Shannon Alomar

Staff Writer

If you ask any woman how long it takes to get ready each day, the time may vary anywhere from five minutes to more than an hour. This concept may seem foreign to men, but as a woman in modern society, there is a constant battle between being too feminine and not feminine enough. 

Digital photographer Alvia Urdaneta chose to challenge this ideology in her FORM Gallery Show entitled “Spitfire.” In certain instances, spitfire is used as a synonym for “tomboy,” but it is commonly used to describe a woman with a strong temperament. 

 “If you’re not feminine enough, you’re called a b****, and if you’re too feminine, you’re called a girly girl. Finding a balance is impossible,” Urdaneta said while addressing her frustration with modern standards placed on women’s style, beauty and image. 

Personally, Urdaneta said she has been labeled as both throughout her everyday life. While working for her editorial internship, she was seen as girly girl because she works with a lot of men, but when walking around campus on a normal day, she said she might be seen as too masculine due to her choice of wearing more comfortable clothing. Having a close connection to the issue she wants to challenge, she chose to use herself as the subject of her photographs for this particular show. 

“The photos are a series of self-portraits of me in different clothes, environments and often featuring male models. I wanted to display myself as fighting the idea of what a woman is ‘supposed’ to be,” Urdaneta said. 

Raised in a Venezuelan family, Urdaneta was exposed to the Latino concept of “machismo,” which is the sense of strong masculine pride and the acceptance of a patriarchal society. Although many households accepted this way of life, she said her parents believed in equal roles between the genders.

“My dad had a very modern mentality. My parents shared the responsibilities in our house and raised me to believe there should be equality between women and men no matter what society tries to tell us,” Urdaneta said. 

 When asked what women inspire her in the world today Urdaneta responded, “Laverne Cox, Rhonda Rousey, Gwen Stefani, Hilary Clinton, Helen Frankenthaler and Miuccia Prada – basically any woman who has killer style, strength and confidence in who she is!” 

 Urdaneta’s biggest hopes for her upcoming show is that the viewers of her prints question why they always see women a certain way and why women have to battle between two extremes throughout their lives. 

To learn more about Alvia Urdaneta, you can visit her Instagram @alviaalvia. Also, look out for her #SpitfireChallenge that will encourage women to post photos of themselves defying the societal standards placed on women today.