Panel from Let's Take Back Our Space: 'Female' and 'Male' Body Language as a Result of Patriarchal Structures
Marianne Wex
German, 1937–2020
1977
A panel of gelatin silver photographs mounted on paper and board in which Marianne Wex photographed and juxtaposed men’s, women’s, and children’s stances to show how everyday body language is shaped by patriarchal social structures.
You first notice the low row of four full‑length portraits along the bottom—figures with hands in pockets and legs planted apart—set beneath a vast blank expanse of board so that posture reads like careful evidence rather than casual pose.
Wex turned documentary photography into a feminist investigative method, making visible habitual postures as politically produced and influencing later work on gender performance and the visual study of social behavior.
Medium
Gelatin silver prints, paper and ink on board
Dimensions
50 × 52.2 cm
Classification
Department
Credit
Committee on Photography Fund, and The Modern Women's Fund
Accession
1116.2018.208
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
