On this episode of the Gab Talks we have the pleasure of chatting with Australian author Anita Selzer. This is Anita’s second visit with the Gab Talks and we are thrilled to have her back. Anita’s book, The Female Gaze in Art & Photography Volume One is the winner of the 2025 New York City Big Book Award.  Volume One was the winner of the Independent Press Award in the Fine Arts Category. 
 
Anita is the author of fifteen adult and children’s non-fiction books, including “Reframing Beauty” and “I Am Woman.” Her work focuses on women, gender culture and history.  
 
Before stepping into the world of publishing, Anita cultivated a rich academic and professional life. Holding a BA, Diploma of Education, Graduate Diploma in Women’s Studies, a Master’s in Education, and a PhD in Education, she has long been engaged with the intersections of gender, history, and learning. 

Anita served as Executive Officer in Women’s Affairs in the Premier’s Department in Victoria. Her expertise also extended into publishing, reviewing books for Cambridge University Press and the academic journal Gender and Education.
 
The Female Gaze In Art & Photography Volume 2 offers a reflective contrast, reminding us how long women have been shaping and challenging the visual narrative—even if their contributions have been sidelined.
 
Anita joins us today from Australia!
 
Congratulations Anita and welcome to TheGabTalks! It’s wonderful to see you again!  I really didn’t think you could improve upon The Female Gaze Volume One, but Volume Two is equally visually stunning, thought-provoking, and interesting. It has been hailed an intellectual and visual feast, and I agree.

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The Female Gaze: Volume 2, explores pioneering female artists from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, who, despite being excluded from the same education, support, and professional platforms as their male counterparts, developed a way of seeing that challenged the dominant male gaze long before the term existed. 

Selzer brings twenty remarkable artists from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia into view, including Artemisia Gentileschi, Mary Cassatt, Claude Cahun, Elizabeth Catlett, Tamara de Lempicka, Paula Rego, Charlie Toorop, among others. Many of these works were created under conditions of exclusion or constraint, with artists often learning their craft from artistic fathers or teaching themselves in secret. Despite these challenges, their works speak boldly through intimate gestures, subversive compositions, and a persistent insistence on autonomy. In doing so, they reframed the body, identity and power in ways that remain striking today.
 
Rich with striking and thought-provoking images, the book is both a visual and intellectual experience. Selzer’s insightful commentary guides readers through the nuanced concept of the female gaze, revealing its enduring presence and influence on art and society. Beyond showcasing exceptional works by women artists, the volume highlights the social and institutional barriers they faced, illustrating how these challenges not only shaped their artistic journeys and contributions, but how they succeeded despite them.
 
Themes such as love and loss, the lifecycle of women, motherhood, gender, sexual and racial identity intersect with socially constructed roles of women, connecting historical perspectives to ongoing conversations about representation in art (initially discussed in Vol. 1 of The Female Gaze in Art and Photography). Written in an engaging and accessible style, Selzer invites readers into the artists’ studios, struggles, and triumphs, offering a richly detailed and captivating history of often-overlooked creative women.
 
Drawing on leading feminist art historians including Linda Nochlin and Griselda Pollock, The Female Gaze: Volume 2 stands as a compelling, standalone exploration of women’s creativity, resilience, and lasting impact on the art world. 
 
For more information head to Anita Selzer’s website https://anitaselzerauthor.com.au