Reasoning

My intent and reasoning of these images was to represent the educational rights women gained during the 1960’s and 70’s which was focused on equality.  The second wave fought for the right for women to have access to an equal opportunity in the workforce, as well as the end of legal sex discrimination. Feminists worked for the Equal Rights Amendment, the Equal Pay Act, the addition of sex discrimination to the Civil Rights Act, and other laws that would guarantee equality. Therefore, my way of presenting this stereotype is through a female getting books from a shelf to suggest women’s educational rights. I was inspired by Cindy Sherman’s famous image whilst she was presenting the deconstruction of stereotypes during this time period.

An essential factor that stood out to me effectively was her clothing. Sherman’s clothing is still slightly dressed up however it is a half body shot stopping the sexualized stereotype, as this was reduced after the traditional house wife stereotype. Therefore, for my images I dressed my subject up in a fairly vintage aesthetic outfit but with less of a sexual element to it.

Editing

After these images, I decided to experiment with a change of props and using the mirror to show the reflection as I thought it made the image more significant and eye catching.

Overall–

Overall, I changed my angles to experiment and realised I preferred the image with the mirror within the frame. I made sure to keep my subject obtaining the female gaze as I personally believe it is a significant factor to add to my images. The type of clothing my subject is wearing is suppose to signify a slight sense of independence. This is because of the hat and white flowy dress as it portrays her personality rather than restrictions or impressing males. I experimented in black and white and colour, to learn to see what I preferred most which was black and white as I plan all my images to be in black and white apart from my 4th photoshoot including the 4th wave feminism. The reasoning of this being my plan, is that all three photoshoots are signifying the past which I believe black and white will emphasize this. The last photoshoot (4th wave) is to signify more of a present element to it as a young women, which I think is still relevant now. Fourth-wave feminism, is a feminist movement hat began around the early 2010s and is characterized by a focus on the empowerment of women, the use of internet tools, and intersectionality. The fourth wave seeks greater gender equality by focusing on gendered norms and the marginalization of women in society. Fourth-wave feminism focuses on sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual violence, the objectification of women, and sexism in the workplace. Therefore, within these images I lowered the exposure to create the right amount of exposure to make the door way darker to add a mysterious element. To emphasize this, I increased the blacks and shadows but to keep the subject the main focus I would increase the whites. The bookshelf is to represent the educational rights women fought for in the second wave feminist movement. The mirror is to portray an element of identity which women struggle to find in an oppressive society. However, this slightly contrasts to the clothing involved as the clothing is to signify a little more of independence as it has a growth than the ‘ traditional housewife’. The heavy makeup and and red lip is to represent a factor of women still feeling the pressure too do certain things for men in this patriarchal society. The red lip is to signify a bold and confident factor as from its early use by prostitutes in ancient Greece to a symbol of glamor in Hollywood, rouge lips has long been associated with beauty, power, and rebellion. Rouge lips have served as a symbol of power, rebellion, and femininity throughout history, from ancient civilizations to modern-day movements. This ensures the sexualised element to my first photoshoot is still obtained, which is definitely impactful and significant as women still faced this stereotype during the 60’s and 70’s. Lastly , I decided to decrease the texture as women were stereotypically to be seen as ‘ perfect’ which significantly links to my 4th photoshoot because of the rise of social media and pressures on women.