The Female Pose

Drew Barrymore, New York 1995

This is an image of Drew Barrymore is in a classic female pose, arm bent, leaning backwards in a passive position. She is gazing out of the frame directly at the spectator who is presumed to be male. Her hand resting on her chest is like an arrow directing the eye to the focal point of the image. The surrounding fruit again draws attention to her exposed chest. Barrymore is partly naked which according to John Berger in Ways of Seeing, 'nakedness is not however an expression of her own feelings it is a sign of her submission to the owner’s feelings or demands, Women are there to feed an apatite, not to have any of their own.'


We have seen this position repeatedly in art throughout the ages. The 1500s were dominated by oil paintings, particularly nude paintings which were the most admired at the time. This started with Adam and Eve, fig leaves or a hand covering their body was the first display of shame in the naked body. Shame then became a trend and women (often wives and mistresses) were painted reflecting their submission to both the owner of the painting and the owner of the woman. From this point onward, art was seen as something of a social status and revealed wealth and prestige, each painting was unique (before the invention of the camera and the ability to reproduce images in  many forms).


The following is an example of a nude oil painting thats style was common to those of its time. As we can see from David LaChapelles image of Drew Barrymore, this style is still very effective in achieving its aim, the woman treats the lens as a male on-looker and the act is one that would please the male. This technique has put the image in high demand for purchasing and collecting no matter what form it is reproduced in.

Titian, Venus Urbino