How is feminism and girlhood portrayed through photography?

Introduction

In todays society, there is still significant male patriarchy, and feminist perspectives are often marginalized but I’m interested in the aesthetic on how feminism and girlhood are portrayed through the lens of photography.

I’ll be analysing the works of Cindy Sherman and Laura Mulvey, two artists who both offer powerful insights into how women are treated and viewed. Cindy Sherman is best known for her self-portraits, where she transforms herself into ‘strange’ female characters using costumes and makeup. Through this, she challenges traditional ideas of femininity. Sherman’s work deconstructs the idea of a fixed female identity and forces us to question how we view woman/girlhood.

Laura Mulvey’s work as a feminist film theorist is influential to women, especially her concept of the “male gaze.” Some of her ideas about how women are objectified in visual media are crucial to understanding photography as well. Mulvey argues that women are often framed in ways that make them passive objects for the male viewer, seen as sex objects. This theory is powerful when applied to photography, where women’s bodies are often objectified and are presented in a sexualised way, not seeing them as a person.

Both of these artists shows the world how we criticize the ways that women and girls are represented and treated in society. Sherman does this through performance and images, while Mulvey does it through theory. In my work, I plan to explore the idea of girlhood and femininity. Within this project I hope to better understand how photography plays a role in shaping feminist ideas about girlhood. Ultimately, I’m hoping to show how women grow and blossom, as well as what some challenged women may go through or what some women are put through. Through this exploration I hope to seek awareness for women and girls during their lives.

PARAGRAGH ONE

Feminism and girlhood in photography have been hugely shaped by Laura Mulvey and Cindy Sherman. These two women have shaped how we look at gender, identity, and how girls and women are portrayed in pictures ,in society and in general. Their ideas challenge the traditional ways women and girls have been portrayed, offering new ways of understanding femininity, girlhood and the struggles many women have to go though.

Laura Mulvey is best known for her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975), where she talks about the “male gaze.” This idea says that in movies and media, women are often shown as objects for men to look at and desire, sexualised and treated like trash which is seen a lot. “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy on to the female form which is styled accordingly“. Mulvey is saying that in a world where men hold most of the power, looking and enjoying images is split between men and women. Men are the ones doing the looking, while women are often shown as objects to be looked at. The “male gaze” means that men project their desires onto women, and women are usually portrayed in ways that match those desires, rather than being shown as full, active people in their own right. Mulvey argues that this makes women passive, meaning they don’t have control over how they are seen. Her theory made people start thinking about how women in photos are usually shown as passive, or just there to be looked at for men. Feminist photographers began questioning how women and girls are shown in images. Mulvey’s ideas pushed us to think critically about how girls and women have been represented in visual art and media for a long time which you could argue is getting worse as time goes on.

Sherman is famous for her self-portraits, where she dresses up in different costumes and challenges ideas. She uses herself as the model in her photos and challenges the way women and girls are shown in the media. By acting out stereotypes of women, Sherman shows that femininity and girlhood aren’t fixed, they change depending on society’s expectations and what people expect us to do/be.

I think that the way these pictures come through me is mostly intuitive—unless I have something specific in mind, like with the sex pictures; I definitely had ideas of what each one was about. But I don’t title them. I’m not going to thrust the issues in my work into people’s faces with words. Sherman talks about her creative process. She says that most of the time, her art comes from her gut feeling, without planning everything out. But when she’s working on something specific, like her sex-themed pieces, she has a clearer idea of what she wants to express. She also mentions that she doesn’t use titles for her work because she doesn’t want to push her thoughts onto the audience. She prefers to let the art speak for itself and give people the freedom to interpret it however they like. In a way, Sherman takes on board the control of the “gaze” Mulvey talks about. Instead of just being the subject of a photo for people to look at, Sherman is actively making the image herself and showing herself off in an unusual way. This gives her the power to change how girlhood and femininity are represented. She makes us think about how we see girls and women in photos, this is what she is most famous for. Together, Mulvey and Sherman have completely changed how we think about girlhood in photography. Mulvey’s ideas help us understand how images of women and girls are often controlled by a male perspective, while Sherman’s work shows us how we can change how women are presented in the media. Mulvey made us realize how damaging these traditional ways of representing women can be, and Sherman’s photos give us a new way of looking at the power women have. Their work encourages us to think differently about how girls and women are seen in photography. We’re now more aware of how gender, power, and identity play a role in these images.

Para 2

Cindy Sherman was born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey; she lives and works in New York. Sherman is famous for her self-portraits, where she dresses up in different costumes and challenges ideas. She uses herself as the model in her photos and challenges the way women and girls are shown in the media, the misogyny women have to go through, ranging from the 1900s all the way to the 21st century. Women are stereotyped and shamed upon for this stereotypical way that women need to cook and clean whilst the man goes to work and make all the money. Mulvey agrees with this – “Woman then stands in patriarchal culture as signifier for the male other, bound by a symbolic order in which man can live out his phantasies and obsessions through linguistic command by im- posing them on the silent image of woman still tied to her place as bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning.”
― Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. This quote from Laura Mulvey is about how women are often portrayed in movies and society. In a patriarchal culture, women are seen as objects for men’s fantasies. They don’t have their own voice or power to create meaning; instead, they are shown as silent and passive, with men controlling how they are seen. Women are often represented in ways that fulfil men’s desires, rather than being allowed to shape their own stories or identities, which agrees with what Sherman is trying to represent.

Sherman construct images using herself as the model of feminine women. She shows elements of sexual desire and domination. Sherman recognizes those fixed identity concepts surrounding women, suggesting the possibility of women’s self-authorization in reality (self esteem). This is done by dressing up, posing, and photographing herself in different scenarios, Sherman critiques the way women are portrayed in popular media. This area is particularly for Sherman’s elaborately “disguised” self-portraits that comment on social role-playing and sexual stereotypes. Sherman is trying to make a move and a change into women’s lives within her images. Her images have a message, they are not just a picture

One of my favourite images that Sherman took is the one in black and a white of a women on the kitchen floor.

This is because of the stereotypical change Sherman’s trying to make. The type of lighting is black and white, imitating that the image was taken in the early 1900s. The white balance is cool/cold. There is a deep historical meaning within this because of this huge male misogyny and what women have to go through i.e. cat calling. Men get away with it and women “have to suffer in silence”. Even in 2024 some women are scared to leave the house at night but Sherman tried to raise awareness about that. ” I didn’t have any interest in traditional art” – Cindy Sherman. This shows that she did not care about making something beautiful or the art in itself – she cared about raising awareness for women and making them seen/heard rather than making something for money or fame. Sherman wanted to target everybody with her are for the people to take in and claim conceptually within their own thoughts. If her audience resonates with an image because of its portrayal of womanhood, or perhaps it makes them think of their views of women, that is simply what that viewer took from her art

Para 3

I’ve been looking at how photographers use the human body to express ideas about identity, and to gain further insights Laura Mulvey The writer and academic, , I have chosen to look closer at the writings of Laura Mulvey. Even though Mulvey is best known for her work in film theory, her ideas about the “male gaze” are really relevant to photography too, especially when it comes to how identity is portrayed. In her famous essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Mulvey talks about how women are often shown as objects to be looked at, rather than as active characters with their own story. She explains that in traditional films, women are often passive, only to be admired by male viewers, while male characters are more active and in control, “leaders”. Here is a quote that backs my point. “As a woman, you never escape the male gaze“. This is true because no matter what you do or where you are there is usually always misogyny happening and men feel like they have power and ownership over us as women which is unjust. Women are trapped in this sort of loop hole that men think they have the power which is not true.

I find this theory really interesting because it makes me think about how people are shown in photography. If a photographer only focuses on the body, or sexualizes their subject without considering their personality or story, it can create the same kind of objectification Mulvey talks about. After reading her work, I started to think about how I can challenge that in my own photography, in my images I want to capture more of a women’s story and personality.

In my own images, I’ve tried to move away from the idea of showing someone as an object. One of the things I did was give my subjects more powerful, active poses. I took one of my friends sitting alone, looking out the window with her arms crossed.

It wasn’t just an image of her looking pretty, but a moment where she seemed deep in thought and in control of her space. This made her seem more active in the image, rather than just something to look at. It helped show a side of her that felt more real and personal. I also worked with framing to show my subjects as part of a bigger story, rather than just focusing on their body. In one image, I showed more of the environment around the subject, giving context to who they are and where they are. This made the image feel less like a snapshot of just a body and more like a glimpse into a person’s life or emotions. I believe that these images relate to Mulvey’s theory and they are trying to make awareness for what she believes.

When I look at my own work now, I realize how important it is to think about the message I’m sending with each image. The way I frame a shot, use lighting, and choose my subject’s pose can all say something about their identity and how powerful or vulnerable they seem. I’ve learned a lot from Mulvey’s ideas, and I’ve started to challenge the way women, in particular, are usually portrayed in images. My images now feel like they capture the personality and depth of the subject rather than just how they look. It’s been a really eye-opening experience, and I’m proud of how I’m learning to express identity in a more thoughtful way.

It is said that analysing pleasure, or beauty, destroys it.” ― (Laura Mulvey, Visual And Other Pleasures – reference it using Harvard system). This is a good quote because it suggests that overanalysing the experiences of beauty and pleasure can take away the immediacy and emotional impact. It can ruin the feeling and make it less special. You can see this in the media and Mulvey means this by where women are just looked at and not take seriously which to us, takes away the power and beauty of us and it belittles women. They are more than just an object.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the work of Cindy Sherman and Laura Mulvey has really influenced how I think about how women and girlhood are shown in photography. Both artists challenge the usual ways women are represented and offer new ways of looking at femininity, identity, and power. Their work has helped me realize how important it is to think about how women are viewed in society and how we can change that through photography.

Cindy Sherman shows that femininity isn’t something fixed, but something that changes depending on what society expects of women. I think her work makes us think about how we see women in photographs and how stereotypes are created. In my own work, I want to explore girlhood and femininity in a way that questions these stereotypes, just like Sherman does in her images.

Laura Mulvey’s idea of the “male gaze” also has had a big impact on how I approach photography. In her writing, Mulvey talks about how women are often shown as objects for men to look at in movies and media. This idea is also important for photography because how we frame women in images can either objectify them or show them as real people with their own stories. I’ve tried to avoid focusing just on the body in my images. Instead, I aim to show more of my subject’s personality and story. I want my images to feel real and not just like something for others to look at.

Both Sherman and Mulvey have taught me a lot about how women are shown in art and how we can change that. They’ve made me more aware of how images can influence how women are seen and how we can use photography to challenge stereotypes. Like Sherman, I want my work to question traditional ideas of femininity, and like Mulvey, I want to make sure my subjects are shown as full, complex people. Through my photography, I hope to contribute to the conversation about how women are represented and help make space for more empowering images of girlhood.

Bibliography: Google – photoquotes.com, goodreads, wikipedia.