Just Live Your Life

Ruth Orkin's American Girl in Italy

This is one of my favorite photographs. In fact, I'm looking up at my copy of it as I write this. I'm not a fan of what is happening in the photo, but, I think that it provides a telling story about what it's like to be any girl anywhere.

Orkin, an American woman, shot this image while abroad in Europe. Her friend, Jinx Allen, is the woman portrayed in the picture. Though the image was slightly staged (meaning that Orkin had Allen walk that street), the two women, after discussing what it was like to travel as a woman, set out to capture their feelings through photographs. The male gaze in this photo is depicted as omnipresent; the woman concentrates on her feet so as to dispel her objectification. American Girl in Italy really captures the ever-present frustration of the individual female traveler. 

Additionally, perception of this image can go both ways: while the men are slightly playful (and therefore, potentially harmless), the woman clutches her books tight and looks away so as to forget the reality of the situation. Her posture and expression can appear to the viewer as stances of fright. On the other hand, the men are smiling, whistling, and laughing. Their intentions do not seem hostile, for they are simply staring at the woman, not acting. 

The friction between the male's behavior (looking versus acting) and the female's reaction to the males creates drama for the viewer. It is, perhaps, a melodramatic scene. But it is also horrific, at least to the woman depicted. Even if the only thing that bothers the woman is the male gaze that follows her body like a hawk, who needs to deal with that? What self-respecting and confident woman appreciates objectification as just a body, especially from a host of foreign strangers?

Unfortunately, the reality of this picture (which was taken in the 1950s) still occurs today. Last spring, I walked a few short blocks with my friend to a grocery store. Since the weather had just become warm, my friend was wearing a skirt, and I was wearing a dress. As we walked, a man on a bicycle passed by us, saying as he did: "Gotta love spring- your legs are out!" Annoyed, we continued our walk, while venting the frustrations of womanhood to each other. As American girls in America, we weren't showing our legs for any man, we were simply enjoying the breezy weather, just living our lives.