Edita's Gaze

As viewers of this photograph, we are both the object and the bearer of the gaze. One could even state that our gaze is interrupted by Edita’s, who stares directly back at us. Furthermore, due to her face being raised, it seems as if she is looking down at us, from what could be interpreted to be her “throne.” Edita’s gaze can thus be understood as an “oppositional gaze”, described by bell hooks as a gaze that interrogates and challenges. No longer a passive figure who must accept someone else’s orders and mandates, here it is the viewer who is spoken to, challenged and/or interrogated. Indeed, Edita’s gaze cuts us off to ask us just who do we see depicted in this photograph. As previously discussed, the uniform she wears initially marks the

As such, she is able to create new formulations of identity all the while the viewers are witnesses to the “new transgressive possibilities” (hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze” 202) such formulation entails, one that is not necessarily defined by garments, but by the gaze, the body and the ways it maneuvers itself, as well as the objects it holds on to. Such transgressive possibilities materialize in Edita’s gaze, one that seems to suggest, in hooks words: “Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality” (“The Oppositional Gaze” 180). Beyond mere cosmetics, it is in fact Edita’s oppositional gaze that which allows for the disidentification with the domestic worker reality, and the movement from object to

Su energía como la de un felino enjaulado se sentía rabiar por los enormes espacios de la casa. ¿En qué estaría pensando?” Purita stares directly at the camera and is pictured under what appears to be a series of swords (figure 8). In a similar manner, she is disidentifying with the role of domestic worker by appearing linked not to a domestic tool but to a set of weapons. Nonetheless, due to the angle of the photo, Purita appears to be looking up, unlike Edita who looks down at the viewer. Additionally, Purita’s body is only shown from the waist up. The most striking aspect of this photograph is the way the swords are pointing towards Purita, almost as if they are emerging from her body. Comparing this photograph to “Edita (la del plumero” allows us to see the significance of Edita’s disidentification. Even though she is only holding a feather duster, Edita’s photograph is able to provoke and confront the gaze of the outsider. Without relying on actual weapons, she is still able to convey a strong sense of