In the Article “Feminism”, Susan J. Douglas describes Feminism as the pushback against sexism and patriarchy, where patriarchy has structured institutions and ideology catered for men to maintain and hold power at the expense of Women (68). Sexism can be described as the power entitlement where there is an unequal balance or discrimination that privileges one sex over the other. In the context of American History, Sexism has existed at the very beginning: Feminism is a relatively new civil rights movement to combat oppression and discrimination placed on women and girls. Historically the feminist effort began somewhere in the 1960s, however in the twenty-first century, feminism has been seen as something resolved and has once again been met with dismissiveness, also known as enlightened sexism (71). The Feminist movement is still ongoing, and is not only been prevalent in America, but has been pioneered all around the world. Photographic artist Jenni Granholm’s work carries on the modern-day feminist effort to combat systemic sexism.
Granholm’s artworks from her Hush collection depicts her wearing a white dress, arm extended tied with red ribbons set in a white background. The white dress with frills represents a stereotypically feminine image, symbolizing a tradition bestowed on girls. She does this to capture “unashamedly feminine aesthetic…to highlight the truth that women are already bound, living under the weight of expectations and demands” (Granholm). The general white color the photograph is taken in is subdued, gentle—portraying an additional ‘weak’ stereotype that is often associated with femininity.
Although, I believe this restrained portrayal of femininity also simultaneously parallels a positive endorsement of femininity. Not only does this feminine image represent fitting into a given role, but with the rise of modern feminism there has been a trend to go against everything feminine in order to be strong and powerful: “as Yvonne Tasker and Diane Negra put it, ‘enthusiastically perform[ing] patriarchal stereotypes of sexual servility in the name of empowerment’ (2007, 3)” (Douglas 71). However, I would say that the effort to get rid of feminine traits to adopt masculine traits to appear powerful in order to be on an “even playing-field” is not female empowerment but is still a form of belittling and suppressing feminine virtues. That being said, there still may be ambiguity between distinguishing between when feminine virtues are being embraced vs. If/when something is actually a form of social confines and restraints. However, in Granholm’s piece, I believe that by portraying a feminine image she is also endorsing feminine power.
Contrasting the white pure image of the background and dress is the red ribbons. The red ribbons are stark, the red associated with blood, anger, and sexuality. Tied around the hands, it acts as a constraint, symbolizing the invisible restraints placed on the feminine image. The red as anger seems prevalent to me, portraying the rage of being suppressed by something intangible, being unable to grasp what exactly it is that is restraining, making it more infuriating. According to Douglas, the media meant for women to consume “promulgated patriarchal values that reaffirmed sexism and helped keep women in their place” (69-70). Meaning, the tv shows girls watched or the magazines they read were a sort of propaganda that instilled the patriarchal bounds, acting as invisible restraints that kept women subconsciously suppressed. This is just one of the meanings the red ribbons give in Granholm’s piece, acting as these overseen, intangible restraints. Connecting back to the quote by Granholm, “ women are already bound, living under the weight of expectations and demands” which were placed by patriarchal propaganda.
All together, my first feeling the photograph of Granholm evoked was indignation—a righteous anger towards injustice (dictionary.com)—as well as uncomfortably stifling. From this indignation, there also seems to be a sickening feeling of ‘having endured enough’, transforming into an almost malevolent feeling—of anger being in this suppressed and stuck circumstance. When describing her work from her Hush collection, Granholm describes wanting to convey the feelings of “sorrow and longing…with glimpses of hope and desire”. She goes on to say that “the strength to break free is missing…[where one is] staying hidden…becoming stuck in [their] life.”
It seems that modern Feminist, as portrayed in Granholm’s art piece, play on the idea of ‘staying hidden’, which is a sexist stereotype placed on women. However, according to Douglas, social media is providing a tool for modern feminist where they stay ‘faceless and anonymous’ (71), a twist on “staying hidden”, a twist from suppression to power, is now a new method to promote feminism in the modern era.
Work Cited
Douglas J, Susan. . Feminism. Feminism (from Keywords in Media Studies)
Granholm, Jenni . Argentea Gallery. (2019, March 19). https://argenteagallery.com/artists/jenni-granholm/