Get In Touch With Your Feminine Side

'When we hear the word 'Feminist' we immediatly think of women, yes the issue does surround women however we shouldn't excuse men from the equation, how can we push for a world of equality and diversity without listening to different angles, communicating troubles and have an understanding on what needs to change.'

This topic has been a big part of my recent university project. Aiming to create a feminist based magazine in groups, I found it increasingly hard to express my perception of equality, everyone seemed to jump to this quick conclusion that feminism only really affects women and men have no need for the subject. When really men are needed just as much, the understanding and support of men within this topic is a vital part of moving forward. It made me question what part of the project ill be able to contribute to, my views didn't exactly a-line with theirs but isn't that the problem? views within the topic are just not coming together, inside my group and more importantly outside.

I decided to push this thought forward, I wanted to add a more balanced article to the magazine, one that showed views from both the women and men's sides. Partnering with a Fashion Design student Emily Bates (Instagram @Emiibatess), who was also venturing into the world of feminism and masculinity in her 'The white shirt project', we knew we wanted to be able to collaborate both parts of our project together. I would undertake the visuals, planning prep and equipment whilst Emily would focus on the styling, design and models, together we decided to both use our photography skills to capture the different angles we individually wanted. We were able to come up with a photoshoot idea to support my article as well as her project. This was in my eyes the most important part of my contribution to the magazine, as it would be a visual representation of my views and opinions on the topic.

The photoshoot would present equality, portraying how similar to women having to live up to this unrealistic, inappropriate representation of being 'lady like' Men also feel as though they have to live up to 'over masculinity'. We decided we wanted to create an image that would show one man and one woman, both wearing white clothing, kind of a repetitive and uniform. We incorporated the white shirt Emily made for her project, it was a unisex fit, it had components of both a feminine and masculine garment.

The outcomes Aim to represent freedom, equality and simply being yourself. We should all feel like we fit and have a place within this world, despite our gender.