Sexualisation in Fashion
Feminist theorist Diana Crane made an excellent point in 1999 which states “feminists argue that images of women are always directed at men and that women are encouraged to look at themselves and other women the way men do.” The way fashion images portray women can sometimes be seen as if they are showing these women as sexual objects, something to be lusted over and objectified. A lot of fashion photographers will get their models to lay on their back with their legs spread apart and a lot of time these models are either nude or semi nude. Another popular strategy in fashion imagery is to have the women gazing into nothingness with mouths wide open, as if they were engaging in sexual intercourse.
In my two images I have two beautiful curve models who are between size 14 and 16 standing strong in their underwear. This in my eyes is the most important and effective shoot from my collection of images, it shows two models who aren’t the norm of beauty in the fashion industry bearing all to show that no matter what your size you should be confident and love your body. A lot of photographers portray the women they photograph as though they are objects. I myself use a different strategy. I have the models displayed sexually in the images alongside looking strong by the way I display their body language and facial expressions. To do this I have the models stand tall and always make eye contact with the camera as this gives the feeling of control and strength to the models instead of the model being displayed in a belittling and demeaning way which can come across in lingerie shoots.
There should be sexuality in fashion but not sexual objectification.
