WHY?

Firstly, we went to the studio with our props such as red lipstick and pearls as they are a large factor and characteristic of Marilyn. Monroe was known as a ” dumb blonde” and seen as the sex symbol in the 50s. People had eventually mistaken her and actually saw her as that role which eventually sadly got to Marilyn including personal problems. We decided she would be perfect inspiration as she is a female misunderstood before the women’s rights movement as unfortunately passed just before. If we highlighted her key features it could resemble her however in a more modern way. We then used a mirror as Claude Cahun and Cindy Sherman also used one to resemble in different ways femininity.

I firstly flagged and rejected all my images so I can easily organize the possibility of the images I may or may not use and edit. Roughly we created around 250 images.

PHOTOSHOOT

PLAN

My plan is to choose around 8 of my favourite images and edit them in light room first, then move on to photoshop and create some sort of creative collage with different aspects of femininity whilst still relating them to Monroe. My plan is to make my images look as vintage and nostalgic as much as possible as if they look old. This could resemble it a lot more as then it would resemble and highlight her characteristics a lot more.

IMAGE SELECTION

Furthermore, I picked my favourite 8 images and flagged them green so I can easily find and compare my favourite images to ensure they are my preferred ones.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, model and singer. Known for playing comic “blonde bombshell” characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era’s sexual revolution.

Monroe portrayed an early image as a dumb and seductive blonde. Her early image as a dumb and seductive blonde gave way in later years to the tragic figure of a sensitive and insecure woman unable to escape the pressures of Hollywood. Her vulnerability and sensuousness combined with her needless death eventually raised her to the status of an American cultural icon.

The most famous movie where Marilyn portrayed a dumb blonde was ‘ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ made in 1953 this was the film that Marilyn Monroe debuted the gold digging dumb blonde character that she would ascend to icon status with and, eventually, come to hate.

Unfortunately, the Hollywood professional and tragic personal struggles caused a ‘probable suicide’ at the age of 36 in 1962.

MOODBOARD

Monroe often wore pearls which ultimately became a part of her and would think of her with them. Marilyn and pearls associated together. Pearls are a very feminine piece of jewellery especially in the 50’s. This simple pearl necklace became her most famous piece of jewellery. Monroe wore them throughout her life as a reminder of ‘happier times’.

Marilyn also often wore red lipstick. This was probably too look like her role as a seductive blonde as the colour red symbolizes bold and confident and is an eye catching colour.

“It falls under the umbrella of power posing. The act of putting it on penetrates your sense of confidence and competence. It changes how you feel, which can change how people react to you and thus reaffirms your choice.” Throughout history, women have chosen red lipstick as a way to signal their power. Red lip colour gained popularity internationally as women’s rights movements spread worldwide. Red lipstick has been a symbol of feminism since the 19th century when it was popularized by the Suffragettes as a way to make a statement and express their desire for equal rights. The use of red lipstick was also seen during the Civil Rights Movement as a way of expressing solidarity with other feminists.

The impact was in her achievement to keep together things that are often thought to be incompatible: her ambition, her idealism, her femininity, and her striving for independence. She inspired, from both men and women, a lot of strong personal feelings, a lot of love.

My Plan

Our plan to successfully achieve Marilyn’s Monroe aesthetic is to associate little details to try create a similar vibe for the 50’s. This may be a bit difficult as we are living in the modern day however we could attempt to edit them to make them look more nostalgic and vintage. We will be including Marilyn’s large factors such as red lipstick and a pearl necklace too symbolize that sense of ‘dumb blonde’ and the femininity characteristics as Marilyn was in fact a role model and was a feminist but sadly passed before the women’s right movement. Lastly, we will be attempting to pose how Marilyn did but still using day to day outfits as the most eye catching subjects was the seductive look of red lip stick and pearls rather than her outfits. We also will be using a mirror to contrast to Cahun’s and Sherman’s work to focus on emotions and vulnerability.

Francesca Woodman

Francesca Stern Woodman was an American photographer best known for her black and white pictures featuring either herself or female models. Many of her photographs show women, naked or clothed, blurred, merging with their surroundings, or whose faces are obscured.

At the age of thirteen Francesca Woodman took her first self-portrait. From then, up until her untimely death in 1981, aged just 22, she produced an extraordinary body of work. Comprising some 800 photographs, Woodman’s oeuvre is acclaimed for its singularity of style and range of innovative techniques. From the beginning, her body was both the subject and object in her work.

Although she died very young, there is no denying that Woodman was one of the most innovative and promising artists of her generation. She pushed the boundaries of experimental photography and played with the potential of shutter speed and exposure.

The very first photograph taken by Woodman, Self-portrait at Thirteen, 1972, shows the artist sitting at the end of a sofa in an un-indentified space, wearing an oversized jumper and jeans, arm loosely hanging on the armrest, her face obscured by a curtain of hair and the foreground blurred by sudden movement, one hand holding a cable linked to the camera. In this first image the main characteristics at the core of Woodman’s short career are clearly visible, her focus on the relationship with her body as both the object of the gaze and the acting subject behind the camera.

Woodman tested the boundaries of bodily experience in her work and her work often suggests a sense of self-displacement. Often nude except for individual body parts covered with props, sometimes wearing vintage clothing, the artist is typically sited in empty or sparsely furnished, dilapidated rooms, characterised by rough surfaces, shattered mirrors and old furniture. In some images Woodman quite literally becomes one with her surroundings, with the contours of her form blurred by movement, or blending into the background, wallpaper or floor, revealing the lack of distinction of both – between figure and ground, self and world. In others she uses her physical body literally as a framework in which to create and alter her material identity. For instance, holding a sheet of glass against her flesh, squeezing her body parts against the glass and smashing her face, breasts, hips, buttocks and stomach onto the surface from various angles, Woodman distorts her physical features making them appear grotesque.

PHOTO ANAYLSIS

This image has very similarities to Claude Cahun’s work as they both signify characteristics of feminine and in the mirror looking at there reflections would could symbolize a lot especially about emotions which is a typical female stereotype.

The major difference is that the subject in the image is not looking at their reflection compared to Woodman’s work. This could signify that Sherman’s work is implying that females are emotional and sensitive whereas Cahun’s work could imply that beauty does not control femininity. Another major difference is that Sherman’s work is that the subject has no clothes, in a sense this could imply vulnerability but also a strong sense of femininity.

MOODBOARD

Claude Cahun was a French surrealist photographer, sculptor, and writer who inspired Cindy ShermanThough she made sculpture, embedded herself within activism and wrote extensively, Cahun is mostly synonymous for her contributions to surrealist photography, particularly her striking self-portraits, in which she questioned societal expectations of gender years ahead of her time and inspired the likes of Cindy Sherman, Gillian Wearing and Nan Goldin.Though she made sculpture, embedded herself within activism and wrote extensively, Cahun is mostly synonymous for her contributions to surrealist photography, particularly her striking self-portraits, in which she questioned societal expectations of gender years ahead of her time and inspired the likes of Cindy Sherman, Gillian Wearing and Nan Goldin.. Schwob adopted the pseudonym Claude Cahun in 1914. Cahun is best known as a writer and self-portraitist, who assumed a variety of performative personae.

Cahun used the pronouns both she/her/hers and they/them/theirs; she/her/hers because that is what was used for Cahun when they were alive and used themself; they/them/theirs because of their oft-discussed detachment from being a woman or a man.

Claude Cahun is a perfect example of someone who wanted to push the boundaries of gender roles in a stereotypical society.

Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob was a French photographer, sculptor and writer. Her most well known work is her surrealist self-portraits in which she represented a multitude of different personas. Moving to Jersey in 1937 with her stepsister and lover, Marcel Moore, she resisted the occupation taking place on our island. During their lives together in Jersey, the women decided to mount an underground resistance campaign following the Nazi’s occupation of the Island in June 1940. The two campaigned against them, provoking them in a risky manner for four years until 1944 when the Gestapo investigated them. Narrowly avoiding a death sentence, the two were freed from prison on the 9th of May 1945 following Jersey’s Liberation. Remaining on the island until 1953, Cahun suffered from ill health which unfortunately resulted her passing in hospital on the 8th of December. After this, Moore continued to live on in Jersey for many more years until sadly ending her own life.

Her life was a representation of resistance, defying the conventional ideas of beauty and femininity with her shaved head and male attire, challenging them. This was almost revolutionary in the 1930’s, being in a same-sex relationship and exploring her identity in a difficult time period of traditional values. Whilst Claude Cahun was alive, she produced many pieces of work which The Jersey Heritage Trust collection represents. Her work challenged the politics of gender and identity, alongside the work of many male Surrealists who depicted women as objects of male desire. She used domestic settings such as a cupboard at home and introduced something interesting and new to this environment, exploring gender fluidity.

Though she made sculpture, embedded herself within activism and wrote extensively, Cahun is mostly synonymous for her contributions to surrealist photography, particularly her striking self-portraits, in which she questioned societal expectations of gender years ahead of her time and inspired the likes of Cindy Sherman, Gillian Wearing and Nan Goldin.

PHOTO ANAYLSIS

With her signature androgynous look and surrealist-inspired use of reflection, this iconic self-portrait exhibits everything that made Cahun such an important artist. Whereas mirrors would traditionally be used in classical portraiture to emphasise feminine beauty or narcissism, here Cahun subverts the symbolism to reject such reductive depictions of gender. 

Deliberately turned away from her own reflection to face the viewer with an air of self-assurance, the image presents femininity as conflicting and contradictory, a nuanced combination of reality and artifice. Facing the camera, Cahun has her collar turned up to protect her neck from view, yet in her reflection the artist’s neck is revealed in a deliberate show of eroticism.

MOOD BOARD

“one of the most curious spirits of our time.”

Cindy Sherman

Sherman’s photography is a depiction of the different ways culture defines “woman.” 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.” Cindy Sherman is a female photographer who portrays female stereotypes of the 1950’s and 1960’s. When creating her images, she is not only the photographer but the subject as well. Sherman examines and distorts femininity as a social construct. “I like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colourful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you’re looking at is something totally opposite,” she reflected.

For four decades, Cindy Sherman has probed the construction of identity, playing with the visual and cultural codes of art, celebrity, gender, and photography. Sherman was always interested in experimenting with different identities. As she has explained, “I wish I could treat every day as Halloween, and get dressed up and go out into the world as some eccentric character.”

Sherman has continued to transform herself, displaying the diversity of human types and stereotypes in her images.

From her history portraits (1981), exemplifies her use of theatrical effects to embody different roles and her lack of attempt to hide her efforts: often her wigs are slipping off, her prosthetics are peeling away, and her makeup is poorly blended. She highlights the artificiality of these fabrications, a metaphor for the artificiality of all identity construction. “I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful; I’m much more fascinated with the other side,” she said in 1986.

PHOTO ANAYLYSIS

Within this image, Sherman has exaggerated features like her lips, eyelashes and hair to emphasize that femininity does not have to only fit the stereotype of beauty. Sherman stated “I’m disgusted with how people get themselves to look beautiful; I’m much more fascinated with the other side,” she said in 1986. Her poorly blended makeup is to deconstruct the femininity stereotype. Sherman also exaggerates the nose significantly which gives off the same effect. The background looks like a puzzle and this could signify the difficulty in trying to fit the beauty standards for a women.

Personally, I really like Cindy Sherman’s work as it decreases the pressure on women to be perfect and deconstructs the stereotype of beauty to be feminine. Sherman believes beauty comes from the inside and her images are a lovely and successful way to prove society that.

Women were often valued for how they looked and not what they did. Looks and behaviours contribute to being feminine like having softer features, long hair and a smaller frame and curves. While these are all stereotypical ideas, women have and continue to move forward in the world. When thinking of femininity you often picture beauty, as beauty associates with women rather than a women doing what she loves or what she does.

The term ‘femininity’ has been adapted over time, for example in the 20th century women were expected to be:

• Passive
• Sensitive
• Emotional
• Gentle
• Caring
• Nurturing

These photos show the evolution of what is perceived as femininity and women throughout the last century

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

As you can see, starting from the 1970’s women began to wear more uni- sex clothes e.g. blazers and jeans which eventually grew more and more for it to be normal and daily clothing. This shows that from the 1920s you had to reach the feminine stereotypes and look a certain way however nowadays wearing anything is still classed as feminine.

Femininity

Masculinity

DEFINITION AND UNDERSTANDING

Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, caste, social class or other identifying factor form exclusive socio-political alliances, moving away from broad-based, coalitional politics to support and follow political movements that share a particular identifying quality with them. Its aim is to support and centre the concerns, agendas, and projects of particular groups, in accord with specific social and political changes.

CULTURE WARS are cultural conflicts between social groups and the struggle for dominance of their values, beliefs, and practices. It commonly refers to topics on which there is general societal disagreement and polarization in societal values is seen.

The term is commonly used to describe contemporary politics in western democracies  with issues such as abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights, pornography, multiculturalism, racial viewpoints and other cultural conflicts based on values, morality, and lifestyle being described as the major political cleavage

This can be conceptualised being about the presentation and representation of identities. This is founded in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups, typically aiming for political freedom (at times wishing minority groups) within a society where they are not able to exist freely, attempting to make others understand what it is like for them in a day-to-day life.

The second half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of large-scale political movements—second wave feminism, Black Civil Rights in the U.S., gay and lesbian liberation, and the American Indian movements. Identity politics is greatly connected to the idea that some social groups are oppressed which can lead to stereotyping, violence, appropriation of identities or even erasure of them. The term was coined by the Combahee River Collective in 1977 and gained use in the 1980s, gaining currency with the emergence of social activism, manifesting in various dialogues within the feminist, American civil rights, and LGBT movements, disabled groups, as well as multiple nationalist and postcolonial organizations, for example: Black Lives Matter movement.

What was the original structure of the Black Lives Matter movement?

For example, in more recent years, the Black Lives Matter movement gained immense news coverage of people of all identity speaking up on the injustice that this group of people face within a society. 

Black Lives Matter started in 2013 as a messaging campaign. In response to the 2012 acquittal of George Zimmerman for shooting and killing Black teenager Trayvon Martin, three activists – Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza and Patrisse Cullors – protested the verdict on social media, along with many others. Cullors came up with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, which gained widespread use on social media and in street protests.

Over the next several years – as Black Lives Matter flags, hashtags and signs became common features of local, national and even international protests in support of Black lives – this messaging campaign became a decentralized social movement to demand accountability for police killings and other brutality against Black people.

It became nationally recognised for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two more African Americans, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, being only some of the protested names of people who died at the hands of racial violence by the police. In the summer of 2015, Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 2016 US election. 

Women also wear red lipstick to symbolize the women’s right movement. Red lip colour gained popularity internationally as women’s rights movements spread worldwide. As red lipstick symbolized American suffrage, its sway travelled across the pond and then some. British suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst donned a red lip, which helped spread the symbolic action among her fellow activists. Red lips can also be viewed as sensual and devious. Pin-up models in the early 1900s often wore red lipstick, and this look became synonymous with femininity and sexiness, allowing women to feel comfortable in their sexuality. women’s rights movement, diverse social movement, largely based in the United States, that in the 1960s and ’70s sought equal rights and opportunities and greater personal freedom for women. It coincided with and is recognized as part of the “second wave” of feminism. Feminist movement in Western society. Feminism in the United States, Canada, and a number of countries in Western Europe has been divided by scholars into three waves: first, second and third-wave feminism. Recent (early 2010s) research suggests there may be a fourth wave characterized, in part, by new media platforms. Women often feel misogyny and feel as if they cannot take part in a job they like as it is seen to be ‘masculine’ still in the 21st century. However, there is beginning to see a difference.

“handsome, muscled, and driven, he’s a prime example of masculinity”

Femininity : femininity is defined as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristics of women or girls.

Masculinity : masculinity is defined as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristics of men or boys.

Masculinity theme

Masculinity = social expectations of being a man: The term ‘masculinity’ refers to the roles, behaviours and attributes that are considered appropriate for boys and men in a given society. Masculinity is constructed and defined socially, historically and politically, rather than being biologically driven.

Male stereotypes –

• Powerful
• Strong
• Tough
• Independent
• Assertive
• Leaders
• Courageous
• Dominant

Men are generally expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold. Every society, ethnic group, and culture has gender role expectations, but they can be very different from group to group. They can also change in the same society over time.

Men are seen to be strong minded, not emotional, to look after the house or people around them, powerful, dominant or in control, very independent tough and aggressive when provoked or questioned. This could could bring a lot of pressure on men to not do the wrong thing and not make any mistakes.

There is also a thing called binary opposite’s.

As you can see, men and women are a binary opposite and have many opposite characteristics which makes it harder for people to accept them.

MASCULINITY HISTORY

In the 1950s, males purpose was to make the money and living for the family but still able to go to the work environment meanwhile the female looked after the children. The male was to make a family and be powerful and strong minded enough to do both. This could’ve created a lot of pressure on men as they also have the stereotype to not express emotions.

What is the difference between masculine and feminine posing?

A closed or clenched hand tends to be more masculine while a relaxed or lightly curved hand has a feminine inference. Unlike feminine poses, masculine poses avoid softening the pose with rounded shoulders or exaggerated shoulders, hips, and legs.

What makes a pose masculine?

Stereotypical male model poses all involve making the man look fierce. Anything that can be done to convey power and dominance should be included in the pose. While females are always looking for ways to emphasize curves, men are looking for hard angles and straight lines.

What makes a pose feminine?

Create Curves-They’re what make most women feel feminine. Highlighting a female model’s curves also has the added benefit of making the waist look more defined. In standing poses this can be achieved by having the model put her weight on her back foot. Add in a knee bend away from the camera .

“she alternated between embracing her femininity and concealing it”

Femininity : femininity is defined as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristics of women or girls.

Masculinity : masculinity is defined as qualities or attributes regarded as characteristics of men or boys.

FEMININITY THEME

Femininity also called womanliness is a set of attributes, behaviours and roles that generally associate with woman and girls. Some behaviours that are considered feminine are influenced by both cultural and biological factors.

Some factors of femininity are :

• Gracefulness
• Gentlness
• Loving
• Nurturing
• Emotional
• Sensitivity

These are all stereotypical factors of femininity, however some woman will not show these characteristics because not every woman is the same and they may feel different about different situations to to others. Woman are stereotyped to be seen as more weak than boys and are seen to be more gentle and understanding instead of taking control of a situation.

History

Around 1950, woman were told they had to stay at home and do the cleaning, cooking and to look after the kids whilst the ” man of the house ” went to work and earned the money for the family. Woman were also objectified and seen as a males property rather than a human being to benefit men. This is not acceptable now and woman should not be told they have to stay at home to do those things, woman are now able to go to work and also earn money to support the family. A women’s purpose was to make children and support them only.

Nowadays, there are many woman who don’t feel as though they fit into the category of the stereotypical woman and want to change genders because they feel more comfortable in a males body. There has been a lot of discussion lately about transgender people all over the world because those who feel they want to transgender want to be accepted as how they are and what they feel is right for them. This is also vice versa towards men. This is now acceptable in our generation and society meaning women and men both have a lot more freedom and can do things as they please and do not feel forced into the stereotypes. However, there is slightly still some misogyny within the work environment as men and women may work the same hours and have the same ability but men will have a higher pay rise. Moreover, some women also feel unable to do jobs because they are seen as a masculine job e.g engineer, plumber etc.

One famous feminist photographer is Cindy Sherman

Sherman’s photography is a depiction of the different ways culture defines “woman.” 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.” Cindy Sherman is a female photographer who portrays female stereotypes of the 1950’s and 1960’s. When creating her images, she is not only the photographer but the subject as well. Sherman examines and distorts femininity as a social construct. “I like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colourful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you’re looking at is something totally opposite,” she reflected.