The Objectification Of Women During The 20th Century

Objectifying is an adjective often put on the table in conversations about the depiction of women. The Objectification of women did not start with photography, but it certainly did not end with photography either. The progression of objectification was only blossoming in the 19th-20th century. At that time, most acknowledged photographers were men. Men were expected to live a public life, whether it was working in a factory or socializing with ‘likeminded’ men in public places, like parties or out and about taking photographs. On the other hand, women were usually expected to live their lives largely at home, taking care of the cooking, cleaning, and child nurturing. ‘Free time’ for women was not meant to be spent socializing but rather only doing things related to the maintenance of the family. Even though men basically assumed their uselessness out of the household, women were oddly the ultimate photographic subjects. The rise of Pictorialism was what some would call the movement that birthed modern photography. Pictorialist desired to separate photography as art from scientific means to which it had been applied; the suggested subject matter and compositional strategies usually consisted of nude women. A painterly quality with an otherworldly aesthetic is what set pictorialism apart from other photo graphic practices at the time. This notion of perfection is what really captures my attention. What I find quite interesting is that looking into this aesthetic every manShow MoreRelatedThe Women Of Algiers, By Barbara T. Smith s Molting1112 Words   |  5 PagesFrom Objectification to Celebration Molting Barbara T. Smith’s Molting was created using pencil and glitter on paper. It features a white background with sharp black lines, creating the shape of a woman. Her skin is shaded with varying colors of glitter, and blotches of brown where the glue has discolored over time. 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