Skirts with itchy tights

Three audio fragments:

High school

“I went to an all-girls high school. I had to go there because my father thought 'I'm old and if I die early, she won't have that university education’, uh. I was the first in my class, I was put into a girls' high school!”

Work

“And then they saw that I worked there for a few years and only received tram money. 'You girls don't need that, you come from well-to-do families and I only pay you for the tram' and nothing else.”

Marriage

“I was expected to marry Piet Kuyer. But I found him to be a spoiled guy. And I wasn’t interested in him, and he wasn’t interested in me either. So we took a walk together through the nature where they lived, and then we agreed that we didn't want to. I already had a boyfriend, yes, so that's how it went, yes.”

I was raised to wear a skirt with tights underneath on formal occasions during Christian holidays and family birthdays. On these days, I felt uncomfortable because the crotch of the tights kept sliding down, and the itch drove me crazy. Everything I was used to doing—like playing and running—became difficult. The clothing limited my freedom of movement.

The fact that women like my grandmother didn’t work is one of the conventions of the patriarchal society we live in, and these conventions still impact the position of women today.

‘Skirts with itchy tights’ is part of my graduation work ‘Not for girls?’ for the BA Photography at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.

The text in the publication is based on conversations that Karlijn Karthaus had with her grandmother. All archival material is obtained from family photo albums. Recordings of a few of my grandmother’s quotes are availabe as well.

2024