gottfried’s apartment, so the whole thing remained very casual. This image was actually taken while Wong was getting ready, and Gottfried decided to have her stand behind the ironing board. An article published in 2015 quotes Gottfried, “... The image was taken in my apartment – no furniture, but great light. She was inbetween getting ready so I just put her behind this very old, wooden ironing board.This image was a very ‘in the moment’ image. With that being said, this image says a lot even though it wasn’t too. Wong is being displayed as a traditional housewife, and even though she was simply getting ready it really speaks to the time period by what she was wearing.  


Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Caitlyn Nelson

Loading

Sources

circa. The start of the month Spring 2025

Brian. “Year 1972: 10 Facts and Historical Events That Happened.” Discover Walks Blog, 18 June 2023, www.discoverwalks.com/blog/world/year-1972-10-facts-and-historical-event.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

Woodward, Daisy. “Arlene Gottfried: A Lifetime of Wandering.” AnOther, 8 Sept. 2015, www.anothermag.com/art-photography/7743/arlene-gottfried-a-lifetime-of-w.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

Napikoski, Linda. “1970s Feminism Timeline.” ThoughtCo, 8 Aug. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/1970s-feminism-timeline-3528911#:~:text=This%20%EE%80%801970s%20feminism%EE%80%81%20timeline%20describes. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

Woodward, Daisy. “The Photographer Who Celebrated Life and Love in All Its Guises.” AnOther, 28 Feb. 2018, www.anothermag.com/art-photography/10631/the-photographer-who-celebrated.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

 

Cohen, Sascha. “The Day Women Went on Strike.” TIME, 26 Aug. 2015, time.com/4008060/women-strike-equality-1970. Accessed 7 April. 2025. 

“Arlene Gottfried, Photographer Who Found the Extraordinary in the Ordinary, Dies at 66.” The New York Times, 10 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/arts/design/arlene-gottfried-dead-new-york-city-photographer.html. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025. 

---. “The Photographer Who Celebrated Life and Love in All Its Guises.” AnOther, 28 Feb. 2018, www.anothermag.com/art-photography/10631/the-photographer-who-celebrated-life-and-love-in-all-its-guises. 


Associated Places

No places have been associated with this event

by Caitlyn Nelson

Why?

For Arlene Gottfried

Of Choice

For May Wong

Sources

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Chronological table

Displaying 1 - 5 of 5
Date Event Created by Associated Places
circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

Why?

When trying to take into account all that this image has to offer, these events and many more can help the world to understand Arlene Gottfried and her work. This image in particular, Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing, was taken in 1972, just two years after the August of 1970 Women’s Strike. Understanding this strike would also help us to understand that this image is too fighting back against traditional roles that the strike was. The August of 1970 strike was labeled as the largest since the original strike in the early 1900s, when women were fighting for the right to vote. This strike, and the fight that women in the time were having, is represented in this image with how May Wong is dressed as the traditional housewife. This role was one that many women to get away from, and were fighting against. I also wanted to take into account that Arlene Gottfried made it her mission to capture people as they are, and in Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing she managed to do just that. Gottfried loved to wander, and explore, and her work captured wherever she found herself ending up. May Wong in this image was just as she was, she was getting ready, and Gottfried captured her in the middle of it.  

Caitlyn Nelson
circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

For May Wong

Image: Kevin C. Downs

The name of the subject in the image is May Wong. Arlene Gottfried and May Wong had a mutual friend by the name of Eddie. Arlene Gottfried had actually met Eddie while attending college. It is unknown how May Wong knew him. Wong was introduced to Gottfried by Eddie in the early 1970s, after he learned that Wong had been looking into making a portfolio and stated she wanted to model for Gottfried. Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing was taken in Arlene Gottfried’s apartment, so the whole thing remained very casual. This image was actually taken while Wong was getting ready, and Gottfried decided to have her stand behind the ironing board. An article published in 2015 quotes Gottfried, “... The image was taken in my apartment – no furniture, but great light. She was inbetween getting ready so I just put her behind this very old, wooden ironing board.This image was a very ‘in the moment’ image. With that being said, this image says a lot even though it wasn’t too. Wong is being displayed as a traditional housewife, and even though she was simply getting ready it really speaks to the time period by what she was wearing.  

Caitlyn Nelson
circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

Of Choice

While the image wasn’t planned to look the way that it does, there’s quite a few things in the image that give away what the time period is. This image was taken in 1972, and right off the bat her hair is a dead given away. Women were typically known to have their hair curled and pinned up. Her tights are another thing, most women wore them to be considered more modest. In the 1970s, the feminist movement reached an all time high in history by this point. In August of 1970, the Women’s Stike for Equality also became very big and very fast. This particular strike was held on the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage, and was used to demand further equality. At this protest, signs were being held that stated “Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot” and “Don’t Cook Dinner – Starve a Rat Today.”  Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing is a great comparison to the time period and to the strike and what was happening for women at the time. May Wong is presenting in a way that presents the idea of a “traditional housewife,” and during the 1970s this was being fought back against extremely hard. Wong is literally ironing in the photograph, however she’s naked which was a big no as well. This could also be interpreted as fighting for women's rights, and fighting against those traditional roles.

Caitlyn Nelson
circa. The middle of the month Spring 1972

For Arlene Gottfried

Arlene Gottfried was a photographer from the 1960s-until her death in 2017. She kept her focus mainly in New York and aimed to capture the lives of New Yorkers when their masks were off and their humanity was out. In an interview with TIME Magazine in 2011, Arlene Gottfried stated that her works due to a “lifetime of wandering.” Gottfried captured her subjects a wide range of vulnerability, including happy or sometimes even in vulnerable positions. Gottfried was most well known for capturing people of minority in these vulnerable positions. She has many famous pieces, some of which include Couple, which was taken in the late 1970s and featured an interracial couple; and Amores, which was photographed in the 1980s and featured two Puerto Rican male lovers cuddled up. Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing features a woman of Asian descent, and Gottfried photographed her while she was in the middle of getting ready as part of an agreement. This photograph, and many others, can be used as examples of Gottfried trying to capture the world for what it is and what it has to offer. Many of these photographs were ‘in the moment’ and she just told them to stay, much like in her photograph Eddie Sun’s Friend Ironing. 

Caitlyn Nelson
circa. The start of the month Spring 2025

Sources

Brian. “Year 1972: 10 Facts and Historical Events That Happened.” Discover Walks Blog, 18 June 2023, www.discoverwalks.com/blog/world/year-1972-10-facts-and-historical-event.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

Woodward, Daisy. “Arlene Gottfried: A Lifetime of Wandering.” AnOther, 8 Sept. 2015, www.anothermag.com/art-photography/7743/arlene-gottfried-a-lifetime-of-w.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

Napikoski, Linda. “1970s Feminism Timeline.” ThoughtCo, 8 Aug. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/1970s-feminism-timeline-3528911#:~:text=This%20%EE%80%801970s%20feminism%EE%80%81%20timeline%20describes. Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

Woodward, Daisy. “The Photographer Who Celebrated Life and Love in All Its Guises.” AnOther, 28 Feb. 2018, www.anothermag.com/art-photography/10631/the-photographer-who-celebrated.... Accessed 20 Mar. 2025. 

 

Cohen, Sascha. “The Day Women Went on Strike.” TIME, 26 Aug. 2015, time.com/4008060/women-strike-equality-1970. Accessed 7 April. 2025. 

“Arlene Gottfried, Photographer Who Found the Extraordinary in the Ordinary, Dies at 66.” The New York Times, 10 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/arts/design/arlene-gottfried-dead-new-york-city-photographer.html. Accessed 9 Apr. 2025. 

---. “The Photographer Who Celebrated Life and Love in All Its Guises.” AnOther, 28 Feb. 2018, www.anothermag.com/art-photography/10631/the-photographer-who-celebrated-life-and-love-in-all-its-guises. 

Caitlyn Nelson