Matthijs Holland

CumLaude

Prizes: Rene Smeets Award Nominee, Keep an Eye Grant Nominee

Department: Man and Communication
Website: www.matthijsholland.nl

Scale of Gender

“Gender definitions are too restrictive and unrealistic, and have been so for ages,” says Matthijs Holland. To prove his point, he presents five portraits of historic figures that do not fit the stereotype of a typical man or woman. From the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut, to Pope Joan from the 11th century, or Berlin’s famous transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf: they all testify to the range of possibilities in between the two sexes. “It’s high time that we start to consider all varieties as perfectly normal,” says Matthijs.