RAW
An Exploration of Difficult Beauty: Redefining Beauty Beyond the Male Gaze
What is difficult beauty?
A beautiful landscape, colorful flowers in full bloom, a stunning sunset, a ‘model perfect’ woman…
Easy beauty exists in the things that look beautiful without any effort on our part and fits easily into commonly held narratives about worthiness. This is especially true for women whose beauty is defined by patriarchy and typically viewed through the male gaze.
What if we were to examine our beauty outside of the male gaze? What would that look like? A practice in difficult beauty requires us to look beyond the surface, beyond the patriarchal norms and beliefs we’ve internalized, to look at the the things that make us uncomfortable and to recognize that beauty isn’t skin deep.
RAW explores our difficult beauty through portraits created outside of the male gaze. The women are unsmiling, have no makeup or hairstyling and are wearing simple tops. Each participant was asked to write about her beauty in a standardized format using the phrases “I am beautiful because…” and “Being RAW means…”
Difficult beauty requires us to look at the very real complexity of who we are, from light to shadow and everything in between, and to confront the things in us that we may not like. Once we look at these messy parts of ourselves, the parts society deems “ugly,” and recognize the beauty in them, we can experience transformation and that can help us connect to our inherent worthiness and feeling whole.
Click on the photograph to view portrait and read poem.
DJ
Being raw means I am becoming proud of the woman I am today because I am queer, I am a woman and I am me.
Lisa
I am beautiful because…
I am stardust and sea water. The iron in my blood comes from the supernovas before me, whereas the salt and water from the oceans beside me.
I am part of this magnificent universe and the love and light in me chooses to see the love and light in you.
Being raw means choosing a life where my faith is greater than my fear.
Lizbeth
I am beautiful because...
I don't see the truth outside of me. The answers and love are within myself. I can embrace my vulnerability and darkness and be present.
Being raw means I respect and love myself. To stay with joy, sadness, and challenges is hard but nothing is more important than connecting with being real.
Jenna
I am beautiful because…
I let the world move through me and am not afraid of my body and power. I hold the universe inside of me. I am made of stars and space.
Being raw means I have found the light inside of me and am practicing finding it as often as I can and letting it shine. I am healing myself and trusting that I have all that I need.
