“I wish I could treat every day
as Halloween, and get dressed
up and go out into the world
as some eccentric character.”

The photographs of Cindy Sherman often capture iconic representations of women while offering a critical approach. They can be interpreted as questioning gender norms through the lens of feminist art. Her work usually features photographs that depict herself dressed and made up as different female characters. Sherman’s photos are often interpreted as feminist art since her works raise questions regarding the objectification of women by the male gaze and the construction of the female gender. To better understand how Cindy Sherman’s photographs challenge the representation of women, it is important to know about the thoughts of feminist theorists such as Laura Mulvey and Judith Butler – which in a separate blog post I have explored in more depth as its important to deeply understand the theories and ideas surrounding femininity and specifically around the male gaze.

Many pictures of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Stills show situations that come across as uncomfortable, creepy, or even terrifying since we see the depicted woman in a vulnerable position. The viewer becomes an inappropriate spectator. We find ourselves in the role of a voyeur who preys on vulnerable women. We become confronted with the negative implications of the way the media – especially movies – depicts women. The male gaze is often present in Cindy Sherman’s artworks but she subtly changes the perspectives, expressions, and circumstances. Those changes expose this gaze that wants to stay hidden during the act of observing and objectifying the female body. In this particular image above it shows a woman waiting alone on the roadside with her luggage standing with her back facing the camera which indicates that she is not aware of being watched. The ominous scenery is enhanced by the cloudy sky and emphasis on the seemingly endless road. The picture makes the audience part of a threatening situation they do not necessarily want to be a part of. It even indicates that the viewer who is only able to see the woman’s back is the one who poses a threat.

CINDY SHERMAN – PASSIVE PICTURES

Laura Mulvey characterizes the depiction of women in her essay as passive, erotic, and accordingly made up to match male fantasies and desires. Cindy Sherman uses clothes, make-up, wigs, and different poses to imitate this portrayal of passive, sexualized women that comply with those fantasies. While Sherman still operates within the methods of the male gaze by portraying women in their underwear, heavy make-up, or typically female costumes, her artworks still criticize this way of representation.

This photograph shows a woman posing in underwear on a bed. Her face, though, seems to parody the whole situation. The woman’s expression looks overly dreamy and even a little silly. It seems as if Sherman is making fun of the passive and typically feminine representations of women since she did not only pose for the picture but is also the artist that orchestrated the photo.

Gender as a Performative Act in Cindy Sherman’s Artworks – Links to Judith butler (separate blog post)

Cindy Sherman’s artworks seem to demonstrate this performance of gender by depicting stereotypical images of women that can also be seen in movies. The pictures illustrate the performative act of “being female” through Sherman’s changing use of wigs, make-up, and clothing. Even though every artwork of Sherman shows the same person, the artist’s masquerade makes it possible to portray various types of women that are all subject to the male gaze. By performing the different ways of how women are supposed to look to be considered typically female, Sherman’s feminist art exposes the artificially and culturally constructed idea of gender The altering costumes, hair, and poses produce a multitude of individuals even though Sherman is the only person who is visible in her works. The hair colour, attire, make-up, environment, expression, and posing changes in every picture to match a particular stereotype of womanhood.

The characters in Sherman’s photos are often an exaggeration of widely represented female identities. Since this exaggeration and masquerade is visible through heavy make-up or distinctive clothing, the works appear to reveal the artificial construction of what is supposed to make a person female, such as wearing clothes typical for a housewife or the extensive use of eyeliner.

How Cindy Sherman’s work has inspired me:

The way Sherman changes the small things in her images to deflect the male gaze however still give the sense that its to do with the male gaze. The critical way she changes the perspectives, expressions, and circumstances. Her pictures create an intruding feeling forcing the viewer to think about the image and due to stereotypes people are quick to realise that its representing the male gaze. I also like how whilst also carefully portraying images which somewhat make women look vulnerable she also uses ‘passive pictures’ and dapples into Judith Butlers theory of Gender Performativity which creates this parodic feeling towards the male gaze, she exemplifies this using makeup, costumes, wigs and poses.