Is She a Fluke? A Token? A Trailblazer?
When women enter the frame
kicker
Viewfinder![](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/thumbor/L8aADhzabpzjrI91FueH3Krbi9o=/1920x1080/media/img/2022/08/01/0922_VF_Opener-1/original.jpg)
For her new book, The Only Woman, the documentary filmmaker Immy Humes collected 100 group portraits—of artists, astronauts, civil-rights leaders—that share a common trait: Each photo has only one woman. Can you spot her? Depending on your point of view, she might seem like an emblem of progress, evidence of old-fashioned gender inequality, or both. Is she a fluke? A token? A trailblazer?
![black and white photo of group of men wearing trench coats and hats with one woman holding handbag](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2022/08/0922_VF_1/f334f3a6b.jpg)
Jury for the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, New York City, 1951
(Bettmann / Getty)
![group photo of 19 artists including Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Richard Serra, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, Edward Ruscha, and Robert Rauschenberg](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2022/08/0922_VF_2/9cd08750d.jpg)
Artists celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Leo Castelli Gallery, New York City, 1982
(Courtesy of Castelli Gallery, New York, and Center for Creative Photography / © 1991 Hans Namuth Estate)
![black-and-white group photo of 8 people including Robert F. Kennedy](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2022/08/0922_VF_3/3ae11c3b3.jpg)
Civil-rights leaders meet with Robert F. Kennedy, Washington, D.C., 1963
(Afro American Newspapers / Gado / Getty)
![group photo of 23 people in suits, seated around large wooden conference table in wood-paneled conference room, with the woman in a turquoise suit](https://cdn.theatlantic.com/media/img/posts/2022/08/DIS_VF_4/8200a16a3.jpg)
Board of directors of the Associated Press, New York City, 1975
(Shutterstock / AP)
This article appears in the September 2022 print edition with the headline “A Man’s World.”