Published on 30 August 2018
Women aged 18 to 91 have bared their breasts as part of an exhibition which shines a spotlight on the politics of body image and objectification of the female form.
Fifty Women is a thought-provoking exhibition by North East artist Donna Barkess featuring Polaroid images of breasts and the diverse stories behind them, from surgery, breast feeding, objectification and body image, to sexism and sexuality.
A preview evening of the exhibition takes place on Thursday September 6, 6pm-8pm, at the University of Sunderland’s Priestman Gallery, where Donna is a senior lecturer in graphic design and illustration. The exhibition then opens to the public from September 6-19.
The feminist focus behind the images aims to highlight how, despite the many changes in equality in the past century, women are still stigmatised within society and often feel a sense of uncertainty surrounding their own social and personal identity.
“Material found on social media, in advertising, films, programmes, books and magazines, even song lyrics, suggest that we have a long way to go before women are finally free of destructive and damaging gender stereotyping, stigma and objectification,” explains Donna.
“There is something very messed up about how we see our own bodies and I think women need to own them again. This exhibition is about supporting all women and making them feel better about their bodies.”
To reinforce the message behind the exhibition on how society views the female form, Donna revealed how she has had to censor a version of a poster promoting Fifty Women for Facebook and Instagram, after the social media organisations removed her original image, which they deemed unsuitable content.
She says: “Breasts have been a political issue for centuries. Within society, they have been sexualised, objectified, and demonised. Breasts are the mainstay of pornographic material, yet they have been portrayed for centuries as a symbol of compassion and motherhood in religious paintings and writings.
“Even now, in the 21st century, debates still rage over whether it is acceptable for mothers to feed their babies in public, whilst we are surrounded by objectified images of women's breasts. The fact that women have a legal and moral right to feed their babies in public without prejudice or challenge seems to be irrelevant to a proportion of society. Yet this is just part of a bigger picture and the stigmatisation, objectification and sense of ownership of women’s bodies.
“Conversations with the 50 women I spoke to frequently highlighted a sense of confusion or frustration in terms of the ‘ownership’ of their bodies. They experience pressures, conflicts, influences and changes throughout their lives that create a lack of clarity in terms of how they, and others, view their body and their ownership of it.”
The subject of each Polaroid has their head cropped from the images, accompanied by a statement, ensuring a degree of anonymity for each woman, who all volunteered for the project.
Donna says: “The images are not high resolution and there is something less intrusive about a Polaroid image which helps the subjects feel more comfortable.”
She added: “I was privileged to be able to talk to these 50 women about their breasts, they responded with warmth, confidence and humour. Some were photographed on a one-to-one basis, but we also had some 'open house' sessions with constant soup, cakes and tea, where ladies would call in and socialise, eat and chat about the project before being photographed. It created an atmosphere where the women felt comfortable was really important.
“There was a real sense of mutual respect, camaraderie and celebration, which facilitated some very honest discussions that became the basis of many individual statements.”
Fifty Women will be held at The Priestman Gallery, Priestman Building, Green Terrace, Sunderland SR1 3PZ, September 6-19.
Case studies
We spoke to a few of the ladies who have taken part in Donna Barkess’ exhibition.
Age 91:
I am 91 years old and support Donna’s project wholeheartedly. I have had ‘fallen’ breasts since my third child fifty-five years ago, but I have never felt self-conscious or aware of how they look. My breasts are very large and quite heavy, but they are just part of my body and I am happy with them.
At my age I have seen a lot of changes in the way that people think about breasts, but they are the same now as they were then. I told Donna to tell all of the other ladies that my breasts were the best.
Age: 76
When I had my first child in 1963. I was just 19 years old. The thing that strikes me now is that is seemed a given that you would bottle feed. I tried to breast feed but felt that I wasn’t really supported. I found it very difficult and was advised to switch to bottle feeding. There seemed to be a view that bottle feeding was best for the baby in terms of putting on weight. I don’t really remember many women breast feeding at the baby clinic, in fact I can remember only one lady who was breastfeeding, who had just had her seventh child.
I think because I was so young, I just responded to the advice I was given. Also, it wasn’t very acceptable to breast feed in public. It just seemed that bottle feeding was the thing to do. I remember there was National Health milk which you were given for free, but I switched to SMA, as it seemed like better milk.
If I had known what I know now, I would have a completely different attitude, as I now feel I was deprived of a fair chance to breastfeed. I feel I missed out on feeding my babies naturally. I suppose it was the time in my life when I thought about my breasts the most. Well, apart from the time when I was working for Marks & Spencer in the 1980’s and I trapped my left nipple when I closed the till. I was thinking about my breasts then.
Age 24:
Breasts have become a commodity; an intrinsic part of the female anatomy stolen by a society that sees it fit to strip women of their bodily autonomy whilst simultaneously profiting from it.
Breasts have fallen victim to hyper-sexualisation and criminalisation whereby their fundamental purpose as an organ seems to have been forgotten in the place of satisfying a male audience. Above this is the judgement, expectation and ridicule that comes with having a pair of breasts.
From being young girls our breasts are held up for comparison and criticism, be they too big, small, saggy or wonky, yet to even propose that there is an ‘ideal’ breast size or shape is beyond ludicrous. However, when the only breasts we are regularly exposed to are those which fit this socially accepted mould it is no wonder that the task of loving and embracing ones own breasts seems to elude a large proportion of women.
It is within this climate that projects such as this are so important. It is defiant in its refusal to accept socially constructed standards and exposes people to reality of breasts and the strength they symbolise. This project gathers women of all shapes, sizes and ages and celebrates their infinite diversity without sexualisation or objectification. Each image represents a different life and a different experience of womanhood, yet what binds them all together is the power of women reclaiming ownership of their own bodies and disregarding the status quo.