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THE AGE OF THE FEMALE GAZE

The “male gaze” invokes the sexual politics of the gaze and suggests a sexualised way of looking that empowers men and objectifies women. In the male gaze, woman is visually positioned as an “object” of heterosexual male desire. Her feelings, thoughts and her own sexual drives are less important than her being “framed” by male desire. (Loreck, 2021)

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The ‘male gaze’ was coined in, the now famous essay by Laura Mulvey ‘Visual pleasure and Narrative Cinema” and has since been used throughout the media to explain the pleasurable narrative for male viewers. For many years it was to be seen that female were less than men, they were there to be admired. However, through time the female gaze has evolved as a response to the objectifying approach of the ‘male gaze’.  “‘female’ gaze is more a frame of mind, where approach to subject and material is more emotional and respectful …” (Loreck, 2021). Many people think being a feminist means that they want women to have all power but, it is more than that, it is for people to be able to be equal in society and have an understanding about rights and how women are more than they are made out to be, like in the media which is a massive influence in society today. A main reason is for women to be feminine but what is Femininity? ‘Femininity is the fact or quality of having characteristics that are traditionally thought to be typical of or suitable for a woman, having long hair or flowers with a silk cream dress is supposed to be a sign of some having femininity’. (Cambridge, 2021). There are many female photographers today who challenge the societal norms of Femininity, one being Maisie Cousins who investigates sensuality, indulgence, and body image. Petrina Hicks being another who explores the myths of a women and how they are identified.

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"There is no need for me to appeal to nice- I'm not making an advert for a perfume!" 

-Maisie Cousins, via dazed

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Maises Cousins is a British artist based in London, she wants femininity and sexuality to be seen as a positive way for people to normalise and see as something that can be talked about without having it to be seen as a female centred experience. Her work shows the destructive image of an ideal beauty standard. By the age of 15 she started producing her work, however it became apparent in her school work it was clear to see how female photography was limited even today as her work seem to be problematic during her school time when she would get backlash for her work due to what it was. Cousins' - “Boy’s don’t get asked the same questions about their work” as the medias influence on her work is extremely high due to what she photographs when it should not even be questioned. She is very aware of the new feminist art clichés and suspicious of who profits off them. Maisie Cousins speaks about how the nature of women is always beautiful but disgusting as shown through her work you can see the real image of women's beauty through an eye of a women and not a man as these things may not seem ‘beautiful’ to people but it is what a woman is, and nobody can change that. Her work truly shows a woman in their true form and that’s how Maisie's cousins redefine femineity to show the true beauty of a women and not what people want or expect to see, like the fake image that different medias show on magazines and adverts. One of her most popular pictures from the series ‘grass, peonies', bum’ of a young woman grabbing her bum which had been splattered with grass and flower petals. Cousins uses visual metaphors to represent the female body. Using flowers and fruit then mixed with snails, dark liquids to show women’s bodies in a different light. This is a way for people to not feel guilty for looking at physical features and to use their imagination instead. In her work with different liquids and ‘disgusting’ objects she allows the images to speak for themselves as each object has the deeper meaning as it makes you indulgent in her images as it is visually pleasing to look at.

To conclude I feel I have captured Maisie's cousins work well in my own work style, as I have shown how ugly can be beautiful and there are separate ways to express your body in the best way you feel is acceptable. I put a twist onto my work with the deeper tones to make a more indulgent appearance to the viewer which I feel helped give the sexual sense to the photos as the colours and water reflections help create the sense of depth.

Maisie Cousins

This was my first attempt of a Maisie cousins' recreation. It relates due to the sexualising of innate objects, which Cousins uses a lot in her work to spread a message. In this picture it is darker, rich tones that makes the brightness of the yellow highlight the pomegranate as the                                                                  contrast of solid colours pulls the intensity of the                                                                                vibrance and contrast as it defines each seed inside the                                                                       pomegranate. Compared to Maises images these images                                                                 are much bolder with darker tones as I felt it makes it more                                                                 indulgent and having a variety of items that are all different but don’t repel each other I feel shows the beauty that can reflect of one and other. Using a single ring light in this shoot also gave the water a reflection which gives a shiny effect on the fruit, these shoots are lush and give the feeling of depth and the hit the meaning of the sexual                 indulgence from the colours, and high vibrance.                                                                                  I then continued with a second shoot which I gave                                                                                 a lighter contrast with the fruit and purple water to                                                                        prove through her work. I used more items such as:                                                                        paint, makeup, fake insects, and more things that are                                                                  classed as un lady like as in the past women were there                                                                     to be seen and not heard. They were there to bare children and be stay at home wives. Within any photo Maisie creates it looks strange and makes u investigate the deeper meaning of what each item she uses indicates. I used a Pinks, reds and greens in my images as it made it more symbolic as pink is preferably for girls in the society that people get brought up in. My responses are bolder in colour and contrast as the ring light creates pools of sinewy light that sticks to the outlines of the objects to create a gelatinous, sensual presence. The main focus in this image is the eyelash. It is very defined as the only item in the piece that is different. Placing one of these in it relates to the fact that women may of and still can feel obligated to wear makeup to feel better in themselves or to show off for men, by adding the paint around the eyelash I wanted to create the meaning behind Cousin’s photos that beauty is ugly and it does not matter what you look like we all have our insecurities and flaws. It is how we choose to response to it what makes the difference.

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Petrina Hicks

Creating my own photos, I decided to go forward                                                           with the shells and decided to do a series of shoots                                                       with them. Holding it down to the crotch I feel is                                                    significant. It shoes strength and how it is nothing to                                                         be ashamed of with what we have. I captured her                                                       purity through my work and the subtleness' each                                                        picture explores. For my photographs I used a ring light to capture the cool lighting, with a plain white background. All though this picture has not got the plain structure as it has clothing, it helps make the seashell contrast from the skirt as it has a shiny on top but also shows the shadows of inside of the shell. I used an image with                                                  antlers to relate with the gender in deer to show gender in                                               normality. Antlers are used to fight, have more power and                                                 seem more superior. Male use them to attract the opposite                                               sex. Even though both have antlers they can be seen to be                                                equal in the animal world, however males typically have                                                    larger antlers. Relating this to humans we can visually see                                                through Petrina Hicks work that symbolism is superior to                                                  her and I feel most people would see antlers and                                                                automatically think of male deer. It represents the                                                                integratory that males can feel more superior than women                                                  as through decades that what it would have been like, you can also view it as the growth as every year their antlers both shed and have fresh pairs of antlers. However, females whilst pregnant get their antlers to become less vulnerable. It gives the sense of the reality and illusion of why they actually have these antlers and they don’t have them just to look good. “Women are persistently told to rein in any aspects of an assertive nature as it “doesn’t fit” within the patriarchal ideal of the ‘feminine character’ – whatever on earth that may be. However, through her work, Hicks turns this stereotype on its head.” (Rattle 2022)

Hicks uses light, pastel and pale tones in all her shoots to portray the aspect of the surrealism of her work. Using objects to show the meaning how the media has made shells, fruit and other items sexualised. Petrina Hicks in cooperate myths to show the reality of how women are identified and how that can come across in different ways.

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Petrina Hicks has gained a lot acknowledge for her large-scale, hyperreal photography pieces. She notices how in the industries women’s femineity is depicted by a male point of view, just for their pleasure. Hicks shows femineity through a new and different art styles. For example, through classical art showing the beauty form through youth. “The definitions of beauty have diversified in the past 20 years, yet our image-based culture still feeds us with narrow ideas of women-a female myth- that tells us with pictures how women should look, behave and feel.” Hicks creates imagery making with triangular gaze: artist, subject and viewer. She uses a cold aesthetic on a blank background like statue marble sculptures- idealistic but on untouchable showing that perfection is bland. “Rather than taking portraits, I’m interested in portraying the interior world and psyche of the people I photograph, their gaze is often turned inwards, conveying a sense of inaccessibility; appearing as though their universe is contained within. They are ghostly figures existing in a space between reality and illusion.” (Curator, 2021).

In the picture below shoes a plain woman holding a shell Infront of her face.

Hicks uses complete white background and a woman with white hair and a pale figure. This compares from back in the day when women were still an object to male figures and were told to have fair skin as that was what beauty was meant to be.” Hicks’ works also reveal her fascination with flawed or alternate beauty, probing narratives of female representation through art history and the media. The slick sophistication of her images highlights this dichotomy between the surface aesthetic and their ambiguous, subversive subtext.” (Stein and tanzer, 2021). She uses certain objects, that have a huge deeper meaning. Seashells having a meaning of the natural beauty that comes from internal life and how all shells shapes are different and unique in their own way, like each person and that beauty is not all the same, which Hicks explores. Shells are usually perceived as feminine and a symbol of birth, good fortune, and resurrection. It is the represent of fertility and the womb. With shells forming the view of a womb.

So how does the age of the female gaze redefine femineity? Through my investigation I have discovered that Petrina Hicks and Maise Cousins are very similar although different. Both being strong female photographers that have a strong lead of knowing how to portray their photography to get the viewer to think about their work and analyse the smallest detail of it. Cousins has a strong eye for colour and vibrance that leads to the disgusting eye of the truth of female bodies and how they are represented, this also leads to Hicks and how she also represents women through a purer form but also showing the medias view with the male gaze and how it all stemmed from not having enough of a female’s eye in the world of media, as it was very important to show women’s point of views as all males have a different view of women especially in media. Gender roles have been a society issue for many years and even being a feminist people portray this as a bad thing. It is seen that women want to abuse their power whereas this is nothing to do with being a feminist at all. Redefining the meaning of femineity shows the power women want of equal rights and having a voice to be heard. The male gaze was a concept made by a feminist Laura Mulvey in 1973, she wrote an essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” which was published in 1975; “Think about how women are often shown in advertisements, magazine covers, and social media compared with men, as well as how their bodies are typically framed by the camera. Consider the emphasis typically placed on how women look, dress, and comport themselves—even on their expressions—as opposed to for men.” (vanbuskirk, 2022). From the male gaze came the female gaze to get back the irony that women faced as it is extremely important to represent the female gaze in fine art photography. So many female feminist photographers have put the female gaze through a photograph and put the power of a picture to use. Putting their art work out there to identify and allow criticism shows power and how it can be achieved by anyone who will try to face the world of media. I feel it was a very strong mainstream narrative that women were holding back but redefining femininity can help generations to come that may be facing that problem once again. 

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