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Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies

Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies

by Catherine McCormack

W. W. Norton & Company ·2021 ·240 pages
Maybe Someday
Maybe Someday
I Index
32/99
Bottom of the Pile

4/99

Critics' Rating Index

Near the Top

59/99

Readers' Rating Index

n/a

Scholars' Citation Index

77/99

Volume of Reviews

36/99

Volume of Reader Ratings

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About This Book

Art historian Catherine McCormack challenges how culture teaches us to see and value women, their bodies, and their lives. Venus, maiden, wife, mother, monster―women have been bound so long by these restrictive roles, codified by patriarchal culture, that we scarcely see them. Catherine McCormack illuminates the assumptions behind these stereotypes whether writ large or subtly hidden. She ranges through Western art―think Titian, Botticelli, and Millais―and the image-saturated world of fashion photographs, advertisements, and social media, and boldly counters these depictions by turning to the work of women artists like Morisot, Ringgold, Lacy, and Walker, who offer alternative images for exploring women's identity, sexuality, race, and power in more complex ways. 20 illustrations


Reviews

"A timely, succinct, aesthetic inquiry into debates about sexuality, objectification, and representation."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Near the Top

"This eye-opening work will leave readers with plenty to ponder."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Near the Top

"One sentence plods after another ..."

Laura Freeman· The Spectator (UK) Read review ↗ Bottom of the Pile

"In the end, my frustration with these oversights won out, not least because I would have enjoyed seeing where McCormack, an astute critic, would go if her book hadn't topped out at 223 pages."

Margot Mifflin· Los Angeles Review of Books Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"She gives only minimal consideration to the question of what is to be done with problematic images of women if we can't just lock them up ..."

Cathryn Keller· The Washington Post Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Her intended audience is a general rather than a scholarly readership, but obscure references, meandering text, and a British slant may pose a challenge for the American layperson—still, anyone going to an art museum after reading this volume will likely find much to discuss ..."

Denise Miller· Library Journal Read review ↗ Maybe Someday

"The relitigation of these issues reads as an attempt to be 'topical,' which feels unnecessary given the timeliness of the work overall ..."

Jasmine Sanders· The New York Times Read review ↗ Near the Top

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