Gender equality is seen to be when men and women are equal to one another and have the same opportunities and rights, however, when it comes to it fairness for women is not as easy as it seems. It is important to elaborate on the effects of visual activism over the past century when referring specifically to gender equality: how this has been portrayed in photographs and the reflection of such inequality through visual activism. Being a woman in today’s society can often still be viewed and misinterpreted as less important than the males in society. However, this is a stark improvement on an era during the 1950s-1970s where it could be considered far more of a dominating difference in gender inequality. It could further be argued that during this period and – to a considerable degree – in today’s society, gender roles do contribute in part to individual judgement and treatment of another. However, it is argued to a more influential degree in the current social climate that this should not be the case and that women should be seen as equal to men. This chapter aims to focus upon the suggested sufferings that women have endured from past to present, reflecting on visual activism as a contributing factor in the both the suffering and movement in equality that is evidenced over this period.
Being a part of such a huge movement, whether that being a part of the activism or whether it be documenting it is just as important and allows for social movement and for people to look back on. Angela Davis (undated) states when talking about the Civil Rights Movement:
“I think the importance of doing activist work is precisely because it allows you to give back and to consider yourself not as a single individual who may have achieved whatever but to be a part of an ongoing historical movement.”
– Angela Davis, undated
Angela Davis was talking about the Civil Rights Movement within this statement, however, it applies for every movement. The women who were apart of the second-wave feminism movement were not just individuals but were fighting for an ongoing historical movement, being documented on fighting for equality for all women across the world. This documentation is used as a visual tool for the campaign to look back on the changes that were made.
Much to many peoples’ surprise, Martin Luther King Jr’s speech was inspired by a woman – her name was Mahalia Jackson. Thus, this suggests that without Mahalia, the famous ‘I have a Dream…’ speech may potentially never have occurred. Mahalia was a ‘soundtrack’ for the civil rights movement, as she accompanied Martin Luther King Jr to most of his rally’s, including the March in Washington in 1963 where she inspired him to deliver the speech. It was actually Mahalia who called out: “Tell them about the dream, Martin! Tell them about the dream!” (Jackson, 1963). Arguably, without the influence and inspiration of a woman, one of the most influential speeches at an activist march in history would never have been delivered.
The women’s liberation movement, also known as ‘second wave feminism’ in the 1950s-1960s occurred due to the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr’s speech acted as a form of motivation – fighting for gender equality in American society, as well as coloured people fighting for equality for their races. Not only does The Civil Rights Act 1964 include race and colour, but it also includes discrimination due to sex, under ‘Title VII’. Many activist protests involving racial differences in America in the 1950s-60s motivated and encouraged many white middle-class women to create their own movement to allow for women’s equal rights, thus commencing the start of the second wave movement, an advertisement of the stereotypical ‘housewife’ by ‘Tide’ laundry detergent (1955) supports the 1950s ideology of domesticity emphasises the reason to begin the second-wave movement.
Betty Friedan published a book called The Feminine Mystique (The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan, 1963). This book became number one best seller; focusing on how women were stripped of their independence and individuality and how housewives lived this suburban apprehensive filled life that Friedan described as “the problem that has no name” (Friedan, 1963). As a consequence, the book raised awareness around this taboo topic. Women were living very domestic suburban lifestyles, stereotyping was normal procedure, and women were viewed – quite innocently – as the caring mother and housewife. Arguably, this didn’t cause mass concern in an era where women knew nothing different. The media also played a wealthy role in the way in which women were portrayed. An example of this is the ‘That’s what wives are for! Kenwood Chef, 1961’ advert. Such advertisements as these portrayed an apparent superiority in gender roles. It suggests that women were seen being there to please their husbands. The advert the roles of both genders are clearly specified – further evidence that suggests the 1960s era was a male dominated society. The media’s interpretation of women was that they were subordinate to the male gender, thus further emphasising the frequent stereotype. As a result of this, the second-wave feminism began to act in polar to this view of women’s roles and their fight commenced leading to further protests and the improvement of women’s equality, such as Lady Eleanor Roosevelt got pointed ‘Presidential Commission on the Status of Women’ (PCSW) in 1961 by John F. Kennedy, in order to explore the issues relating to women and make proposals on areas including employment, education, etc where discrimination against women because of their sex is unequal.
The mass media played a massive role in the shaping of how women now have equal rights. The media both exploited women in their representation, but also highlighted and further exploited the problems associated with degrading and representing women in such a way. Media, therefore, is used as a tool for visual activism and for social movement, an example of how stereotyping and gender equality has changed over the past century as it has been found that out of 450,000 professional chefs and head cooks 21.4% are females and 78.6% are males (Rocheleau, 2017), showing that the idea of the media and visual activism has helped improve the stereotyping of women as now more men are seen to be the ones who ‘cook’.
In 1968, the year the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) wanted to break the norms of the white beauty queen with a coloured queen, the Women’s Liberation Movement was picking their next target; a target in the form of ‘The Miss America Pageant’. On September 6th 1968, four hundred women activists assembled outside the Atlantic City Convention Centre, New Jersey, where the Miss America Pageant was taking place, demonstrating their rage towards the show and everything it stood for. The women taking part in the activist protest felt that the pageants were most interested in a woman’s physical appearance. Holding signs that rest “Everyone is Beautiful” and “Who Dares to Judge Beauty”. However, one of the most memorable photographs was “Members of the National Women’s Liberation Party protested the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. on Sept. 7, 1968” (photographer unknown).
Figure 1 – Members of the National Women’s Liberation Party protested the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. on Sept. 7, 1968, photographer unknown.
Within this photograph, two activists are holdings two signs side by side, one saying ‘Welcome to the Miss America Cattle Auction’ and the second a photograph of a woman from behind, ‘cut up’ into sections like you would on an animal, each section implying a new bit of meat, ‘rib’, ‘rump’, ‘loin’, etc. Next to the woman in the photograph, reads a quote ‘Break the Dull Steak Habit’ emphasising the misogyny of the photograph, implying that women within the Miss America Pageant are being treated as a piece of meat and judged on their appearance and quality. Many would argue that this suggests women and animals are to be treated equally, whereas men are more superior. The poster on the right is a poster by ‘Cattle Baron 1968’. This photograph demonstrates an activist protest that labelled the pageant as a ‘sexist cattle auction’, where women walk around in swimming costumes and are judged by men on their physical appearance, just as cow/sheep/pig would in a cattle auction. To accentuate the animal aspect, the activists crowned a sheep live as ‘Miss America’. Other signs had ‘Racism is Roses’, suggesting that the activists believe that the pageant has racist beauty standards within their competition – due to never crowning anyone other than white women – showing that women were treated unequally, but black women, even more so. The protested was described by Sheila Rowbotham in her ‘Women in Movement’ 1992 book as a:
“rebellion of a radicalised student generation against a manufactured and commercialised ideal of female beauty, in a land that specialised in making dreams into images on a mass scale, received a glare of publicity”
– Rowbotham, 1992
This event marked the end of the dismissal of rights movements and made women’s liberation, equality and beauty norms topics world discussion; supporting the idea of visual activism, in the form of photography, is and has been for many years, a tool for advancement in societies views of women. Arguably, there is still a long way to go at this point, however, this has shown a progressive step forward in gender equality. In terms of the Miss America Pageant itself, the protest did not alter the nature of this particular event, on the other hand, it has forced feminism beauty norms and inequality into humanity’s consciousness and has allowed for beauty standards not to be so restricting in the modern day. Considering this, this movement and activism – visually or not – has not completely altered the idea of looking a certain way in order to ‘fit in’.
Images of women used to be tailored specifically for the eyes of the male, also known as the male gaze. The photographs which the media distributed included women with slender long thing legs, thin thighs, perfectly round breasts and have flawless skin, this beauty myth evolved from ‘Barbie’, the unrealistic measurements of her body, the tiny invisible waist, big boobs and skinny legs is what society were trying to achieve. Women looked up to the idea of the ‘beauty myth’ (Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth, 1990), something which was and still is verging on impossible to achieve but desired by many. The idea of women’s liberation during this time could arguably have been seen as non-existent. The idea of the beauty myth was brought to our attention by Naomi Wolf, 1990, where Wolf discusses the idea of how women conform to the physical constraints of trying to look a certain way due to the pressure of the mass media and to impress the male figure. However, Wolf discusses how this ‘beauty ideal’ is influenced by the media, when she states:
“What editors are obliged to say that men want from women is actually what their advertisers want from women.”
– Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth, page 23
This meaning that men do not actually have any idea what the ‘ideal’ woman is, but the advertisers tell them through magazines etc. that it should be like this. This demonstrates that visual activism (such as advertisements and magazines) can also have a negative impact on society, therefore not always allowing for the right social change.
Many girls within the 21st century still desire to look within this norm and social pressure to impress the male gender; this will be discussed further in the third chapter.
In the 1960s-1970s gender roles and norms were socially enforced by all, women were seen to be the ‘housewife’ and carer for both their husband and their children, only 27% of women at this stage were working outside the house (U.S. Department of Labor, undated). Many activists were fighting for their equality in all areas, this included the workplace, legalisation of abortion, equal pay and many others. These protests were seen to be transformative, the 1970s was seen as a time where change for women and the women’s liberation movement was at its highest. The gender pay gap has been a problem since the end of the 19th century, the women who were not at home caring for the children and doing house chores were working, however, women were seen to be doing the same jobs as men with extremely less pay, signifying the clear segregated treated between men and women.
However, on August 26th 1970, the 50 year anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, allowing the right for women to vote and women’s suffrage, 50,000 women and feminists marched, arms linked, down New York City’s Fifth Avenue during rush hour. Another activist protest in which Times magazine states “No one knows how many shirts lay wrinkling in laundry baskets last week as thousands of women across the country turned out for the first big demonstration of the Women’s Liberation movement.” (Time, 1970). Betty Friedan, then president of the National Organisation for Women (NOW) asked all women to stop working for the day to bring awareness to the problem of unequal pay in the workplace and led the famous Women’s Strike for Equality 1970, the largest rally since the suffrages protests. Whilst the women were chanting, shouting, waving flags and holding signs with slogans that stated “Don’t Iron While the Strike is Hot!” (Time, 1970); Eugene Gordon took one of the most iconic photographs of the Equality protest, which can be used a visual campaign tool allowing for social change. The photograph is entitled Women Strike for Peace at the Women’s Strike for Equality Demonstration in New York, 1970 (Gordon).
Figure 2 – Eugene Gordon, Women Strike for Peace at the Women’s Strike for Equality Demonstration in New York, 1970.
Within this photograph women of all ages and races strike and campaign for general equal rights against men, arms linked together parading down fifth avenue New York 1970. This protest took place whilst the Vietnam War was happening, where women on the battlefield were being subjected to stereotypical standards. The aim for this protest was to be a voice for all women all over the world, that everyone had the equal right to be heard and should not be treated differently due to sexual orientation, gender or race. The most powerful message ‘Women Strike for Peace- and Equality!’ being held high into the air, not being able to miss the eyes of the viewer. The women within this photograph serve as a powerful symbolic gesture of the Women’s Liberation Movement. On the left hand side to the back of the photograph is a man, this demonstrating that not only were women protesting for change for equality for all but men were protesting right there with them; women protesting for equality in this scale is a powerful and courageous movement to make but men protesting as well is an even more powerful message demanding freedom and equality for women. The stern intense looks spread across their faces shows to the world they are not messing around and that they mean business and as Betty Friedan stated in her speech on the day of the strike, “Today has called this strike to confront the unfinished business of our equality” (Friedan, 1970), these women and men within this photograph symbolise this exact speech and are challenging anyone who believes that they are not equal to men.
This photograph, as well as many others by Gordon and other photographers, are visual activism photographs. These photographs allowed for women to gain more equality and made the feminist liberation movement visible for everyone. The increase in women working outside of the house rose a huge amount, from 27% in 1960 to 54% in 1980 and then to 70% in 2012 (according to the U.S. Department of Labor, undated). As well as this the U.S. Supreme Court held that a working environment can be announced hostile or abusive due to discrimination based on a person’s sex, which is helpful in sexual harassment cases. Therefore, distributing such photographs as these can be used a visual campaign tool in order to exhibit to the world what unlawful acts are taking place and allowing for women to be seen as more equal. It has also led to further protests such as International Women’s Day Coalition’ – March 8th 1975, in protest for equal rights, in which people all over the world still march on each March 8th in the 21st century, to protest women’s fairness and equality. However, even after Women’s Strike for Equality, 1970, the mass media were still distributing sexist advertisements about women being the ‘housewife’, showing signs of little or no change. An example of this is from an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune Magazine – May 13th, 1973, advertising ovens – the advertisement shows a woman walking around her kitchen next to a new sparkly oven with the guests and her husband (who is sat at the head of the table) waiting on her to serve them; this demonstrating the woman is still seen as the housewife and homemaker.
The gender pay gap and workplace discrimination is still evident within the modern day working environment, by no means is it as bad as it was, however in the modern day systems you would believe it to be better than it is; this will be discussed further in the third chapter.
Chapter 2 – Racial Equality in the 20th century
Within America and the rest of the world, racial inequality has always been visible; the 1950’s was a time when the segregation of the black part of society was at its utmost. Within this chapter I will be discussing how visual activism and photography has played a role in the racial social movement of America in the 1950s and 1960s leading to a much fairer and equal society for all citizens.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the context of their character. I have a dream…”
Martin Luther King, JR, 1963, ‘I have a Dream…’ Speech at the Washington March 1963
On August 28th 1963 these famous words were spoken by the influential Martin Luther King, Jr. to 200,000 civil right supporters on the steps of the Lincoln memorial during the March in Washington DC. Many of the activists words spoken were to voice the racial segregation and inequality African Americans were experiencing, he was an untiring activist for civil and economic rights for all African Americans; his extremely passionate speech was in the hope of a brighter and less segregated future for all black people and truly was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. An example of change due to Activist Martin Luther King Jr and his speech to all civil rights supporters, was the Montgomery, Alabama boycott of the city buses where King’s speech drew a lot of attention and for many supporters to get rallied up and eventually led to the bus companies in the South to examine their rules and regulations, in due course leading for them to change the rules, in turn slowly integrating black and whites into the same life. Many photographers from this era captured inspiring photographs to support Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, including Don Cravens’ Black Residents Walking, Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955 photograph, by documenting these peaceful protests is a way to spread the famous words of Martin Luther King, not only is it a way to look back on the changes that occurred but also acts as a visual tool for the campaign. Raidford 2011, supports the idea of how photography has shifted the balance of civil rights in the civil rights era:
“Images of Alabama bus stations each reveal how vulnerable African Americans were when demonstrating for the most basic and fundamental of rights. They laid bare to nonblack audiences what African Americans of the Jim Crow era had long known, seen, and experienced. With bright enough lights and an army of cameras trained in the right direction, images were central to changing public opinion about the violent entrenchment of white supremacy in the South and that system’s overdetermination of black life and possibility. The visual proved a tool as effective as bus boycotts and as righteous as nonviolence.”
– Leigh Raiford, 2011
During the 1950s, America experienced an era of intense conflict and a debated divide between two very different races, this saw segregation for black citizens at its utmost. Even though unequal acts were taking place every day, the battle for equality had been going on for centuries, however before the 1950s not much change had been made and the black community still lived in fear of the white Americans. The need for change came about when segregation was accepted as the norm in everyday life and provoked the idea of breaking the prevailing pattern of racial inequality. Examples of racial inequality included such things as voting, education and the use of public facilities due to most white citizens believing that the black community was inferior in every possible way; they were seen as second-class citizens. North and South America almost lived in two completely different decades, the South was very much governed by one man’s laws, also known as the Jim Crow Laws; which meant there was to be no integration of black and white people.
Gordon Parks was an inspirational photographer who exposed white America to exhibit the injustice of black people governed under the Jim Crow Laws, his photograph ‘Outside Looking In, Mobile, Alabama, 1956’ demonstrates the injustice and social discrimination the black community faced daily, within this photograph six black children gaze into the distance at a white only playground, in which they are not allowed to step foot. Parks’ work is monumental in the fact it documents and explains the most significant phases of American culture in the 1950s and demonstrates that photography is a form of visual activism and does in some sense allow for social movement due to the shock these photographs caused the world, this is agreed with by W. Eugene Smith when he states:
“Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.”
– W. Eugene Smith, undated.
Meaning that with the capture of one important act through visual activism, photography, can raise awareness for all, demonstrating that visual activism really is a tool for social movement.
The Jim Crow Laws 1865 were an assembly of state and local laws that legalised the racial segregation and equality that was very apparent in this era (History.com editors, February 2018). The Jim Crow Laws meant that white and black people had to live seperately. The main Laws that were required to be followed by the black community were public schools and public facilities, meaning that water fountains, toilets and all forms of public transportation were to be separate. The black community were only allowed to use things marked ‘colored only’. An example of this is a documentary photograph taken by Elliot Erwitt, named ‘Segregated Water Fountains, 1950’.
Figure 1 – Elliot Erwitt, Segregated Water Fountains, 1950.
This powerful photograph is a form of visual activism. It arguably demonstrates to humanity the inequality that was taking place in America, predominantly in the 1950s. This photographic image appears to tell a story and speaks volumes with reflection on the injustice of how society followed and allowed rules to dictate the way two societies lived their lives. At the time that this photograph was taken, it could be suggested that change was paramount in the equality movement. When analysing this photograph in the 21st century, individuals are able to reflect on how much has changed due to exploiting visual activism photographs such as this. The viewer of this photograph does not need any background information, the photograph presents itself in a variety of ways to different individuals – On the left side, a much more clean luxurious water fountain – from behind comes a rusted, old, corroding pipe that connects to a dirty basin-style water fountain on the right hand side, just a couple of feet away. The luxurious water fountain is slightly higher than the dirty, rundown water fountain, this explicitly suggests a clear state of authority and class of the white people, linking back to Martin Luther King Jr’s idea of need for change and that people should be ‘judged by the context of their character and not the colour of their skin’, therefore meaning white and black people should get equal treatment and both be able to drink from the more luxurious water fountain. Above the two water fountains are two signs that state ‘white’ and ‘colored’, the white sign being positioned slightly higher and bigger than the ‘colored’ sign. The black man drinking from the water fountain is slightly blurred, but appears to be glancing at the water fountain to the left of him, this could also be interpreted as a glance to see who is watching him, potentially suggesting an apparent fear of his status. It could be argued that this grainy, black and white photograph is almost telling the emotions of the man within the photograph, a dull and grey photograph, to represent the feelings of the man having to drink from a corroding water fountain, whereas the white community are indulging in a much higher standard facility.
This visual activism photograph is a clear reminder for viewers of Americas heavily influenced past, without using any words. Photographs such as these are a tool for social movement within humanity; visual activism here has, to a degree, contributed to the change in equality in the black community – to live an equal life in the future. In his ‘I have a Dream…’ speech in 1963 Martin Luther King stated “With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” Documenting photographs such as this one by Elliot Erwitt has allowed for social movement and has allowed for the idea of ‘being free’ and Martin Luther King Jr’s dream to become real.
Although, not only were the black community segregated in everyday life, they were also isolated in other areas of society, including the right to an equal education. Racial discrimination provides a means of preserving the economic rewards and superior social position of the ethically authoritative white population, which included having the chance of a first-class education in comparison to what the black population were receiving at this time. However, in 1954 the Supreme Court set precedent in the Brown vs Board of Education, that segregation of schools was unconstitutional, meaning that authority violated their duty to provide fair and equal education for the African-American community. This was shown when the Supreme Court stated:
“To a large extent, teachers who have had extensive experience and educational opportunities are concentrated in middle class white and Asian schools, which increases inequality, placing less experienced teachers and many teachers of color in the schools that need highly experienced teachers the most, and denying white and Asian students the opportunity to learn from a truly diverse faculty”.
– Earl Warren, 1954, Brown vs Board of Education case.
This case marked the first success for the African American community in terms of equality and started the 12-year-long Civil Rights Movement, which by many across the country accepted with delight, on the other hand the same was not to be said in the ‘deep south’, which included states such as Alabama, who strictly followed the ‘Jim Crow Laws’. The Brown vs Board of Education case ruled that black students were allowed to attend public schools with white students, however, many states disregarded the law. A very famous case was the Little Rock Nine 1957. After pressure from both the Brown case and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Little Rock Central High School, in Little Rock, Arkansas, implemented a plan to slowly integrate black students into the school. Nine African-American students were specifically chosen to be integrated into Little Rock High School, they were known as the Little Rock Nine. They received counselling beforehand to ensure they knew what aggressive and racist behaviour they would encounter from the white community. The Little Rock Nine, including Elizabeth Eckford, attended school for the first time on September 4th 1957, however, never actually made it into the school.
A very famous civil rights photograph was ‘Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan’ by Will Counts was of Eckford, who had arrived at the school first.
Figure 2 – Will Counts, Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan, 1957.
Within the photograph Eckford walks ahead of a mob of white girls, boys and guards in a handmade skirt which she had made especially for her first day of school; following her crowds of people screamed abuse and taunting her. One girl in particular, Hazel Bryan, Elizabeth’s tormentor, stands directly behind her in a light coloured dress, she being the main focus of the photograph, her face full of hate, poison, screaming nicknames; Bryan was the epitome of the Jim Crow Laws.
The crowds marching alongside ring leader Hazel, called out for her to be lynched and screamed chants such as “Two, four, six, eight, we ain’t gonna integrate!” (Debenport, 1982) and mothers shouting to their children “Don’t stay in there with those ni**ers!” (Debenport, 1982) and then Eckford turned around for an elderly woman to spit at her face. Counts exceptionally captured the storm of the Jim Crow South. Even whilst walking alone in a crowd full of only white people, Eckford still contained her dignity and pride and continued walking to gain entry to Little Rock Central High, Bryan fails to get a reaction from Eckford.
Journalists photographed the abuse that the Little Rock Nine received and the pure hatred the white community threw their way, especially Eckford, however, by recording this event can be argued as one of the biggest causes of change for racism and social integration and changed the fight for integration and desegregation forever. Showing that visual activism, in the form of photography, is a tool to allow for social change and allowed for a less segregated future for all black people and was truly a turning point for African-Americans within the Civil Rights era. This photograph demonstrates the ability of a peaceful activist protest and in turn is a visual metaphor for the segregation and isolation between black and white community in the civil rights era.
However, it does not stop there. After completing the year at school the Little Rock Nine continued to get abuse throughout the year and were treated very poorly. After just one year of integration, the governor of Arkansas not only stopped integration of schools but actually closed all the public schools in Little Rock down. He stated it was ‘better to have no schools at all than to have integrated schools’. These schools were closed for a year and reopened the following year, people blamed the Little Rock Nine for the closures of their schools and the racial tension got worse in the coming years.
August 20th 1959 was the Little Rock Rally at State Capitol. This activist protest was about the white population protesting for the admission of the Little Rock Nine and for the loss of education due to these nine African-Americans and unequal education for the black community. A photograph to show the racial isolation of African-Americans is a photograph by John T. Bledsoe, entitled ‘Little Rock, 1959. Rally at State Capitol’.
Figure 3 – John T Bledsoe, Little Rock, Rally at State Capitol 1959’.
The photograph shows a big portion of white population, mainly Little Rock Highs parents, holding aggressive signs and American flags in the protest of the integration of the Little Rock Nine. One point that cannot be avoided within this photograph is there is not one black person, most of the people within it are white males; therefore, not only was it very white dominated, on top of that men were very much in charge over white women and the whole of the black population. The American flags being held in place to represent what they believe America is, a white and black separated society. The signs reading ‘Race Mixing is Communism’ are not only about the distribution of many types of privilege, but is mainly about white privilege; however, the white supremacists within this protest did not get there way, this only led to all schools being shut down. The racial inequality the white population of Southern American exhibited shocked the world.
Such photographs such as these from the 1957-1959 Little Rock era are ones that are never going to be ignored globally, due to it being such a big disgrace; the photograph of Elizabeth and Hazel is drama that will never end, they are forced to be tied together forever due to the misfortune not just one girl received but every African-American in South America, symbolised by visual activist photographs the divide of racial America. Hazel Bryan received the wrong sort of fame and to this day even after many years of showing she has changed she is still labelled a racist and is known as the girl who shamed America; shocking the world in the newspapers in the following days. This was all due to Counts capturing the hate and poison spread across her face, showing that one single photograph can be used as a tool for social movement. Also spreading the idea of Martin Luther King’s repetitive message of “rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice” (King, 1963), meaning justice was required to grow from the cruel segregation of 1950/1960s America and to all for all Americans to be equal not just the white population of society, which in turn occurred due to the vast circulation of these sort of photographs of racial isolation over the media.
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