The current paper is going to discuss the sexual stereotypes and corresponding representations of gender discrimination against the women in nowadays society. In particular, the next couple of paragraphs will discuss a series of pictures taken by an Iranian photographer, Shadi Ghadirian, picturing the images of Iranian women in a metaphorical but explicit way. Having started her career as a photographer, her first works were depicting women and illustrating the life of women. Correspondingly, each next work of hers is somehow connected to the image of modern women and their life, even in cases, when she has not planned to focus on this subject once more (Issa, Pākbāz and Shayegan, 2001).
The photograph has always attempted to depict the life of Iranian women in its variety depending on a particular situation in all kinds of aspects. The same was actual for her, as well. After her graduation she saw only the duality and variety of her life, both being a woman and a creative photographer searching for new ways of inspiration. However, after her marriage, she faced more of casual life with all its attributes including pans, pots and irons rather than romantic life of a photographer. Having understood this, she concluded that her life was also connected to a considerable amount of routine performed on a repetitive basis. That’s why, the discussed series of pictures has the name “Like Every Day”. Correspondingly, she has defined a new purpose of her photos (Shadighadirian.com, 2016). “Many of them have shown women as second-class citizens or the censorship of women. I wish to continue speaking about women because I still have a lot to say” (Shahidul.wordpress.com, 2005).
Correspondingly, this picture series emphasizes upon the importance of understanding the life of contemporary women living in Iranian society. What is more important, the same trend appears actual for the Western societies, as well. It appears more than obvious that for centuries, a woman has been perceived as a housewife and a mother, providing cooking, shopping, cleaning services for their families. Accordingly, this trend leaves an impression that each woman should only exist in kitchen, which is not only discriminative, but disrespectful, as well.
The series of photographs mentioned above simply shows that not only men tend to identify the women as having a pan or a cup without their face, but also the women hide their character and personality beyond their cooking and cleaning attributes. It is still necessary to state that the Eastern culture and eastern society traditionally identifies the role of women similar to the aforementioned; however, the continuous and gradually growing westernization of the world shows that women can be more than simply mannequins only useful on kitchen. The example of Shadi simply shows that a woman can also be a popular photographer with her unique style representing the social trends in an effective and creative manner.
Thus, the gender stereotypes still remain actual for the contemporary societies of the world. For the Eastern societies, the women are still identified as cookers and cleaners at home serving their husbands, while their husbands are responsible for their well-being. For the Western, even despite the emancipation and proclaimed equality of rights, the women still appear to be discriminated at their workplaces: for example, they are not receiving the same salary for the same work their male colleagues do, they are not hired for traditionally “male” types of specializations etc.
References
Issa, R., Pākbāz, R. and Shayegan, D. (2001). Iranian contemporary art. London: Barbican Art.
Shadighadirian.com, (2016). Shadi Ghadirian. [online] Available at: http://shadighadirian.com/index.php?do=photography&id=11 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].
Shahidul.wordpress.com, (2005). Like Every Day. [online] Available at: https://shahidul.wordpress.com/2005/03/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2016].
