7 - Ninot

MATRIPHAGIE
2021

ALT
ALT

Matriphagie explores how society participates in the transmission and internalization of norms related to femininity. In this quest, I set up a protocol where I came to meet and interview little girls between the ages of 4 and 11. The girls told me about their fantasies, their future mental and physical projections, but also how they unconsciously mirrored the gestures and language of their mothers, sisters and media representations, who themselves embody inherited norms. Between clichés and transgressions, these interviews are a collection of testimonies that allowed me to develop and support a photographic approach articulated around the ambivalences and evolutions of the feminine, and the difficulty of the relationship to oneself. These fantasies, although multiple and diverse, testify the violence of the stereotypes surrounding the concept of femininity and the expectations reserved for women. The interviews and drawings collected show that girls quickly integrate the notions of artifice, seduction and bodily norms. Some already struggle with low self-esteem, wish for cosmetic surgery or go on diets with their mothers while others question their future role as mother and wife. These testimonies were then translated into images drawn directly from the words expressed, creating a dialogue between speech and visual representation. At the same time, the intervention of a makeup artist and the use of stylized elements allowed me to engage with these clichés, treating them as powerful social imperatives imposed on women.

ALT
ALT