Feminism in photography really stems from tableaux photographers including Cindy Sherman as a movement to further progress understanding of unfair societal, economic and political differences with the way men and women are treated. I really like tableaux photography as the photographer is able to tell a story that is completely staged and they have complete control, it is almost like making a film but in stills and each image tells a strong story on its own or even within a series of images.
Suffragettes movement
The Suffragettes movement in Britain came around in 1872. Suffragette is simply a woman seeking the right to vote through organised protest. Women were actually banned from voting in Britain from the 1832 Reform Act and the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act. The suffragette movement was a political one creating organisations including the National Society for Women’s Suffrage. Suffragettes used peaceful protest in speech, they were expected to stay at home look after the children and cook and clean. During the First World War 1914 suffragettes put their movements on hold to help out and work in defence manufacturers and made a large contribution to the efficiency of defences and other supplies made during the war. After the war women began to fight more violently for the right to vote and would smash windows and blow up post boxes. The most famous suffragette act was by a woman called Emily Davidson who stood out on a national horse racing day to raise the flag of ‘Votes for Women’ in front of TV cameras that were to be broadcast all over Britain. She was hit by a horse and died due to fatal skull and internal injuries. She became a martyr to the suffragette movement. This made headlines unlike other protests where the government and police had silenced the press. Thousands at tented Davidson’s funeral and the suffragettes movement was now being recognised. In 1918 the coalition government passed the Representation of the People Act giving women certain women over the age of 30 the right to vote who met minimum property qualifications. Finally, 10 years later, 1928, the Conservative government passed a new act giving the vote to all women over the age of 21. The movement of the suffragettes gave women the power to know that they were worth more than just living at home and they were worthy of an education. Without these women in Britain women wouldn’t have the positions within work places that they are able to have today. This movement saw a more equal Britain and women were now treated less as housemaids and more like they should be treated, as equals. I really do think that not many people know about what suffragette women went through and the brutality and force that men had over women. The story of the Suffragettes, to me, is the almost untold story of British history. However, a film titled ‘Suffragette’ has been released that explains what one group of women did to further the movement in the early 1900’s.
What is feminism?
Feminism could only come about after the Suffragette movement as women were only then starting to get a voice and being seen more equally. Here feminism came about because men and women are faced with unfair standards and stereotypes. Feminism is the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. This movement does not see women as more important than men but it sees them as equals. In recent years it has become a very controversial topic of which some people are saying it to be a ‘man hating’ movement claiming that women ‘are more important and that men don’t face problems’. This is the wrong perception of the movement as there are male feminists. People tend to get it confused because of the name of the movement suggests feminine which is obviously associated with women. Feminism urges to change stereotype, objectification and derogatory lexis that mainly women face day to day. For example, if a woman were to sleep around she would be labelled as a ‘slag’, ‘slut’, ‘whore’ etc unlike a man who would not even be labelled or even be called a ‘lad’ by friends. This is an hypocritical and unfair label that women are constantly faced with. However, there are many other aspects to feminism that seek the equality of life for both men and women. Another example would be that if a male is seen to be sad or to show emotion he is ‘probably gay’ which is completely wrong as women are allowed to be emotional. There are so many unfair and unrealistic stereotypes faced with men and women which feminists are trying to change. Many photographers use this within their work to further the movement of feminism.
Celebrity feminists
Feminist photographers include Cindy Sherman, Claude Cahun and Barbara Kruger. Feminism is becoming more and more widely known as more people are beginning to see the unequal stereotypes and labels put on men and women. I love that through photography artists are able to express themselves freely and show spectators physical representations of what women actually have to deal with day in and day out as well as men. I believe that women are still somewhat underrepresented and a lot of people see feminism as a negative thing and shameful. This is what Suffragette women also went through because they were at a different mindset from the rest of society. It takes time and I believe that through generations we become more understanding and openminded about societal issues such as feminism.
I am excited to explore this topic further to gain a broader understanding of feminism and the way men and women are treated differently within our society. I will be responding to various photographers work as well as making my own work. I feel that there is still so much to learn and so many aspects of feminism that are untold in photography.
Dazed online feminism articles: http://www.dazeddigital.com/tag/feminism
Amber Rose ‘Walk of NO Shame’ video: http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/26442/1/watch-amber-rose-take-a-post-sex-walk-of-no-shame
The video created by Amber Rose is obviously an over exaggerated way of expressing her views on what is commonly known as the ‘walk of shame’. This label is only given to women who have one-night stand yet men are not faced with this same label. This just shows the double standard that our society has for men and women. I like this video because it juxtaposes the way people actually think when they see a woman walking down the street in the same clothing that she wore the night before. People will automatically label women that do this and give them derogatory labels like ‘slut’, ‘slag’ etc. Some people see it as wrong and disgusting for a woman to do this yet if a man were to do it it would be seen as fine as it is his body and he should be able to do as he pleases with it. I think this video is really effective and Rose has made the seriousness of this issue more comical and blatantly easy to follow and to show how ridiculous slut shaming and labelling women is.
The Guardian feminism articles: http://www.theguardian.com/world/feminism
Feminist protestors at the Suffragette London movie Premiere
This past week the film ‘Suffragette’ came out and premiered in London. Here feminists from the activist group Sisters Uncut lay on the red carpet where the stars of the film were and held signs that said ‘We are suffragettes’ and ‘dead women can’t vote’. Their movement puts emphasis on domestic violence and the protest was organised because cuts had been made to domestic violence services. This movement focuses on how women are abused as well as men. It is good to see that the there are still activist groups fighting for equality in political, social and economic aspects of modern life.
More on the protest: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/07/feminist-protesters-storm-red-carpet-at-london-premiere-of-suffragette
Feminism in photography can be hugely influential as many people identify with more visual aspects of it and find it easier to relate and get their head around. There is so much to feminism and a lot of photographers will tend to focus on social aspects of this because it is what becomes more effective and is the one aspect of modern life that really is backward and unjust.
