AVA Vee we talk about images of women, we often
talk about models. Historically, these models
were nude women in figure drawing classes restricted
to male students. Today, these models occupy
billboards and magazine spreads. These models, whose
likenesses are used for someone else’s purposes, have
existed for centuries. These bodies are feminine bodies.

It takes three
parties to make a
woman into an image:
1. the woman, 2. the
iianelexena ueine) eretavel
3. the viewer. When
we often talk about
images of women,
these three parties are
usually 1. a woman,
2. aman, and 3. the
patriarchy. Enter:
The Gaze. This is the
concept that images
of women are made
by men and for men.

I do not want to
talk about models.
I want to talk about
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women. I want to talk
about empowerment through self-portraiture. Enter:
The Selfie.

For the first time, images of women made by

In 2012, the feminist art collective Guerrilla Girls
created a bus advertisement that read: “Do women
have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum? Less
than 4 per cent of the artists in the Modern Art sections
are women, but 76 per cen of the nudes are female.”
That was 20 years ago, but women artists remain
underrepresented. According to the 2012 Waging
Culture report, only 15 per cent of Vancouver Art
Gallery’s contemporary solo exhibitions feature female
artists. This means that even in 2015 it’s hard to find
images made by women in public institutions.

Luckily, there is the Internet. Now women (even
those who are not artists) have the agency to exhibit
self-portraits publicly. Selfies are empowering snippets
of art that play an endearing role in the formation of
young women’s identities.

Self-portraiture is recognized as a method of

   
    

  

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: empowerment for oppressed groups. For example, this
: year American artist Traci Molloy unveiled artwork

: made by 12 underprivileged youth at the United Action
: for Youth’s Summer Art Workshops. The art that came
: out of these workshops combined photography and

: text to create expressive self-portraits describing the

: youths’ unique experiences and identities. The self

portraits are displayed in a public street.
I do not see this project as substantially
different from taking and sharing a selfie,

ee except that these youth were given the

support and resources to do so.

Erin Gloria Ryan from Jezebel said:
“Selfies aren’t expressions of pride,
but rather calls for
affirmation.” Why
assume that pride
and insecurity
cannot manifest
simultaneously? Of
course, many young
women seek affirmation
through mass sharing
of self-portraits. But
aren't those women
also celebrating their
bodies and exploring
their identities through
art making? Selfies have

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Traci Molloy/Press Citizen

: been called a symbol of narcissism.
: So what? Narcissism and insecurity
: and public attempts at validation
themselves are available en masse in the public domain. :
: condition. I couldn’t be happier

: that those awkward human traits

: are being explored while freeing the
: feminine body from The Gaze.

are just part of the human

Realistically, the history of the selfie does not begin

: in 2012. It is nota new phenomenon. It was happening
: in 16th century Italy during the Baroque period. At this
: time, Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman painter
: accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.

: Like everyone at the time, she was known for painting

: biblical imagery. Unlike others, she also painted lots

: of women doing wild stuff like committing suicide,

: playing instruments, and murdering men who tried to
: rape them. She also painted images of herself painting.
: She depicted herself as the established and respected

: artist that she was—an extremely empowering and

: timeless act.

 

 

Artemisia Gentileschi/wikipedia