Challenging Hegemonic Masculinity Through a Feminist Lens

‘The world needs men who are not afraid of something that’s typically related to women.’ Camila Falquez says of her work. This image belongs to a part of a series titled ‘Him’. The model photographed is stated as having some concerns prior to this photoshoot; that if posing in pink tulle would ‘hurt his career’ as an aspiring politician. What does it mean to resist patriarchy in contemporary fashion photography and why and how might it be relevant to culture outside the art and fashion world? I wrote this essay to analyse and critique notions of patriarchal and hegemonic masculinity are so ready to ignore and dismiss femininity in men or non-female identifying people, specifically why the social construct abhors men who cater to femininity, and why instead, we should learn to embrace it. As Charlotte Jansen writes in her book ‘Female Gaze: Women on Women’; ‘In the patriarchy in which we live, photography is an expression of power.’ Focusing on the photographer’s actions and analysing Falquez's image, I explored the female gaze, fashion in context to gender, black masculinity in a post-colonial setting and gender as a performance to render this image and the political activism the photographer is creating through her use of photography.