A group of women sits before us completely nude, unguarded, and unashamed. They are young and old, Black and white, straight and gay. Their bodies are diverse and real. This isn't a stunt or a provocation. It's an act of defiance and vulnerability—an exercise inspired by an article in the feminist magazine Ms. that urged women to reclaim their bodies and confront the shame society taught them to feel.
Brigitte Bardot's image as a free spirit who defied convention made her a powerful symbol of women's liberation in the 1950s and '60s. That reputation was not just for the cameras and red carpets; it extended into her personal life and how she styled her homes. This was in sharp contrast to her upbringing as the sheltered older daughter of a bourgeois Parisian family, raised among period furniture, oriental rugs, and other markers of refinement.