Challenging the Male Gaze - Series Inspired by Mickalene Thomas (Nicolette Capua)

   

Nicolette Capua, Fierce & Independent, 2022

      The theme I chose for my series was the female gaze. In my series, I am challenging the male gaze with my fierce and empowering stares back towards him. A woman is always judged by the way she looks, talks, and expresses herself. A man should not hold power over a woman and tell her what she can and can't do. Women are beautiful and intelligent. No man can justify and judge a woman based on just their looks. A woman's presence is uniquely their own and a man should not be able to take that away from her. My series connects to the readings “The Photographed, Collaged, and Painted Muses of Mickalene Thomas” by Carey Dunne and “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger because they explain the specifics of Mickalene Thomas’ work and how a woman's appearance is exclusively their own.

   

     The series I created is in response to Mickalene Thomas’ work. She depicts women as strong, confident, dominant, and in charge. In my series, I decided to show myself in different angles with different poses to show my “gaze” against a man. In these pictures I am showing my true beauty and uniqueness. My facial expressions show my confidence and sass back towards the man. It also shows my flaws and my body just the way it is. My body is covered the way I want it to be and I am expressing how I feel frustrated, but still sitting with classiness and elegance.
    

    Mickalene Thomas’ work makes sure to enhance these women's features and makes them have a powerful gaze. Women today are constantly being picked apart for the way their bodies look. Thomas’ work challenges this problem and enhances these women's bodies with bright colors to represent women for who they are and what they really look like. Everyone is beautiful no matter what shape or size. I tried to create a series that would show myself as fully me and that tells my own story as Thomas does with her art. The male gaze is being challenged while showing my true self back to him. The female gaze can be much stronger than a man’s. We are more capable than we know.
     

    In my first photo, I am sitting up straight with a stern look on my face. My legs are crossed and my gaze is serious and confident. I am looking at the man that is trying to control my being and my power. In my second photo, I took off my hat as I still hear and see this man trying to take over me. My facial expression is in awe that he is still trying to order me to follow his patriarchal demands. In my third photo, I am looking straight into the camera lens with an aggravated and disgusted facial expression. I decided to look straight into the camera to show my full expression instead of just from the side. This picture explains my gaze towards the man that is illustrated as pain and irritation. In my fourth photo, I am turned completely away from the man. This is showing him that I could care less about what he has to say and I will not take his orders. My hand is thrown up in the air dismissing the man away from me.

The Photographed, Collaged, and Painted Muses of Mickalene Thomas

By Carey Dunne


Quote 1- “Thomas’s jazzy photomontages of women’s limbs and facial features can be construed as commentary on how female bodies are brutally picked apart in contemporary visual culture. But the social commentary in her work is never heavy-handed or preachy; her approach throughout is both playful and political” ( Dunne 4 ).


    Thomas’ photomontages showcase women in their purest form in a way to represent their bodies that are constantly being ripped apart. She makes her work exciting and playful while showing women's  features to attack this idea of society's beauty and illustrate how powerful and beautiful women really are.


Quote 2- “By portraying real women with their own unique history, beauty and background, I’m working to diversify the representations of black women in art” ( Dunne 2 ).


    Thomas uses bright colors and objects to draw the viewer's attention in. She portrays these women confidently and dominantly. Each picture of a woman tells their own story and depicts their uniqueness.

Ways of Seeing

By John Berger


Quote 3- “By contrast, a woman's presence expresses her own attitude to herself, and defines what can and cannot be done to her. Her presence is manifest in her gestures, voice, opinions, expressions, clothes, chosen surroundings, taste.- Indeed there is nothing she can do which does not contribute to her presence” ( Berger 46 ).


    A woman will always show how she feels through her facial expressions and body language. She can express herself through what she wears or how she speaks just for herself and not for a man. Everything a woman does contributes to her presence and it is not intended to be directed towards a man.