"THIS IS NO SHAPE FOR A GIRL"

“This is no Shape for a Girl” is placed within an early-20th century timeline as a point of comparison to assess the evolution of idealised beauty; whilst it concerns women aspiring to their romanticised depictions in the media, it also points heavily toward the role that the male gaze has had on informing these false ideologies.
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Acrylic, O-Shaped Dental Retractor, Cartridge Paper.].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Acrylic, O-Shaped Dental Retractor, Cartridge Paper.].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [PLA, Nylon Webbing Strap, Styrofoam Mannequin Head].
With effectively no women admitted into journalistic or editorial careers, during this time, men highly saturated the media industry and thus held power over the products and headlines that women were, and still are, exposed to; in light of this the artist realised that if she were to attempt to investigate the development of female self-image in depth, she could not be naive enough to isolate this as a female-only issue.
To gauge further understanding of how long the media has impacted this target of perfection in women, Hedges researched vintage advertisements and became immediately concerned with the lack of morality and misogyny in the marketing of such "beautifying" products. Much of this merchandise was dependent on the societal role of the woman and was designed to go hand in-hand with her ability to please her husband through domesticity and sexualisation.
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Illustration].
Reflecting on these products from a modernised standpoint, their level of offensiveness was enough to make one question their existence at all; it was this realisation that provoked the invention of entirely new products, whose vintage style was intended to criticise the absurdity of prior desires. 
Two lines were formed, the first, a series of contraptions encapsulating a clinical, horror aesthetic, taking inspiration from those designed to permanently amend the female body (ie. the “Nose-Shaper” (Trilety, 1916), and the other, a playful product range that took a more satirical approach; all of which were adapted to serve male needs and facilitate their expectations of women.
With the latter overtly resonating to the misogynistic humour used in early-20th century adverts, the artist became attentive to how they may have been marketed during their time of existence. Employing a writing style and fuse of comic illustration and photography that ran parallel to the adverts researched, she constructed a series of new ones that sought to oppose the male preference through overblown sarcasm and mockery.
It was recognised that the underpinnings of each product designed were representational of values that are persistent today, the only difference being that they are now so tightly woven into society that they have become indistinguishable; this, in turn, encouraged experimentation with integrating the designs into public environments, interchanging existing advertisements with faux to maintain the commonplace.
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Image Courtesy of Liv Hedges [Digital Photograph and Digital Illustration].
Selected works from "This is no Shape for a Girl" were on display at Left Bank Leeds' Student Takeover exhibition, on 15th June 2021.

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