In my series of photographs I tried to explore ways that our society tries to dictate or control a woman’s sense of self worth or body image as well as some of the effects that this has on women and their relationships.
In the first photograph I wanted to look at how politics can affect a woman’s sense of identity or self worth. Abortion is a hotly debated issue in politics which, in my opinion, boils down to politicians trying to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body. This issue also carries a moral overtone of self worth as well. If a woman has an abortion, is she a murderer? If abortion is wrong, are women who have had abortions bad people? The political and religious turmoil surrounding abortion tries to dictate a woman’s choices about her own body and also imposes a sense of guilt and shame on the woman who are faced with the very difficult decision of whether or not to have an abortion. This is a personal issue that a woman should be able to make a decision about without being made to feel ashamed or guilty, no matter her choice. I used bumper stickers because I feel that people make very strong, often hurtful statements through the bumper stickers they put on their car and are able to distance themselves from how hurtful the messages can be. When actually placed on a woman, I think it becomes obvious how damaging such a condemning stance can be for women actually faced with the choice.
In the second picture I wanted to comment on the use of fairy tale and media in our culture to teach gender roles to young girls. I used the covers of several Disney “princess” films. In all of these movies the ‘princess’” self worth or liberation come from attracting a man. This teaches girls, at a very early age, that in order to be happy with themselves, or beautiful, that they must have a man. This shows that self worth comes from the opinions of others, not from being comfortable with yourself.
In the third picture I wanted to explore how big a role plastic surgery plays in the self-identity of women in our society. Plastic surgery grows more popular every day and has moved into television at an alarming rate. More and more shows surrounding plastic surgery are becoming popular. This enforces the idea that with enough money, a person can change anything about their body and that they should. Rather than be comfortable with their body, women are taught to try and change it through painful surgeries. The picture depicts an attractive girl marked up for plastic surgery. I think the image of a woman’s body divided into parts and measurements to be changed or cut up very powerfully shows how unnatural and damaging to the self worth of women plastic surgery has become.
In the fourth photo I wanted to use exaggerated make up to show how advertising and make up restrict a woman’s identity and encourage her to cover up her natural self, to change her face in order to be more attractive, to be happy through being “pretty. I wanted to show both applied make up as well as the physical make up containers covering and distorting a woman’s face.
In the fifth picture I wanted to explore the idea of women being set against each other through things like Disney stories convincing them that they have to find a man and advertising constantly making them think of how they look. This creates a pressure to value yourself based on whether or not you have a boyfriend, a husband and to distrust other women because they are out to steal your man. Rather than create relationships of support and trust between women as well as between women and their partners, this creates one of competition and suspicion. I showed the women fighting with cleaning products because this idea also enforces the idea of a woman’s role in the home. Through stories like Cinderella women are taught that to win a man and beat her fellow women, she must be the most attractive, the most desirable as a wife.
