Investitures of Power: Portraits of Professional Women

• Published in: Technical communication quarterly Vol. 10; no. 1; pp. 5 - 29
• Main Author: David, Carol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc 01.01.2001; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Alumni; Annual reports; Artists; Beliefs; Communication; Communication (Thought Transfer); Cultural aspects; Cultural Influences; Cultural studies; Culture; Design; Employed Women; Females; Gender; Higher Education; Ideology; Influence; Linguistic Theory; Mythology; Philosophy; Portraits; Power; Power Structure; Professional staff; Professions; Recognition (Achievement); Researchers; Semiotics; Sex Bias; Sex Fairness; Sex Role; Signs; Technical Communication; Technical Writing; Women; Women Scientists; Writing Instruction; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Iowa
• ISSN: 1057-2252; 1542-7625
• DOI: 10.1207/s15427625tcq1001_1

As women take part in the workforce in greater numbers and in higher positions, they need representation in visual images that will signify their achievements. Because portraits of women have for centuries highlighted their beauty and passivity, the poses, expressions, and props chosen in the past elicit similar readings in current professional women's photographs, readings in opposition to the typical power and authority awarded to male portraits. Women's portrait features may signify a more friendly and open personality than the formal male portrait shows and often represent women's interests and professional affiliations. Currently working women choose a wide variety of poses and props, and cultural readings of the features of portraits have begun to change. A trend towards more informal poses has allowed men's and women's portraits to use some of the same features. Communicators can help to change the conventionalized readings of women's portraits through careful document design that highlights women and their achievements.