Never is the objectification of a people more straightforward and complete than when they are pictured covered by cloth that completely obscures their face and body.
These women are all dead now, and even in their death, looking back at this moment in time one hundred years later, we can’t see them. We see figures, placeholders for people who were only allowed parts of themselves in life, and who now in death are disqualified even from being a face from the past in an old photo.
These women have been reduced to their plight. Photos like these are the reason I object to ideologies which promote the notion of modesty for women. They cover your ankles, flashes of stomach, your wrists, your chest, your neck….reducing you bit by bit, until you are gone.
The face is so important in human interaction, it really is dehumanizing to have to cover it up. I distinguish heavily between what you are wearing (including a headscarf) and something that covers your face, inhibiting your potential to connect with other people.
People don’t see your happiness or sadness or pain or anger, you are just a blank slate to project on.
