Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman is an American photographer, born 19th January 1954, New Jersey, United States. Her work consists primarily of photos which depict herself in many different contexts and as various different imagined characters. Sherman usually inserts herself into a dialogue about stereotypical portrayals of women in her photographs, which resemble scenes from 1950s and 1960s films.

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.”

Sherman has received numerous awards, including the Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography in 1999 and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship in 1995. She lives and works in New York.

Here, in this photo, feminism is shown as it shows a woman in the kitchen. Its stereotypically known that a woman is ‘meant to be’ in the kitchen.

This picture shows femininity as it shows a woman in front of the mirror dressed all nicely and girly. It is expected for women to dress in a specific way. She is also posing in an innocent, nurturing, and accommodating way.

Sherman’s photographs visually describe the feminist social constructionist argument that there is no natural identity behind the mask of gender. Women affirm their gender identity through performative behaviour.