Sophie Ackroyd
Sublimated, 2023
These pictures are from my series “About the Female Body” and “Sublimated by Light” for Woman’s History Month. I tie the intention behind the images to the rebellion of the female body. Desire for the female body and all it “has to offer” has intensified in the past decade, not based on women’s passive, or even active, acceptance of their objectification within society. Rather, patriarchal ideals have brought a false consensus that the appearance of a women determines their value and access to respect, with the sexualisation of bodies turning women into objects. This is true whether or not judgements based on their appearance are made clear to the sexualised women — be it catcalling, tabloids, instagram DMs, or even sexual assaults.
Women and their bodies are perpetually exploited mentally and physically, simply for being women, lending to their victimisation. I challenge these ideas of oppression acknowledging the naked body in a form that temporarily takes away the misogynistic stigma surrounding the female body. Women’s lives are shaped from a young age by archaic ideals of purity and modesty; being ordered at school to cover up exposed knees, shoulders, chests as they are viewed as “distracting”. Despite being children, girls are sexualised in an environment that is supposed to educate and protect. The patriarchy ultimately confiscates any freedom a woman has with their body, which in turn can damage their relationship with themselves.
These photographs represent a freedom from social constructs and simply normalise a woman’s body. I believe in individual bodily autonomy; a refusal to let a system predetermine or limit a woman’s choices physically and what they may do with their body, is one of the ways we can attack these patriarchal and social structures.
