Reclaiming Adolescent Sexuality: Images of Girlhood in Petra Collins’s Babe
Reclaiming Adolescent Sexuality: Images of Girlhood in Petra Collins’s Babe

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines photographs, drawings, collages and other art forms collected in the book Babe, edited by photographer Petra Collins and published by Prestel in 2015. I read the collected artwork as an attempt to present the image of the girl (including her sexuality) from a young woman’s perspective. Babe, which includes works such as photographs of teenagers with visible period blood on the underwear or a to-do list with the goal of never faking another orgasm, asks who a contemporary girl is and how young artists can challenge traditional images of femininity. In my analysis I focus on the excessive use of the color pink in Babe, characterizing the way artists blend innocence with eroticism. I argue that by playing with artifacts of “girlishness,” artists can both expose the absurdity of the image of the girl in popular culture and reclaim symbols of girlhood. I suggest that Collins – despite her ambitions to create an inclusive platform for female artists – does not present a diverse image of girls, who in Babe is still predominantly white and able-bodied. I introduce the potential reading of Babe as a feminist visual manifesto, in reference to the Riot Grrrl movement and the cultural phenomenon of “girl power.” I suggest that the book offers a possibility of exploring the figure of the girl from the perspective of young female artists.

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