I’ve been looking at old and new photography of women’s rights marches in Northern Ireland to find inspiration. I’ve also noticed to tie it into my essay question I need to look into how these women have used fashion/art in their campaigning. From what I can see, hand made banners and signs (of which their DIY-ness and occasionally provocative language reminds me of the punk movement, interestingly) seemed to be the main use of art in the older campaigns. In the present day, there’s a much larger amount of merchandise available, and because of this, along with the rise in popularity in general over the years, the graphic tee seems pretty symbolic of political fashion.
Those marching are using creativity and fashion to further project their message to those watching, in a very powerful way. They also in a sense are doing the same thing the Punks did during the Troubles, and are using this clothing as a sort of uniform, to show their identity and morals as a group. In this way, they are uniting women from all backgrounds and walks of life, turning into a mob of people who clearly all have one universal belief. This seems to be used to show those in power just how many people want they change they are fighting for, as perhaps the ‘louder’ you are, the more they may listen.
time to change 