Gender in Photographs part two

Gender in Photographs part two

Continuing on from my last post about gender related topics within photography, I have chosen to

look at some more famous photos in a similar manner. 

In this photo you can see Lyndon. B. Johnson being sworn in as president of the United States shortly after the assassination of John. F. Kennedy. By his side is Jackie Kennedy, the wife of the recently deceased president. This picture has an overwhelming sense sadness in it. Johnson, as well as everyone in the background all have very serious expressions on their faces. This photo also has an overwhelming, yet not as obvious, sense of male power and female weakness. The main person in this photo is Johnson, the big man who has been called in to save the day and America during their time of need. He is the hero in this photo. But almost as much as this photo is to make us look up at President Johnson, it equally if not more, makes us look down at Jackie Kennedy. The former first lady, who was unable to save her husband, is pictured crying and altogether looking helpless by another mans side. It doesn't help that the background is full of men looking serious and dignified while the only other women whose face we can see is blocked off by Johnson's raised arm.


The last photograph that I've chosen is that of 'cowboy' Clarence Hailey. In 1949 Life magazine ran an article describing his life. It is fair to say that most people, if they read this article, would consider him to be a 'real man'. But what does the phrase a 'real man' actually mean? Surely it doesn't simply mean that he is a male human who truly exists? Or at least, that's not what most people get from it. Is being a 'real man' simply base around fairly trivial attributes or is there more to it?

        Without the article most people would think that they can get a pretty good idea of this man just from the photo. I'm sure many would even deem him a 'real man'. Does that mean that the phrase comes from purely looks of a person? Everything about this photo screams 'man'! His hat, cigarette, bandanna, the little you can see of his jacket and even his facial expression. So why is it that when a photo of a women, like the one of the migrant mother, focuses so much on the face, people don't call her a 'real women' with the same positive meaning? 

Genders in Photographs

While studying Women's lit I've started noticing gender concepts in many different places. One of them being a personal interest; photography. Some of the most famous photos in the world depict both men and women in a very stereotypical manner. While things may have evened up in recent years in terms of gender equality, a lot of photographers still have an act for capturing photos with a strong sense of either feminism or masculinity. In some older photos this is as clear as black and white. Maybe this set up on purpose or maybe it is completely natural but I'm going to prove my point with some famous examples.

My first example is the famous photo from the Yalta conference in 1945 picturing the leader of the allies; Winston Churchill, Franklin. D Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin sitting together. This photo has an extreme sense of male power as not only the leaders of Britain, America and Russia all male but the ten or so people in the back ground are all dressed in military uniform and are all male. 

The "Big Three", as they were known, are meeting to discuss the re-organization of war torn Europe and this photo seems to be saying "We are the people who now control the world". Especially at during World War 2, the people in this photograph would have been, what we consider now to be, "stereotypically male". I would say that everyone in this photo is easily older than 50 and you can just imagine the type of people they are in everyday life without the cameras. I don't think I need to spell it out for you.

The second photo I that can is a prime example of how genders are depicted in photographs is this one of migrant mother. Taken during the Great Depression in America. Taken by a female artist, yet this photo does nothing to help the cause of Feminism. In fact, I think it does the opposite. It shows Florence Owens Thompson, or the 'Migrant Mother' with her two children. Many people react to this photo in the same way, seeing the women as weak, poor and in-able to look after her children. Or at least, that is what the photographer wants you to see. She is wearing clothes that even though it is a black and white photo, still look dirty. She looks quite sad and even though you can't see the faces of the two children or bay, their body position still makes them seem distressed at the least. Compared to the first photo when the all the men, even the ones in the background, are pictured with dignity, this photo makes Florence Thompson look considerably week in a way that is commonly associated with women.