This article written by Ruxandra Looft was incredibly helpful for me in understanding more about postfeminism itself, as well as the impact that fourth wave feminism and social media has in the 21st century. The GirlGaze project created and campaigned by Amanda de Cadenet initially started as way to encourage females to breakout into the photography industry, something which is seen as a predominantly male profession. After de Cadenet published information about the project on the TeenVogue website, the hashtag #girlgaze was picked up across social media platforms, inspiring young females across the world to showcase their photographic talents and discuss ‘global’ feminist issues.
The GirlGaze mission statement says “commitment to making the arts accessible to all, especially populations that have been previously disadvantaged and underrepresented. Focusing on inclusivity and diversity, the organization encourages active agents in the art world to uphold these values and promote them by ‘modelling through action’ (The Americans for the Arts 2016)”. Although the statement focuses on ‘inclusivity and diversity’, isn’t it ignorant to assume that the project truly is representative of females globally, when it’s whole premise is activism through social media? Social media isn’t accessible to hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, so who is representing these ‘previously disadvantaged and underrepresented’ females? It’s great that they now have the opportunity to speak out and advocate for themselves through this project, but isn’t it deemed futile if they can’t access the platform in which they have to use to do so?
Looft talks about the fact that it’s instinctive to want to enter photographs that ‘fit the brief’ of what GirlGaze is trying to promote, and if us girls are photographing with this in mind, then can it be considered artistic freedom? It’s also important to consider who is judging the images that appear on GirlGaze’s Instagram & Twitter. A small group of people are deciding and leading this project, choosing which photographs are posted to the official social media accounts. It’s entirely possible that girls are using this to their advantage, creating work that they know will appeal to these people, in order to get it posted on the official site, gaining recognition for themselves, whether or not they believe what they’re creating will make any sort of impact.
I think that GirlGaze is a great way to encourage young females to work in the photographic industry. Using social media to gain knowledge and understanding on other cultures as well as art is a great way to encourage young people to express themselves, especially in our now technology focused world. It is without critique, but if it’s helping thousands of young women across the globe become more knowledgeable online, hopefully in the future it will help them consider other ways that they can help the feministic wave grow and reach the corners of the globe that social media cannot.
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