Gold Star

2025

Gold Star began as an act of defiance. Early in my photography practice, I was warned not to create work for the “male gaze.” As a woman who primarily photographs other women, this idea deeply troubled me. I am not a man, how could I ever create work from the perspective of one?

Photographed in a pin-up style, a woman is shown with gold stars covering her body — symbols of a job well done. Women are often only praised for their sexuality when it is performed for men. To me, this is the true meaning of the male gaze: the framing of women’s bodies as objects for male consumption; the idea that when a woman chooses to show her body, it must be intended for a man to see. To conform to this structure is to submit, but what happens when a woman consciously steps into it?

The fact that these images were created by a woman completely shifts the perspective. This project is intentionally deceptive. A male viewer may very well write these images off as playful and provocative, but as women, we are taught to pause and question their meaning.