For my photoshoot, I will take inspiration from some of Cindy Sherman’s work and explore gender stereotypes and societal norms/expectations towards each gender.
Who? – My parents.
What? – Hands (stereotypically, male hands bruised dirty from work and female clean), stereotypic environments + outfits + expectations (e.g. boy’s don’t cry, women must cook and clean) – in black and white to give older impression and highlight how stereotypes supress and influence identity.
Where? – Stereotypic environments (male at work, female in kitchen).
Why? – Explore how stereotypes as well as social expectations affect identity, self-perception and emotions (focus on social/gender identity).
Initial Photo Ideas:
1 – Juxtapose photo of my dad’s hands with photo of my mum’s hands, male hands will be significantly more worn because in their time period in Portugal stereotypes such as males being the ‘breadwinners’ and workers whereas women cooked and cleaned were deeply rooted into society. Contrast side by side and present in black and white to create a more serious tone as well as highlighting differences in each hand much more clearly, showing how the social expectations and stereotypes of their time has influenced them physically and therefore shaped their identity/self-perception even now.
2 – Juxtapose stereotypic outfits/environments of males and females, e.g. have my dad in a work environment dressed in construction gear/a suit and contrast with my mum dressed in an apron/cleaning gear in a kitchen. Explore how gender stereotypes have influenced their identity, both their social identity and gender identity due to societal expectations – dull/bleak atmosphere, environmental portraits with a neutral face and presented in black and white. Could also contrast elements of each stereotypic environment, e.g. compare construction gear vs cleaning materials and suit texture vs cleaning gear texture.
3 – Juxtapose social expectations from each gender with each other, e.g. contrast males being frowned upon for crying and expected to be ‘manly’ with females being seen as more vulnerable, emotional and only good for cleaning etc. Could photograph dad in a restricted/uncomfortable environment appearing to be holding back tears to present how these expectations restrict and shape identity.