Growing Up Female: A Personal Photo-Journal

The book is about women and their lives as women, from one feminist's point of view. It's about what women are doing and what they are feeling and how they are relating to their mates, their children, their friends, their work, their interests, and themselves.

Being a woman influenced my ideas about what I wanted to photograph. My interest in women’s issues, in family issues, in social relationships came out of my experience of growing up as a female.

Women flirting to gain access are called “using their sexuality to gain greater access,” while men flirting to get access are called “charming.” I think it was an early feeling I had that I wanted to avoid accusation so badly that I never learned how to flirt or be charming.

Abigail Heyman