Damsels and Distress

White Women and Victimhood

Using the original 1950’s poster design, this series flips the place of the monsters and the white women cowering from/being abducted by them. Throughout history, white women have been regarded as helpless creatures in need of rescuing. The point of this series is meant to question this notion two fold. It is meant to empower by removing the women’s roles as victims, and placing them in the active role. However, it also places them in the role of the monster. The image and notion of white women has been used in fear mongering and condemnation of people of color and anyone deemed as the other. White women have notoriously stood by as passive and active participants in this violence. Their role as monsters reveals the power that white women and their imagery have wielded.

Materials:

• Photoshop

• Acrylic

Price List:

• How To Make A Monster - $400

• Creature From the Black Lagoon - $400

• Creature From the Haunted Sea - $400

• The Monster that Challenged the World - $400

(One of the things I find particularly interesting about all this is that in many of these films, a woman is never actually attacked/abducted. The images weren’t meant to be accurate representations of the movie, but rather pieces intended to instill fear in anticipation of the films…) Please take a look at the original poster designs below.