So Act Like One

I once had someone say to me: “You’re a girl, so act like one.” It said a lot to me about the state of being a woman. What are these arbitrary rules we apply to half our population? Why must I conform to them? How can I feel safe? Will I be less desirable? Less socially acceptable? When do I get to hang this up and look the way I want to? I am not the only person who has heard this. I have even heard women perpetuate these stereotypes- asking when will she get married? She just needs to find herself a man. Quotes such as this flood the internet as women all around the world share their experiences. They deal with unrealistic beauty standards, misogynistic behaviors, outdated expectations, verbal and physical abuse, and even murder. We see this happen and look the other way. When someone speaks up or protests for better pay, recognition, safer standards, they are labeled a troublemaker.

The images of So Act Like One focus on my personal experiences of being a woman in our current society. Each photo depicts female stereotypes, along with the consequences that follow. The hues present in each image represent the pink hues that are typically associated with the female gender.

Beauty standards for women dictate how women should look: how much they should weigh, how they should speak, and how they should submit to the will of men. If we don’t have children, we have no purpose. If we do have children, we are judged on how we care for them. If we cover up too much, we are thought a prude, but if we wear too little, we are asking for it. Society expects women alone to shoulder the burden of contraception but narrows our resources- professing to save the unborn but shunning the born and their mothers in need.

I look in the mirror and see my insecurities as if they are the only parts of me that matter. My self-worth rises and falls in an instant depending on my reflection. Instead of embracing myself for who I am, I focus on what I should be. My photos highlight these moments in my life when I feel most disconnected from myself. If I can’t fulfill these unrealistic expectations the media and society have created, am I truly a woman?

I cannot speak for every female, but I can share my stories in the hopes that other women like me will gain the strength to speak out. Even though society has seen progression with gender roles being challenged and abolished, we still have a long journey ahead of us. We have an opportunity and perhaps an obligation, as artists, to demonstrate our positions on the issues affecting us in the act of expressing ourselves and perhaps echoing the feelings of others. There is great power in the images created by artists throughout history. One could say that we are the mirror to history, witnessing humanity.