Stock (Wo)Man (2020)
Stock (Wo)Man highlights deeply-rooted gender biases in the corporate world via the lens of stock photography.
The text of each piece is taken from the titles of stock images found on the first page of search results for the keyword "man" or "woman" on one of the most popular stock image sites in the world. The transparent text reveals a closeup of the actual stock image the title corresponds to. With the image rendered unrecognizable, the text comes to the forefront, uncovering a clear bias in the language used to describe women or men in the workplace.
Reading through each piece, the viewer slowly discovers a pattern: The "businesswoman" images are almost always accompanied by descriptive adjectives such as "pretty" or "beautiful", whereas the "businessman" titles rarely have adjectives associated with external appearance (aside from age or race). The piece ultimately asks viewers to consider the inherent, and accepted, biases around women and minorities in the workplace. Why does a businesswoman need to be described as "pretty" whereas a businessman can be just that, a businessman? Do we, as a society, require qualifiers for women to achieve entry or success into the corporate world? Does the repetition of the adjective "young" highlight an accepted ageism within the workplace?
Stripping down commercial, stock imagery to its words reveals a problem in not only the corporate world, but also the media that represents it.
The text of each piece is taken from the titles of stock images found on the first page of search results for the keyword "man" or "woman" on one of the most popular stock image sites in the world. The transparent text reveals a closeup of the actual stock image the title corresponds to. With the image rendered unrecognizable, the text comes to the forefront, uncovering a clear bias in the language used to describe women or men in the workplace.
Reading through each piece, the viewer slowly discovers a pattern: The "businesswoman" images are almost always accompanied by descriptive adjectives such as "pretty" or "beautiful", whereas the "businessman" titles rarely have adjectives associated with external appearance (aside from age or race). The piece ultimately asks viewers to consider the inherent, and accepted, biases around women and minorities in the workplace. Why does a businesswoman need to be described as "pretty" whereas a businessman can be just that, a businessman? Do we, as a society, require qualifiers for women to achieve entry or success into the corporate world? Does the repetition of the adjective "young" highlight an accepted ageism within the workplace?
Stripping down commercial, stock imagery to its words reveals a problem in not only the corporate world, but also the media that represents it.
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