In today’s world we are saturated with images. Whether it is advertising, social media, or magazines, images are communicating to us constantly, telling us how the world around us is supposed to look. But can these images affect how we see ourselves?
This past month, the Kresge Library had the privilege to host Covenant’s own Dr. Weichbrodt as she released her second book: Look Like a Lady: Five Visual Tropes of Womanhood and How to See Ourselves Differently.
In this book, she dives into five prominent narratives of womanhood within Western culture: The Venus, Vessel, Maiden, Mother, and Monster. Weichbrodt unfolds these stories using her expertise in art history, highlighting influential art throughout history representing each of these narratives.
Within this impressively researched book, Weichbrodt carefully balances academia with readability, presenting these complicated ideas in an accessible and personal way. Each chapter begins with a story from her own life, from when she believed each of these narratives about herself.
More than just telling stories, Weichbrodt also adds a personal touch through recreating each artwork through her own hand-drawn black-and- white illustrations.
She explains that “drawing the images allowed me to distance viewers from them, to help see familiar images in a kind of new way.”
This book, though it deals with difficult topics, is far from a condemnation towards culture. It is true that misogyny, objectification, and exploitation have afflicted Western culture, but this book aims not at assigning blame, but rather starting a conversation.
Weichbrodt explains that “this is a book for anyone who has a body.” Whether men or women, this book is “inviting all of us to tell better true stories about who we are as peers.”
Each chapter is filled with overwhelming hope, despite its exploration of human fallenness. Weichbrodt explains that instead of following these man-made narratives, “The freedom that we have in Christ and in God’s abundant love for us allows us to participate in the greatest, biggest story that has ever been told.”
In light of this, she invites us to ask, “Why would I want to trade something small and flimsy when I could have that instead?