laura.e.anderson97
Photo 1
As I researched feminist photographers, I discovered many extremely talented women such as Cindy Sherman and Hannah Wilke who used their own bodies as their lens through which to investigate gender stereotypes, as well as the subjects of their commentaries on general roles. In contrast, I was curious to see what others’ perspectives on gender roles and stereotypes were. As someone who has studied feminism and gender stereotypes heavily, I knew that I had a very calculated and researched view on gender and society’s perception of it. I wanted to capture a more natural, subconscious, and internalized view of gender norms, though, so I decided to turn this photography project into a social experiment as well. I asked pairs of men and women to stand with their backs to one another (so that they could not see one another’s reactions) and I first asked them both to “stand like a man, whatever that means to you;” I then asked them both to “stand like a woman, whatever that means to you” and photographed their immediate responses. Here are twelve of the couple dozen people that I was able to photograph.
Some of the most interesting patterns that I noticed were that many people went from straight-faced or even mad-looking while standing “like a man” to smiling and happy while standing “like a woman;” additionally, many people transitioned from looking straight forward and not engaging with the camera when standing “like a man” to looking directly at and engaging with the camera when standing “like a woman.” Both of these reactions symbolize to me the pressure in society for men to be stoic and unfeeling, as well as the pressure for women to accommodate whoever they are with. Another interesting pattern that arose was the overall body language portrayed when standing like a man or like a woman. Almost every single person stood completely straight and quite stiff while standing “like a man,” while many people crossed their legs when standing “like a woman,” which reflects the gender stereotype of men to take up more space while women more often will fold into themselves.
I wondered as I studied the photos whether people were simply copying male and female behaviors that they most often observed (without thinking about the structures behind them), or whether they were actively thinking about the stereotypes and were trying to depict them in their stances. Finally, I found it quite intriguing that men were significantly and noticeably less comfortable “standing like a woman” than women were “standing like a man,” a pattern that I believe to be twofold in explanation. On one hand, men and masculinity are praised in our society, while femininity and women are degraded, which creates a society that celebrates (or at least tolerates) women who display masculine traits, but stigmatizes men who display feminine traits. On the other hand, the quickness with which women could understand the question and respond (in comparison to men) illustrated for me the fact that, as the minority gender, women are constantly having to think about gender, how they stand, and how they are different from men; while most men, as the more privileged gender (although all genders are harmed by gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity) do not have to have these differences on the forefront of their mind as constantly as women.
The most interesting observations, though, came through in some of the individual photographs. Right before photograph 7, the girl in the sweat-suit responded to my prompt to “stand like a woman” by saying, “I know how I would actually stand as myself, a woman; but that’s not how a woman should stand.” I responded that we could take photos of both how she would stand (photo 7) and how she felt she should stand (photo 8). The couple in photo 9 was also amusing to me because they both stood the same during both prompts (a response I got with surprising frequency, around 25% of the time) and as they walked away, I heard the man proudly and teasingly say to the woman “did you pose the same both times? Cause I did; gender equality!” My all-time favorite pair, though, was the mother-child duo in photo 10. When I explained the assignment, the mother replied, “can you also ask him to stand ‘like a person’” and I gladly obliged. The child became much more comfortable at this prompt, I imagine (or maybe hope) that this was because standing like a person made a lot more sense than standing “like a boy” or “like a girl” to this child being raised in the 21st century when we are starting to break down these gender barriers. His combination of his bright blue shirt and bright pink shoes was icing on this gender equal cake. I hope it means that we’re getting better with every generation.
Photo 1
As I researched feminist photographers, I discovered many extremely talented women such as Cindy Sherman and Hannah Wilke who used their own bodies as their lens through which to investigate gender stereotypes, as well as the subjects of their commentaries on general roles. In contrast, I was curious to see what others’ perspectives on gender roles and stereotypes were. As someone who has studied feminism and gender stereotypes heavily, I knew that I had a very calculated and researched view on gender and society’s perception of it. I wanted to capture a more natural, subconscious, and internalized view of gender norms, though, so I decided to turn this photography project into a social experiment as well. I asked pairs of men and women to stand with their backs to one another (so that they could not see one another’s reactions) and I first asked them both to “stand like a man, whatever that means to you;” I then asked them both to “stand like a woman, whatever that means to you” and photographed their immediate responses. Here are twelve of the couple dozen people that I was able to photograph.
Some of the most interesting patterns that I noticed were that many people went from straight-faced or even mad-looking while standing “like a man” to smiling and happy while standing “like a woman;” additionally, many people transitioned from looking straight forward and not engaging with the camera when standing “like a man” to looking directly at and engaging with the camera when standing “like a woman.” Both of these reactions symbolize to me the pressure in society for men to be stoic and unfeeling, as well as the pressure for women to accommodate whoever they are with. Another interesting pattern that arose was the overall body language portrayed when standing like a man or like a woman. Almost every single person stood completely straight and quite stiff while standing “like a man,” while many people crossed their legs when standing “like a woman,” which reflects the gender stereotype of men to take up more space while women more often will fold into themselves.
I wondered as I studied the photos whether people were simply copying male and female behaviors that they most often observed (without thinking about the structures behind them), or whether they were actively thinking about the stereotypes and were trying to depict them in their stances. Finally, I found it quite intriguing that men were significantly and noticeably less comfortable “standing like a woman” than women were “standing like a man,” a pattern that I believe to be twofold in explanation. On one hand, men and masculinity are praised in our society, while femininity and women are degraded, which creates a society that celebrates (or at least tolerates) women who display masculine traits, but stigmatizes men who display feminine traits. On the other hand, the quickness with which women could understand the question and respond (in comparison to men) illustrated for me the fact that, as the minority gender, women are constantly having to think about gender, how they stand, and how they are different from men; while most men, as the more privileged gender (although all genders are harmed by gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity) do not have to have these differences on the forefront of their mind as constantly as women.
The most interesting observations, though, came through in some of the individual photographs. Right before photograph 7, the girl in the sweat-suit responded to my prompt to “stand like a woman” by saying, “I know how I would actually stand as myself, a woman; but that’s not how a woman should stand.” I responded that we could take photos of both how she would stand (photo 7) and how she felt she should stand (photo 8). The couple in photo 9 was also amusing to me because they both stood the same during both prompts (a response I got with surprising frequency, around 25% of the time) and as they walked away, I heard the man proudly and teasingly say to the woman “did you pose the same both times? Cause I did; gender equality!” My all-time favorite pair, though, was the mother-child duo in photo 10. When I explained the assignment, the mother replied, “can you also ask him to stand ‘like a person’” and I gladly obliged. The child became much more comfortable at this prompt, I imagine (or maybe hope) that this was because standing like a person made a lot more sense than standing “like a boy” or “like a girl” to this child being raised in the 21st century when we are starting to break down these gender barriers. His combination of his bright blue shirt and bright pink shoes was icing on this gender equal cake. I hope it means that we’re getting better with every generation.