Gloria Berenice Moreno is a visual anthropologist and photographer based in Copenhagen. Her background in anthropology and her versatility for the arts, in general, led her to conflate research with a creative outlet. Through the medium of photography, Gloria Berenice aims at decoding and documenting the pluralities of human experiences, especially with regards to gender, intimacy, and sexuality. Her works showcase sides of our lived experience as bare as they may be behind the scenes of the tragic farce of social conventions. Gloria Berenice, together with Art Director Pauline Nielsen, is currently working on a project which explores queer identities in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has been featured on The Fader, The Earth Issue, Slippage Magazine, Uncertain Magazine, Soundvenue, redmoonmag and humanwonder.mag.
My Kind of Femininity
THIS PROJECT CAME INTO BEING DURING A SULTRY AFTERNOON IN NOVEMBER 2018, WHILE LYING IN BED WITH MY EX-GIRLFRIEND IN SANTO DOMINGO. WE WERE DISCUSSING FEMININITY IN THE CONTEXT OF HER COUNTRY, THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, WHAT WAS EXPECTED OF HER AS A CIS-WOMAN, AND THE CHALLENGES SHE WAS CONSTANTLY FACED WITH FOR BEING QUEER. WHILE PLAYING AROUND WITH MY CAMERA, I ASKED HER TO DESCRIBE FEMININITY AND SHOW ME HOW SHE FELT FEMININE, THE WAYS IN WHICH SHE FELT FREED FROM THE WEIGHT OF PERFORMING A KIND OF FEMININITY THAT DID NOT BELONG TO HER AS A PERSON BUT WAS RATHER IMPOSED, EXPECTED OF HER BY A PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM. THIS IS HOW THIS PROJECT STARTED. ‘MY KIND OF FEMININITY’ IS A FILM PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT THROUGH WHICH I SEEK TO TRANSCEND STEREOTYPICAL NARRATIVES OF FEMININITY. IT WAS BORN OUT OF A NEED TO EXPLORE AND CELEBRATE THE INTRINSICALLY SUBJECTIVE MEANING OF FEMININITY, ALLOWING PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE THEIR KIND OF FEMININITY AND CHALLENGE THE AGE-OLD, PATRIARCHAL SOCIAL CONSTRUCTS OF THE REQUISITES OF FEMININITY ITSELF. BY CLAIMING AGENCY OVER THEIR FEMININITIES, THE PEOPLE IN THIS PROJECT DEFY THE CANONICAL NOTION OF FEMININITY, CHALLENGE GENDER STEREOTYPES AND CREATE A SPACE OF RESISTANCE COMPRISED BY THE BODY ITSELF.
To view more of Gloria Berenice Moreno’s work please visit their website.