Abstract
Artists such as Shirin Neshat, Laura Aguilar, and Zanele Muholi use self-reflective images to disregard or defy the patriarchal status quo. Their subversive self-portraits offer viewers the opportunity to reflect on a different way of looking at the world, ideally, leading to a shift in perspective, and eventually, as images like theirs become more mainstream, a shift in expectations and behaviors. This is especially important since patriarchal systems have negatively impacted women and gender-nonconforming people around the world for millennia, resulting in oppression and inequalities still seen today. The advent of photography has exacerbated the normalization of patriarchy because the images produced in this medium often perpetuate the hierarchical structure on a mass scale. To combat this, these artists and activists have sought to subvert norms and expectations by creating new photographic images. By redefining and recontextualizing cultural signifiers, confronting and repudiating elements of the male gaze, and representing and connecting to their intersectional identities, Neshat, Aguilar, and Muholi’s self-portraits call attention to the current systemic problems and challenge viewers to imagine and help create an alternative to the current societal power structures and hierarchies.