In Carol Ann Duffy’s poem “Standing Female Nude,” the model’s relationship with the viewer is complex and multifaceted. On one hand, the model is objectified and reduced to a mere physical form for the viewer’s gaze. She is stripped of her agency and autonomy, forced to contort her body and hold still for hours on end. However, on the other hand, the model also holds a certain power over the viewer. She is the one who allows herself to be seen, who offers up her body for scrutiny and admiration. In this way, the model becomes a symbol of both vulnerability and strength, a reminder of the complicated dynamics at play in the act of looking. The Model’s Agency and Objectification The language is colloquial, representing the speech of a working-class girl who is also a sex worker. The voice is that of the speaker, an artist’s model, using the first personal singular ‘I’. The tone is wry, cynical with frequent use of double entendre.

Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Representative Modern Masters," April 17–May 9, 1920, no. 196 (one of the sevent untitled Matisse drawings lent by Stieglitz, either no. 153, 154, 155, 158, or 159). Sarah Greenough in Sarah Greenough. Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, D. C., 2000, pp. 36–37, 382.

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Duffy’s themes include language and the representation of reality; the construction of the self; gender issues; contemporary culture; and many different forms of alienation, oppression and social inequality. She writes in everyday, conversational language, making her poems appear deceptively simple. With this demotic style she creates contemporary versions of traditional poetic forms - she makes frequent use of the dramatic monologue in her exploration of different voices and different identities, and she also uses the sonnet form. Duffy is both serious and humorous, often writing in a mischievous, playful style - in particular, she plays with words as she explores the way in which meaning and reality are constructed through language. In this, her work has been linked to postmodernism and poststructuralism, but this is a thematic influence rather than a stylistic one: consequently, there is an interesting contrast between the postmodern content and the conservative forms. Emily Braun in Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Ed. Emily Braun and Rebecca Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2014, p. 150, no. 62, ill. p. 151 (color). Anne Baldassari. Picasso photographe, 1901–1916. Exh. cat., Musée Picasso. Paris, 1994, pp. 119–21, figs. 90–92. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Cubist Epoch," December 15, 1970–February 21, 1971, no. 267. Born in Glasgow in 1955, Carol Ann Duffy was brought up in Staffordshire and studied philosophy at the University of Liverpool, where she was active in the city’s underground poetry scene in the 1970s. Her first full-length collection Standing Female Nude in 1985 was a landmark, forging an anti-establishment voice with colloquial lyricism. Duffy reached a wider audience with The World’s Wife (1999), a series of witty dramatic monologues spoken by women from fairy tales and myths, and the women usually air-brushed from history, such as Mrs Midas and Mrs Darwin. Her output has also included a large body of writing for children.

J. Nilson Laurvik. "The Coming Cubists Explain Their Picture Puzzles." Boston Evening Transcript (April 12, 1913), part 3, p. 2, ill. Standing Female Nude” is a monologue “spoken” by an artist’s model in a Paris studio. Her concern is to “make a few francs” while his is to create a work of art and a reputation for himself as a great artist. She admits to being “a river whore” who sells her body in more ways than one, but the two are using each other to an equivalent extent. First stanza

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Marius de Zayas. How, When, and Why Modern Art Came to New York. Ed. Francis M. Naumann. Cambridge, Mass., 1996, pp. 24, 26, fig. 28. George Heard Hamilton. "The Alfred Stieglitz Collection." Metropolitan Museum Journal 3 (1970), p. 379. In the next lines, she draws a comparison between what the artist values, her “volume,” and what she values, the fact that she needs to eat. As the poem concludes the speaker tries to communicate with the artist. He is unreceptive and tells her to be quiet. When she sees the painting at the end of the day she cannot recognize herself. All those hours and the only thing “Georges” depicted was what he wanted to see. Anne Baldassari. Le Miroir noir: Picasso, sources photographiques, 1900–1928. Exh. cat., Musée Picasso. Paris, 1997, pp. 90, 93–95, figs. 105, 108, 110, 111. It is important for the modeling industry to recognize the harmful effects of objectification and take steps towards promoting a more inclusive and diverse representation of beauty. This can include hiring models of different body types, ages, and ethnicities, as well as promoting a healthy and positive body image. By doing so, the industry can create a more empowering and supportive environment for models, and ultimately, promote a more positive and realistic representation of beauty in society. The Role of Gender in the Poem