Lexi Strus
Scott Olsen
English 110: Writing to Engage – Exploration
27 February 2025
The Modern Woman: How Photography Helps Redefine Femininity
Photography documents the complex lives of women worldwide, capturing their strengths, weaknesses, and achievements over time. From women in active service, breaking barriers in traditionally male-dominated fields, to those modeling, and redefining beauty standards, photography helps share their stories and perspectives. Beyond these roles, photography showcases activists fighting for gender equality and nurses resting in the billet, drying their undergarments on clotheslines. Each photograph taken and published by a photographer of a woman and her life contributes to modern femininity by redefining what it means to be a woman—strong, multifaceted, and ever-evolving.
A woman is not defined by her career, lifestyle, clothing, or daily routine. Oversimplifying the complexities of womanhood overlooks the depth of what it means to be a woman. To explore a part of a woman’s intricate life, the movie Lee, directed by Kate Winslet and Ellen Kuras, provides a glimpse into a pivotal chapter of conflict photographer Lee Miller’s life. The film explores her transition from a slow-paced daily existence as a retired model to the chaos of World War II, where she served as a photojournalist for Vogue. While working as a photojournalist, she traveled from the frontlines, amidst danger, to concentration camps in Nazi Germany, distraught by the devastation she encountered. This drastic shift immerses viewers in the horrors of war and the challenges faced by women during a time of great oppression and unease.
In a scene from Lee, Lee Miller, played by Kate Winslet, is seen taking pictures of women’s undergarments in a U. S. Army nurses’ billet after being denied access to the hangar, a place reserved for men. In an article on the life of Lee Miller, Caroline McCormick-Clarke elaborates on this scene, stating, “Interestingly, in Lee’s original photograph, you can see that the knickers are practical and functional grey-white cotton big girls’ pants for serious work – not the skin- toned, silky, with the slightest hint of frivolity knickers of Kimberley French’ s photograph” (McCormick- Clarke). In the film, Lee’s close friend Audrey, from Vogue London, is in support of publishing Lee’s photo of these knickers. Audrey insists, “Only a woman could have taken these photographs” (Lee). In contrast, Cecil, an esteemed set designer for Vogue, states “Not some poor woman’s intimates!” (Lee) concerning publishing them in Vogue and refuting Audrey’s support. By examining both McCormick-Clarke’s analysis of the picture of the women’s undergarments and Audrey & Cecil’s comment insinuating that only a woman could have taken the picture, Lee’s purpose for capturing it is revealed. As a woman, the pressure to present a feminine appearance and perform is constantly present. Lee’s motivation was to showcase the raw and unfiltered contributions of women in WWII, contributions that the world had overlooked at the time. The female soldiers at the nurses’ billet were not concerned with what matching bra and underwear to wear to please the surrounding male population; they were focused on the appropriate attire needed to pursue their vocation. Lee Miller took the photo of the functional grey- white cotton big girls’ pants not to publicly shame the women in service, but to highlight the dimensions of femininity that include dedication and hard work. Through her goal to document the reality of women during WWII, she challenged the common misconceptions of womanhood and helped the world build a more curated perspective concerning what it means to be a woman. This photograph significantly enhanced the public’s understanding of modern femininity, overall distinguishing what women were capable of and highlighting a challenging lifestyle the world was not yet familiar with or accepting of.
To define what it means to be a woman is difficult, especially because oftentimes, that definition is different depending on the person that coincides with it. One clear thing is that womanhood goes beyond what is surface level, beyond appearance and materialistic objects. To redefine what it means to be feminine, to be a woman, Lynsey Addario photographs women in service to highlight the unexpected yet beautiful femininity displayed by American, female soldiers. In Lynsey Addario’s photobook, Of Love & War, she dedicates an entire section titled “Women in the Military” to shine a light on women’s contributions in the war located in the Middle East. Her photographs range from a Navy lieutenant commander and anesthesiologist working out with fellow troops at Camp Dwyer in southern Afghanistan to a Navy lieutenant shaving her legs in the female bathroom.
This juxtaposition made through Addario’s photographs of a woman working out while surrounded by male soldiers to a woman shaving her legs in the run-down showers on her base perfectly demonstrates the intricacy of womanhood. The desire to have clean-shaven legs, curating what people see at a surface level while still portraying an impactful, deeper demonstration of strength and complexity within womanhood, adds to the modern-day understanding of femininity. These photographs, while places in time, hold great significance. These are not just small acts, common daily activities, or simple parts of one’s daily routine; they go beyond that. These moments do wonders for the public’s perception of what it means to be a woman, constructing an idea beyond the misconceptions that women are fragile, only their looks and high maintenance.
Modern-day femininity has been continuously evolving over a long duration of time, starting as a foreign concept and building into the complex construct that it is today. Over the years, photography has aided in capturing women who have come before us, women who have lived many different lives. From athletes to models to dancers, the ember of modern-day feminism burns ferociously in all their lives.
This idea that womanhood looks different for every woman who has braced this earth is apparent in the article titled The New Woman International: Representation in Photography and Film From the 1870s Through the 1960s. In said article, the idea of the New Women was prevalent and shared through accumulations of photographs from the 1870s through the 1960s. Elizabeth Otto and Vanessa Rocco wrote:
During the later part of the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth, a range of iconic female forms emerged to dominate the global pictorial landscape. Chorine stars, female athletes and adventurers, flappers, garçonnes, Modern Girls, neue Frauen, suffragettes, and trampky were all facets of the dazzling and urbane New Woman who came to epitomize modern femininity. This construct existed as both a set of abstract ideas and ideals and a compilation of individual behaviors and experiences; varied as they were, these translated across national contexts and through a range of key historical moments, including First Wave feminism, colonialism, the First and Second World Wars, political revolutions, and the rise of modernism. (Otto & Rocco 1)
These various representations of women – such as flappers, suffragettes, and female athletes – emerging from major historical shifts demonstrate the fluidity and multifaceted nature of womanhood. Visual culture, captured by photography, helps emphasize this evolving nature of femininity through shaping and redefining it. Otto & Rocco’s acknowledgment of historical movements such as First Wave feminism, colonialism, and modernism highlights the broader social and political forces that have shaped the representation of women over time. This reinforces the idea that photography does more than reflect these changes—it actively contributes to the ongoing redefinition of womanhood across a span of different eras.
Otto & Rocco continue to address that the New Women’s presence was best captured through photographs. In the early 20th century, the advocation for women’s suffrage grew more and more prevalent. Women were not going to stand for inequality when it came to voting or having their voices heard, and they did everything in their power to advocate for change. Acts of feminism and protest arose in the United States, seen through many photographs of activists fighting for gender equality. The lives of women then looked much different than the lives of women today concerning rights, but the spark of modern-day feminism still burns fiercely.
This historical example of suffragists in 1917 captured through a photographer’s lens as they marched for the right to vote perfectly shows how photography has been used as a method to share women’s struggles & strength in times of hardship. Although great advancements in women’s rights have taken place, the essence of the suffragist’s fight continues to shape modern feminism. This spark of gender inequality activism, along with many other domains of activism, remains alive, a moment in time, a piece of history represented through the many photographic representations of protests, movements, and moments of strength and resilience. While it is true that photographs preserve moments in time forever, they also share these moments with new generations, making sure that the fluid definition and understanding of womanhood remain strong and ever-changing.
Oftentimes, when thinking about modern-day femininity, one may question the sexualization of women and its impact on feminism. This relationship is a complex and often contested issue. There is no doubt that women’s bodies have been objectified and used as symbols of both empowerment and oppression throughout history. Feminism has struggled with the question of whether sexual expression is liberating or whether it subjectifies women. Considering this issue, Susan Fisher Sterling, an American art curator and writer, shares her thoughts in a book published by the National Museum of Women in the Arts, titled Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography. The book begins with the early 1980s, a complex time when women photographers such as Eleanor Antin and Cindy Sherman worked to be both the creator and subject of their work, while other photographers, such as Mary Ellen Mark and Nan Goldin aimed to capture the different roles that many women and girls tried to portray through the struggle of creating their own personal identity.
Sterling states in her preface, “For more than two generations, photography has proved a perfect medium for provocative new approaches to and expressions of femininity as it relates to gender, sexuality, and race” (Sterling 7). Sterling goes on to elaborate on contemporary staged photography and how it has been used as a vehicle for the feminist enterprise. While apprehensive at first, questioning how pictures of girls in their underpants promoted any sense of feminism and resistant to the concept of subjectification, she then goes on to state,
Over time, I have come to see these artists as representatives of an evolving contemporary feminism: one in which women are cultural and sexual creators free to occupy various subject positions. Like most generations of women, these artists rebel against the feminists before them. Visual pleasure, ambiguous narrative, and a transgressive relationship to documentary truth have been hallmarks of their rebellion. (Sterling 20).
Sterling’s perspective shifts from initial skepticism on how provocative imagery, captured by photography, contributes to modern-day feminism to then recognizing it as a form of contemporary feminist rebellion. This, in turn, adds depth to the question of the sexualization of womanhood and its relationship to feminism. Her realization that modern female artists are “cultural and sexual creators” who challenge traditional ideas of feminism highlights the evolving nature of feminism itself. As feminism evolves, it continuously aligns with the idea that each photograph captured by a photographer contributes to the redefinition of womanhood by shining light on the multifaceted portions of female identity. Sterling’s observation that modern-day female artists often go against previous feminist ideology, along with the impact of early suffragists who have fought for equality, supports that modern femininity is constantly evolving. Through art, individuality, and culture, photography plays a key role in reshaping and redefining what it means to be a woman across a span of many generations.
Photography is one of the most powerful modes for capturing how womanhood has evolved. From the early suffragists marching for their right to vote, models challenging traditional feminist ideology, and female soldiers partaking in their daily hygiene on their base, photography holds both times in history and serves as a tool to redefine femininity. Each photograph, whether of women in protest, serving in the military, or modeling nude, contributes to the redefinition of what it means to be a woman.
Photography is important because it captures times in women’s lives and alters how people view them. Whether it be Lee Miller’s war photography showing contributions of women during World War II or Lynsey Addario’s photographs of female soldiers navigating both strength and femininity, these images go against societal expectations and reinforce the multifaceted dimension of womanhood. Also, Sterling’s observation that contemporary female artists often rebel against previous feminist ideologies shows us how women have resisted previous misconceptions of feminism. As women draw away from past feminist ideals, the fluidity of feminism itself becomes more apparent—constantly adapting as new generations engage with the movement.
Photography does more than capture moments in time, it shares the evolution of modern femininity by redefining what it means to be a woman—strong, multifaceted, and ever-evolving. As long as photography continues to document, share, and reinterpret these moments, the definition of womanhood will remain complex—forever changing, expanding, and challenging the world to see women for who they are completely.
Works Cited
Addario, Lynsey. Of Love & War. Penguin Press, 2018.
Lee. Directed by Kate Winslet & Ellen Kuras, StudioCanal UK, 2023.
McCormick-Clarke, C. Lee Miller: An extraordinary life. My French LifeTM – Ma Vie Française®, 2025, https://www.myfrenchlife.org/2025/01/16/lee-miller-
an-extraordinary-life/
Otto, Elizabeth. The New Woman International: Representations In Photography and Film From the 1870s Through the 1960s. E-book, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2011, https://doi.org/10.3998/dcbooks.9475509.0001.001.
Sterling, Susan Fisher, et al. Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography. Scala, 2008.