Cindy Sherman – Focused on Femininity

Born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Cindy Sherman lives and works in New York NY. Her ground-breaking photographs have interrogated themes around representation and identity in contemporary media for over four decades.

“I am trying to make other people recognize something of themselves rather than me.” —Cindy Sherman

At the heart of Sherman’s work is the multitude of identity stereotypes (like femininity) that have arisen throughout both the history of art and the history of advertising, cinema, and media. Sherman reveals and dismantles these stereotypes as well as the mechanics of their production in creating series after series of photographs that focus on particular image-making procedures.

The “male gaze” in her work of gender identity

The feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey writes in her famous essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” about the subconscious way we see women and how they are depicted in Hollywood movies from the 1930s to the 1950s.

She argues that a lot of these movies objectify women and the female body for men’s pleasure. The black-and-white photographs of Cindy Sherman’s series Untitled Film Stills are reminiscent of movies from the 1930s to the 1950s and depict Sherman as she portrays women in different roles with the help of costumes, make-up, and wigs. They can be interpreted as challenging the male gaze mentioned by Mulvey.

This image makes the subject seem almost vulnerable, giving an eerie and creepy effect. This is because it leads to the viewer becoming an inappropriate spectator. The picture makes the audience part of a threatening situation they do not necessarily want to be a part of. It even indicates that the viewer who is only able to see the woman’s back is the one who poses a threat. Become confronted with the negative implications of the way the media – especially movies – depicts women. The male gaze is often present in Cindy Sherman’s artworks but she subtly changes the perspectives, expressions, and circumstances. The luggage to the left of her further increases her vulnerability it can be nicked inni.

Claude Cahun – freedom fighter

Defying conventional ideals of beauty and femininity with her shaven head and male attire, Claude Cahun is a perfect example of someone who pushed the boundaries of gender roles in a stereotypical society. Cahun staged images of herself that challenge the idea of the politics of gender. Cahun was championing the idea of gender fluidity way before the hashtags of today.”Masculine? Feminine? It depends on the situation. Neuter is the only gender that always suits me”. Cahun made photomontages with their partner Marcel Moore (aka Suzanne Malherbe), to illustrate Cahun’s autobiographical essay Disavowed Confessions (Aveux non Avenus). The photomontages feature self-portraits in masculine and feminine guises to show the artist’s identity in flux. 

This image is a perfect example of a female breaking the stereotypes placed on them as she shaved her head and wore male clothing. “Under this mask, another mask; I will never finish removing all these faces.”.

“I am in training don’t kiss me”

This is a series of photographs she took in 1927. Cahun adopts the paradoxical representation of a feminized strongman and performs various poses. Here is one of her photos from the series:

Here, Cahun breaks through gender boundaries and represents oneself simply as an active human rather than as a woman or man defined by their sex. Cahun presents an obviously constructed identity using props, highly stylized clothing, and make-up. In this photo you can see many masculine mixed wih feminine features like how she holds charmingly painted weights, psuedo-nipples are sewn onto the flat costume shirt, and even the traditional weight-lifter handlebar mustache has been displaced onto the curls of cropped hair.

Masculinity vs femininity has been a heated topic since the dawn of time. This is an example of binary opposites, which is where two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. Using binary opposites can often be very helpful in generating ideas for a photographic project as it provides a framework. other examples include:

• good vs evil
• black vs white
• man vs nature
• young vs old
• Ignorance vs wisdom

femininity means qualities or attributes regarded as characteristic of women or girls. By tackling the ideals of the female beauty, feminist photography tried to change general consciousness on the objectification of women, their role within domestic life, their own views of self.

photos that I think represent qualities of femininity:

Masculinity means qualities or traits regarded as characteristic of men or boys. Traits traditionally viewed as masculine in Western society include strength, courage, independence, leadership, and assertiveness. Many photographers try to combat these views as many men don’t feel like they match these traits.

photos that I think represent the qualities of masculinity :

Mood board

These photos are how I seen the concept of masculinity, I will try and portray my view of masculinity in my photos and how it can be troubling to specify people in only 2 groups.

Cindy Sherman is an American artist who created self-portraits in different contexts to portray the different stereotypes of woman. She was extremely interested in experimenting in different identities. She would create different images with props that she has deliberately chosen to resembles movie characters. She continued to create different photographs to show the diversity of different people and different human stereotypes.

Cindy Sherman’s artwork encourages people to reflect on how society moulds and imposes gender onto people. Cindy Sherman’s artwork is interpreted as feminist as her artwork raises questions about the objectification of woman and how men see them.

I really like Cindy

Intro –

For my plan to create a photo essay of documentative photography my Photoshoot plan is as such:

Where?

I Will photograph my series in the following locations:

• My Nans house
• Pig fields
• Chicken coups
• kitchen
• Stool
• Barn

Who?

Members of my family, employee’s and farm animals around the farm portraying their regular or challenging masculine and feminine roles:

• My Nan
• My Aunt
• Cousin
• Uncle
• Employees in the kitchen
• Farm animals

When?

Since I am staying at my Nans whilst my house is under going renovations, Over the span of the weeks I am staying there I will gather images in shoots.

What will I use?

Using props my family members will holding these include:

• Knifes
• Pasteries
• Meat
• Hoses

Photoshoot 1

Who

I will be focusing on one person mostly since in isolation it is easier to create and understand a character. This is also important to create an isolating atmosphere since I want her to seem lonely or trapped in a way.

What

Inspired by Cindy Sherman I will have the subject posing as a stereotypical olden day woman.

When

Inspiration originally came from the 50s which Cindy Sherman commented on and I will be taking ideas from. Despite this old origin I plan on a modernising it further.

Where

I will not be taking these photographs in the studio as I don’t want these images to exclusively be about the characters as the environment builds up a character. I want these characters in context such as household chores.

Why

I want to highlight gender roles and how different people would respond to them.

Photoshoot 2

Who

This photoshoot will focus on a collective group. As opposed to the first which was about an individual this one will be about atmosphere and collaboration.

What

By association, girls in the media are seen meeting up in small group sleepovers and getting dolled up. The group will help each other get ready, play games and just overall create a collaborative atmosphere.

When

This will be based on modern stereotypes and during the late day. Since it will be a sleepover these wont be taken mid day out in the sun and instead under artificial light.

Why

Group identity is a massive part of what brings people together. By placing a group of people with similar interests together this will focus on the group atmosphere as opposed to an individual and their opinions. these are both just as important when covering topics of identity and stereotypes.

Photoshoot 3

Who

This photoshoot will not focus on a person but instead something that is closely associated with them such as shoes or their bag.

What

I will create a collage of different peoples shoes and bags. Since people typically have a set of shoes they wear often or really like they can be closely associated with a person.

Where

The background will not be important in this photoshoot as all the focus should be on the item. A studio photoshoot would be best for this one.

Why

Someone can use a lipstick for example and be heavily associated with red lips by those around them. Stereotypes are often also following these items for example someone with red lips would be seen as confident. These can makeup the person that people see them as without necessarily having anything to do with their actual identity.

How

I will be taking bird eye view photographs of each object to show their wear, colours, silhouette and overall style.

Femininity:

The social expectations of being a women. It refers to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for girls and women in a given society.

Masculinity:

The social expectations of being a man. It refers to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men in a given society.

Summary

Femininity and masculinity are a binary opposite, which means they are relative terms, which mean the opposite. Examples of binary opposites:

• Good vs Evil

• Light vs Dark

• Young vs Old

• Peace vs War

Binary opposition originated in Saussurean structuralist theory in Linquistics (scientific study of language). According to Ferdinand de Saussure, binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. Using binary opposites can often be very helpful in generating ideas for a photographic project as it provides a framework, which provides a set of boundaries to work within.

Influences on Gender

Someone’s femininity or masculinity may be influenced by the place they live, or the upbringing they have. This can be due to different cultures, society, workplace etc. Culture can influence gender identity (femininity and masculinity), because it can either maximise (women should be a mother and housewife), minimise (men and women are seen as equals in most things, but not all, so there are still some set rules for each gender) or eliminate gender completely (men and women are totally equal and have no set roles). This shows that femininity and masculinity is just a made up construct and stereotypes are not always correct, but can also sometimes be more pushed depending on culture, upbringing, place or origin etc. Some examples of stereotypes that push the idea of femininity and masculinity are:

• Women are supposed to be housewives and mothers

• Men are supposed to be tough and strong

• Men are supposed to singularly provide

• Women are not supposed to be business women

Stereotypes are societies way of influencing gender (femininity and masculinity), because it promotes a certain standard that ‘everyone should follow by.’ Society causes some people to follow these stereotypes, because it makes them seem more socially desirable. This means that society can cause women to be more feminine, or men to be more masculine, even if that is not what they want or how they feel.

However, there are many groups in society, which do the opposite, such as pride. Pride promotes that you can be yourself, so if a man feels more feminine he can be, or if a women feels more masculine she can be.

Even workplaces can sometimes promote or not promote femininity and masculinity. Some workplaces may believe that business women do not have time for kids, family or a relationship at the moment, as they are so business orientated. This goes against the female stereotype that women should not work, because they should be a housewife and raise their children. Stereotypically they are now seen as less feminine and more masculine, because the men are stereotypically seen as the workers and providers.

Claude Cahun

Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob was a French photographer, sculptor, and writer. Cahun changed her name from Lucy to Claude, because Claude is a gender neutral name, meaning it can be used for a women or a man. She did this to experiment with gender fluidity. She is best known for her self-portraits in which she assumes a variety of personas, including dandy, weight lifter, aviator, and doll. The Jersey Heritage Trust collection represents the largest repository of the artistic work of Cahun who moved to the Jersey in 1937 with her stepsister and lover Marcel Moore. She was imprisoned and sentenced to death in 1944 for activities in the resistance during the Occupation. However, Cahun survived and she was almost forgotten until the late 1980s, and much of her and Moore’s work was destroyed by the Nazis, who requisitioned their home. Cahun died in 1954 of ill health (some contribute this to her time in German captivity) and Moore killed herself in 1972. They  are both buried together in St Brelade’s churchyard.

In this image, Cahun has shaved her head and is dressed in men’s clothing. She did this to defy conventional ideals of beauty and femininity, so she could show society that she didn’t have to be extremely feminine to still be beautiful. She once explained: “Under this mask, another mask; I will never finish removing all these faces.” This can be interpreted as that there are so many different levels to her all hidden beyond the surface and that just because of how she looked it does not have an impact on her personality or beauty.

Cahun was friends with many Surrealist artists and writers; André Breton once called her “one of the most curious spirits of our time.”

While many male Surrealists depicted women as objects of male desire, Cahun staged images of herself that challenged the idea of the politics of gender. Cahun was championing the idea of gender fluidity.  She was exploring her identity, not defining it. Her self-portraits often interrogates space, such as domestic interiors  and Jersey landscapes using rock crevasses and granite gate.

In 2017 the National Portrait Gallery in London staged a major exhibition Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun: Behind the Mask, Another Mask showing their work together for the first time. Slipping between genders and personae in their photographic self-images, Wearing and Cahun become others while inventing themselves. “We were born in different times, we have different concerns, and we come from different backgrounds. She didn’t know me, yet I know her,” Wearing says, paying homage to Cahun and acknowledging her presence. The bigger question the exhibition might ask is less how we construct identities for ourselves than what is this thing called presence?

In the image on the left it is Cahun is the model and the photographer. In the image on the right the model and photographer is Gillian Wearing, who was inspired by Cahun and her experimenting with gender fluidity when it was dangerous and not accepted in her time. In this photographic self-portrait, Gillian recreates Cahun’s self-portrait from the ‘I Am In Training Don’t Kiss Me’ series which Claude made in 1927. She did this by photographing her creation a mask that looks like Claude Cahun’s face in the series and then holding another mask to her right which is a replica of her own face.

‘We are only just catching up to her’

Gillian Wearing said this about Claude Cahun, which suggests how Cahun was so ahead of her time, while she was experimenting with gender and gender fluidity. She is now a huge inspiration to modern day people, like the LGBTQ community.

I agree with Wearing’s statement here, because society were only just starting to accept people who had the same beliefs as Cahun, and it is now much more normal and accepted, whereas in Cahun’s time it was dangerous to experiment with gender fluidity and to have her belief’s. However, Cahun still did this and presented it to the world.

Cahun represents the idea that masculinity and femininity do not have to be defined and that anyone can be either feminine or masculine, no matter their gender. She shows this by looking and creating more masculine artwork of herself, a women, to really push the idea that femininity or masculinity are not a main factor in beauty and anyone can beautiful either way. She pushes the idea of gender fluidity, which means she can either be masculine or feminine depending on what she wants and finds beautiful at the time. This supports her analogy of her endless masks, because it shows that she will forever keep changing and will never stay the same, especially not just for social approval.

Image Analysis

This photograph was taken by Claude Cahun and is of Claude Cahun. However, she is dressed up and becoming another ‘character’, or ‘version of herself’, as she is ‘removing another mask.’ This image really looks into the topic of femininity and masculinity, because Cahun (a women), who should be seen as more feminine according to society standards, actually looks much more masculine. She looks much more masculine, because she has short hair, a suit and even the pose she is in is making her look more masculine. The mirror being used as a prop also enhances Cahun’s masculinity in this photograph, because it shows Cahuns facial structure very well in the pose that she is in, and the pose makes her facial and bone structure look more masculine here. This suggests that stereotypes are not always correct for everyone and that gender fluidity is important to Cahun. This also suggests that individually Cahun is not like stereotypes either and that she is gender fluid, because she is more masculine, even though she is actually a female.

This photograph of Cahun’s also looks into the themes of masculinity, as Cahun (a women), who should stereotypically look more feminine, actually looks more masculine, because of the stereotype that men should be tough and strong, and should protect the female. Cahun relates to this stereotype, because of the prop she is using. She is using a prop weight in this photograph, which suggests she is strong and tough, which is more of a masculine trait in society. Cahun has dressed up as a more masculine ‘character,’ or another version of herself,’ so she can show society that gender fluidity is a real thing and that stereotypes are not correct most of time and that females can be masculine (vies versa). However, Cahun’s makeup also suggests that she is quite feminine, as women were the only gender that wore make up back in this day as this was what society deemed correct. Cahun wearing feminine make up, while using a more masculine prop really enhances her gender fluidity, as she can be feminine and masculine at the same time. This is proves the stereotype that men are strong and tough and that females are weak and emotional, because her being feminine while carrying the weight, suggests that women can also be just as strong and tough as men can.

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman experiments with different female stereotypes, such as a housewife etc, by masquerading as a myriad of characters. Cindy Sherman (American, born 1954) invents personas and tableaus that examine the construction of identity, the nature of representation, and the artifice of photography. To create her images, she assumes the multiple roles of photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser, and stylist. Whether portraying a career girl, a blond bombshell, a fashion victim, a clown, or a society lady of a certain age, for over thirty-five years this relentlessly adventurous artist has created an eloquent and provocative body of work that resonates deeply in our visual culture.

Sherman works in series, and each of her bodies of work is self-contained and internally coherent; yet there are themes that have recurred throughout her career. The exhibition showcases the artist’s individual series and also presents works grouped thematically around such common threads as cinema and performance; horror and the grotesque; myth, carnival, and fairy tales; and gender and class identity.

Cindy Sherman experiments with gender identity and femininity, by show casing the socially desirable female and how different ways culture defines a women.  Her art plays on the feminist idea that gender arises exclusively within culture and deconstructs dominant gender ideologies, representing the underside of popular culture’s definition of “woman.” She exposes the arbitrariness of performativity and presents a variety of female identities that are found within popular culture, and reveals that these are nothing more than constructions. Behind each character there is no central identity. Each is a series of manipulations according to cultural conventions. There is no essential femininity, instead that the whole self is an imaginary construct that can be changed through performativity.

Image Analysis

This photograph of Cindy Sherman, that she also took using equipment such as a timer, looks into the topic of femininity and masculinity, as she is producing many different female stereotypes. Sherman dresses up as many different common stereotypes, like she has in this photo. She has dressed up as a housewife, because a common stereotype is that women should be mothers and housewives. This photo also suggests the idea that she is a mother, because she is looking over her shoulder into the distance, which could suggests she is watching a child, while trying to cook dinner or lunch. We are given the impression she is cooking, from the props, which include salt, dish soap, the handle of a cooking pan etc. This suggests that she is in the kitchen, because this is where all these props are commonly found. Sherman also looks more feminine in this photo, because another stereotype of women is that they should look more feminine, because this is what society deems correct. Sherman presents all these different stereotypes to show that she can be anyone, as she has dressed up and been all of these ‘characters’ and stereotypes. This shows that no one knows the real Cindy Sherman, just like no one knows people beneath their stereotypes.

This image is of Cindy Sherman and also taken by her. This image looks into the theme femininity and masculinity, because it shows a stereotype of women. The stereotype that Sherman is presenting in this image is that women are weak and too emotional. She presents this, by having her crying in this image, with mascara and tears dripping down her face, leaving streaks in her makeup. She also uses props in this photo, which includes a cocktail glass, which suggests she is drinking alcohol, while crying, which suggests that she is having a big meltdown. Another prop is her cigarette in her hand and the lighter on the table, showing that she is very stressed and upset and that she is smoking a cigarette, to try and help her calm down. The mess on the table is also used as a prop to show how distraught and emotional she is, as it looks like tobacco all over the table. This suggests that she was so distraught and crying so much, that she couldn’t really see what she was doing while rolling her cigarette and was spilling it everywhere. She also looks more feminine with makeup and having mascara and makeup streaks while she is crying, because it shows that she is more feminine, as makeup was only worn by women at this time, as that what was deemed correct by society. She is looking more feminine, because another stereotype of women is that they should wear makeup and look more feminine, because that is what society deems expectable. Sherman is becoming this stereotype, as well as all the other stereotypes or ‘characters’ she has become, so she can show everyone that a women could be anyone and so could Cindy Sherman, as no one knows who the real Cindy Sherman is, they just know all the different stereotypes that surround her, which is the same as every women or man, who has been stereotyped.

All the photographs of Cindy Sherman, where she is dressed up as a ‘character’, to present different stereotypes are called Film Still #… This is because each of her photographs were taken from a scene from different movies. This shows how stereotypes were widely spread by the media and society and that this was how women were represented and how stereotypes were massively used and portrayed.

Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun

Cindy Sherman and Claude Cahun both presented similar work, and did it in a similar way. Both presented different stereotypes in their work, and wanted to fight societies ideas of women and stereotypes. They both did this by becoming the different stereotypes and dressing up as different ‘characters’ to show that they could be anyone and that no one knew the real them. However, they also had differences in their work, as Sherman only portrayed the more feminine stereotypes, whereas Cahun presented both feminine and masculine stereotypes, as she was really pushing the idea of gender fluidity. Sherman also took her stereotypes from stereotypes in different movies or in the media to really present how wide spread these stereotypes are. Whereas, Cahun took her stereotypes from society and challenged society with the different stereotypes, and with gender fluidity, as she became more masculine, when she was a women.

Barbara Kruger :

Barbara Kruger (born January 26, 1945) is an American conceptual artist and collagist associated with the Pictures Generation. She is most known for her collage style that consists of black-and-white photographs, overlaid with declarative captions, stated in white-on-red Future Bold Oblique or Helvetica Ultra Condensed text.

Achievements :

In 2005, Kruger was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale, where she was also commissioned to design the façade of Italy’s national pavilion. In 2019, the artist was awarded the Kaiserring also known as Emperor’s Ring prize from the city of Goslar, in Germany.

how did she become known?

Barbara Kruger used her classical training in design and her experience in the fashion industry to create conceptual art that pushed audiences to question assumptions about gender, violence, patriotism, and their relationship to the media. At age 22, she became chief designer at Mademoiselle. This is when Barbara Kruger’s career first began.

what is Barbara Kruger’s most famous artwork?

This is Barbara Kruger’s most famous artwork, this image creates a story of what it was like for women to live back in 1989, as they face struggles of having no rights, and having to live a stereotypical life as a stay at home mother, cleaner and not given the rights to freedom as much as men were.

This image is very unique as it really paints a clear image to anyone viewing the image, and points out the clear factors of life back then.

What was Barbara Kruger first artwork?

Kruger’s earliest artworks date to 1969. Large woven wall hangings of yarn, beads, sequins, feathers, and ribbons, they exemplify the feminist recuperation of craft during this period

mood board

Description

Barbara Kruger’s work focuses a lot on both femininity and masculinity however it has more of a focus on femininity, she takes black and white photos of each gender and uses words and phrases over her images to express certain feelings and conceptions about both women and men.

personal opinion

I really like Barbara Kruger’s photography as she uses many techniques in which clearly represent what she is trying to make people see within her images. Her use of black and white images creates the effect of ancient/old images taking the viewer back in time to the early 1980s when her photography was taken, her use of red writing over the top of these images creates a very special effect to the images while also giving it a meaning as the colour red was used to signify women.

Cindy Sherman :

Cindy Sherman, was born January 19, 1954, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, U.S. American photographer known for her images particularly her elaborately “disguised” self-portraits that comment on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes.

achievements :

Cindy’s work is included in the collections of the Tate Gallery, London; the Museum of Modern Art; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others. Sherman has received numerous awards, including the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography in 1999 and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 1995.

Why is Cindy Sherman important?

Cindy Sherman is one of the best-known and most important artists working today. Her decades-long performative practice of photographing herself under different guises has produced many of contemporary art’s most iconic and influential images.

Her photography inspired many people of all different ages, races and gender, this made her work very unique and stand out to many people causing her to become very well known and even respected for her work.

Cindy Sherman’s most famous work

One of Cindy Sherman’s most famous pieces is ” Untitled Film Still #21.” The piece, which is part of a series of black-and-white photographs, features Sherman in various guises as she adopts different personas.

Cindy’s work inspired people that everyone can be different even when they are the same person as in a lot of her photography she would dress up in many different personas to create different types of people and unique looks.

mood board

description

Cindy Sherman’s photography presents women and how they are portrayed in society many years ago, some to most of her images show specific roles or activities that females were known to do due to stereotypes.

Here I went to the studio to take a few photos, we tried to get a coloured background to represent different things, for example I used a red colour to appear on the models face as it creates an evil effect almost as if the model is a bad person, the background is quite neutral and is just in clack and white to show that the model has no filter, evil is the only thing they represent.

here I tried to experiment with different colours, for example by changing out the red and using a purple sought of represents a mysterious mood which wouldn’t be identified very well, personally my favourite photo is the top middle photo, i really like how the red sits perfectly on the models face, and the way the model is looking away almost as if she was hiding something from the camera, not wanting to tell the truth.

Here I used photoshop to add some colour and light to my photos, I tried to add a gradient look to make more pictures look more detailed, some of the photos have very different lighting such as the one on the right looks very light and almost has an ash look to it while the one on the left looks more dark toned, where the lighting is dark and the facial features are harder to see, this represents an evil look more than the one on the right as the features of that photo are more soft. However the one in the middle looks very evil too although u can see the facial features quite well, the facial expression that the model holds are very sinister and the back ground is a plain light with green reflected onto the model which could symbolise good but could also easily be a trick. That represents a mysterious look.

When editing these photos into more detail I would quite like to overlay half of the good vs evil photos onto each other to create an image where both sides are competing with each other, its almost a war of which face is going to win. Both of these photos can easily represent someone’s mood on different days and the storyline could show that the person is trying their hardest to fight the evil from showing, they only want there good side to be seen.

Ideas of how to present:

• Masculinity & Femininity – Jobs associated to Gender + how they are challenged. My idea for this is to compose a series of images of my relatives in their Family-owned business, in a documentative style, capturing their roles around the farm. Put together, this not only captures their identities but goes to show a gender-diverse work place where both genders, take up jobs they aren’t stereotypically associated with, such as farm work for example.

Moodboard + Mind Map –

(Documentative style)

• Identity – Through full body shot portraits, Photographed with the subjects direct mode of address, I aim to show their Identities with their facial expressions, clothes and posture. By having them in a location and position natural to them, this ensures I capture their Identity accurately to be interpreted by the viewer.

Image Analysis:

Mood Board –

With these 2 Ideas in mind I will explore masculinity, femininity and Identity through one of them for my Photo assignment.