Doc A / Women's self-portraits

Doc A / Women's self-portraits

Main ideas :

• Men show power, action, and knowledge. Women appear passive and decorative.

• Women were considered inferior to men.

• They served as wives, daughters, and mothers.

• Their real skills remain invisible.

• Society valued beauty, modesty, and obedience and old portraits reflect these ideas

• Women artists face strict rules.

• They cannot appear too ambitious.They must stay feminine and modest.

• They adapt these conventions creatively.
• They express talent without breaking norms.

• In the 1970s, feminist artists changed self-portraiture.

Ex : Eleanor Antin shows dieting and body control.

• They used their bodies to express ideas.

Doc B / Roberta Construction Chart #1 1975.

This work by Lynn Hershman Leeson, titled Roberta Construction Chart #1, operates at the intersection of performance, photography, and conceptual art.

Approach : Hershman Leeson created the fictional persona Roberta Breitmore as a living alter ego. Rather than simply depicting a character, she constructed a full identity with documents, behaviors, and visual codes. This image functions as a “manual,” revealing how identity can be fabricated through repeatable steps.

Intention: The work critically examines identity as something constructed rather than innate. By exposing the process—makeup, wig, gestures—it demystifies femininity and social roles, suggesting they are performances shaped by cultural expectations. It also anticipates contemporary concerns about self-representation and artificial identities.

Technique: The piece combines black-and-white photography with handwritten annotations, diagrams (explanatory drawing), and arrows. This hybrid visual language resembles instructional charts or medical diagrams, giving it an analytical, almost scientific tone. The annotations break the illusion of the portrait, turning it into a procedural document rather than a purely aesthetic image.

Key idea: Identity is shown as modular and reproducible—assembled through codes (appearance, style, behavior) rather than rooted in a fixed essence.

Doc C / 'Phenomenal Woman', Maya Angelou

Concise Analysis “Phenomenal Woman” celebrates self-confidence and inner beauty as the true sources of female power. The speaker rejects conventional standards of attractiveness (“not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size”) and instead asserts that her appeal comes from her presence, energy, and self-assurance.

Structure and Form The poem is composed of four stanzas with a highly repetitive structure. Each stanza builds toward the refrain: “I’m a woman / Phenomenally. / Phenomenal woman, / That’s me.” This repetition reinforces the speaker’s confidence and creates a rhythmic, almost chant-like affirmation of identity.

Voice and the “I” The poem is written in the first person (“I”), which is central to its message. The “I” is strong, assertive, and unapologetic. It represents both an individual voice and a universal female experience, inviting readers—especially women—to identify with this empowered self.

Figures of Style Angelou uses several stylistic devices:

• Anaphora: repeated phrases like “It’s in…” emphasize that her power lies in multiple aspects of her being.

• Metaphor and imagery: “a hive of honey bees” suggests attraction and admiration; “fire in my eyes” conveys passion and vitality.

• lists of body-related images (“the reach of my arms / The span of my hips…”) create rhythm and reinforce embodiment.

Overall Meaning The poem challenges societal norms of beauty and femininity, proposing a broader, more inclusive definition based on confidence, dignity, and authenticity. The speaker’s “phenomenal” quality is not physical perfection but a deep sense of self-worth that radiates outward.