This, my final piece of work for university, is focused on the positive aspects of womanhood; the strength of an individual, the love of a mother, the care within a community. The work consists of a series of portraits of members of the Seven Hills Women’s Institute, whom I believe can represent all of what it can be to be a modern woman. There are women from different generation, different backgrounds, with different beliefs and interests. Once a month around seventy women meet for a few hours to socialise with other like-minded women. The reason the Women’s Institute is so interesting is because it is often seen as “old fashioned” and therefore possibly working against feminist principles. But this is the modern Women’s Institute; it’s not all baking tips and swapping knitting patterns. These are modern women, they are not bored housewives, and they are busy. Most are mothers, most have jobs, and all have numerous hobbies. This is now the modern expectation for women.
